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Mike Gonzalez poses for a picture with Juanita Carmack

Juanita Carmack to The Hispanic Food Network she has never been afraid to be different. She rides motor cycles, isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, even makes deliveries on her own. Despite the success she’s had with Taco Chic Salsa, Juanita says she needed some convincing to get her business started.

“The hardest part was making up my mind I was actually going to do it, there’s so many things we decide to do then we give up , you see someone down the road that says no I’m not doing that anymore, but I looked at this as a commitment like a marriage,” says Juanita.

Juanita tells The Hispanic Food Network the name Taco Chic comes from when she used to sell her homemade tacos and salsa at a biker venue in North Idaho about 7 years ago. People called her the Taco Chic and the name kind of stuck.

A couple of years later, Juanita officially started selling her salsa.

She says the salsa’s unique flavor comes from a treasured family recipe that’s over 100 years old. Juanita was giving away her salsa for years before a friend convinced to sell it.

The Pictures From Juanita’s Family Are On Display At The Factory

“A friend of mine gave me the idea that the money is in your salsa, you need to learn how to bottle it, it turns out in all my family we’re talking 3 generations, my grandmother was the only one that bottled it besides me,” says Juanita.

Her shop is filled with things from her past, pictures of ancestors who came before her, and you soon realize Juanita’s salsa is connection to her past, culture and who she is.

“Salsa’s salsa but this is local salsa okay, I think that people feel the passion. I feel the passion, this is salsa with love, you can feel it when you come in here,” says Juanita.

While Juanita  loves connecting with her past she says the future is looking bright. she hopes to expand the brand into a nationwide product. For now she’s content with the fact Taco Chic Salsa is in 2500 stores regionally .

Juanita opened the doors to The Hispanic Food Network of her newly opened  restaurant in her factory where you can get fresh tamales, rice and beans and of course the salsa.

“It isn’t really about Juanita and her salsa, what I discovered doing a lot of store demos, farmers markets, people trying and testing, it makes people remember, that they have a recipe for spaghetti sauce, a pie recipe, pickle recipe, it’ s awesome to see people get excited,” says Juanita