The air was crisp and the Florida winds gently blew through the garden at East End Market in Aubodon Park. Chef Wendy Davis, donning her bright blue heart-shaped chakra glasses, was welcoming and kind-hearted. Davis, who graduated from culinary school in 2001, has been cooking her whole life. She began at age seven by watching her grandmother cook. Kids were not allowed in the kitchen so Davis would watch her every move from a nearby rocking chair, following her every move. Her mom was a truck driver and was not home often and Davis assumed the role as house chef.
Originally from Oakland, California, Davis moved to her home base of Orlando at age 6. Here she met husband Bobby Koelble, a jazz guitar professor at the University of Central Florida. His rock band Junkie Rush became the original inspiration for Poca’s Hottest and inspired Davis’s first sauce.
Early Beginnings:
A long-time lover of music, Davis’s interest in creating band-inspired sauces was born during her time spent attending music festivals. She worked the merch tables at the concerts and helped promote the bands, and that’s when she thought of creating something unique and special for musicians. “I kind of just wanted to push the band and party,” Davis said.
Collecting inspiration from the band’s music, Davis created one of a kind sauces. Each sauce was labeled with the band’s information on the back along with ingredients, heat levels, and custom designs by local artists. But where did the name come from? The nickname “Pocahontas” was given to Davis as far back as she can remember and stuck with her throughout the years. After culinary school, Davis started a catering company called Pocahontas’ Catering Company. When she decided to turn her focus on the sauces, she wanted something catchy. When narrowing down possible names, she wanted to continue her Pocahontas theme in a unique way. It wasn’t until she said the words aloud that it clicked- Poca’s Hottest the hottest sauce for the hottest music. “They’re not all hot,” Davis said, “it wasn’t really like the hottest sauces ‘cause I focus more on flavor than heat.”
Family Matters:
Poca’s Hottest continued for five years before Davis began to truly market the brand. When Davis was preparing to have her daughter, Coral, she wanted to ensure she would be able to work from home to raise her. In between homeschooling, Davis set aside two days a week to work on all things Poca’s Hottest. Taking care of the business from production to promotion, Davis maximized her time on those days and even nights to grow her company. Among the lot was Poca’s Hottest’s largest distributor, Winn-Dixie. While at a local farmer’s market, Davis was approached by Winn-Dixie to participate in their local foods campaign and invited to pitch her product to the board.
Davis explained, “I was terrified! Back then I wanted to hide under the table.” But Davis didn’t let fear hold her or Poca’s back. “I don’t want her [Coral] to be scared to do things,” said Davis, “I kept telling her, ‘If you’re scared, then you’ve gotta go out and do it!’ Yes, mommy was scared to do this and wanted to hide under the table, but I’m doing it. She watches every little thing I do and she’s going to see, ‘Okay, she really is serious; I can do this.’.”
Coral, age 6, followed her mommy’s footsteps and started a small business of her own. A mix of lemonade with pineapple and coconut shavings, Coral’s Christmas in Summer refreshes concertgoers at Poca’s Hottest Annual Sauce Off.
Beyond Poca’s Hottest:
Her impact on the Orlando community has not gone unnoticed. Davis, recently inducted into Orlando Magazine’s Dining Hall of Fame, was featured along with five other female entrepreneurs from the area in Motion Picture Video’s “Executive Empress”. The feature opened the doors for Davis to start her own show on Amazon, one that focuses on more than cooking. Poca’s Hottest “Rock My Sauce” hosts different musical acts in exotic locations, each episode featuring Davis’s portable kitchen with hot and delicious meals.
Along with her new show, Davis will be traveling to California where she’ll be cooking up a new batch of Poca’s Hottest. The sauce will be a part of the California Roots Festival and will join Cali Roots’ line of merchandise, beer, and cannabis.
Wendy Davis inspires female entrepreneurs to chase their dreams and shows that family need not ever be a hindrance. You can have your cake, or your sauce, and eat it too.
Rock the Sauce:
Davis hosted this year’s Poca’s Hottest Annual Sauce Cook-Off at Will’s Pub on Mills Ave. The event was a battle of the bands called “Rock for the Sauce”, with the top two winners receiving their own custom sauce. Davis wanted to create a more inclusive way to collaborate with musicians and not just have a “members only club”.
The 7th annual cook-off and food drive consisted of a free taco bar, a cook-off by local vendors, 10 bands, and a food drive by Second Harvest. Vendor tents lined the parking lot between Will’s Pub and Track Shack, ranging from apparel, hand painted figurines, vintage board games, and food samples from local Orlando restaurants. The cookoff participants had to use 1 of 20 Poca’s products to create a small dish to be judged by a panel including Chef Wendy Davis.
In the middle of the festivities, Second Harvest, a food bank in Central Florida, collected food donations for kids and families in need. These donations aid kids from impoverished areas that struggle to eat during weekends, holidays, and summer breaks.
“1 in 4 students are homeless,” Davis said, “You don’t think about it to be a problem, as big as it really is, in Orlando.”
The food drive has been a part of Davis’s annual sauce off since its inception seven years ago, a party that started off as a celebration for her birthday. Rock the Sauce has been used as a platform to give back to a community that has given her and her business so much.
