We’re looking forward to introducing you to Karen Allen. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Karen, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your customers?
The are not afraid to be creative and take a product to its ultimate limits. When they can take a chili sauce and turn it into a Bloody Mary, they are living healthy in life.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I love to can foods, I love to cook and I love to carry on family traditions. My name is Karen and this is how the KarenKave started. It all began with my Grandmother’s 1950 Chambers stove, which so many delicious meals were cooked on as I grew up in the Chicago area. From the stove to many other icons in her home and my parents home, I started my vintage kitchen and called it the KarenKave.
I love to can food from the gardens, fruit trees and what all our farmers have to offer. One of our family traditions was to can and store my Great Grandmother’s Chili Sauce. Each year this recipe began with 53 lbs of Roma tomatoes along with many other ingredients and ended with 20 quarts of sweet chili sauce all ready for the long winter season.
Today I am the proud owner of the KarenKave, LLC (www.karenkave.com) and sell the KarenKave Chili Kickstart.
It warms my heart to know that this chili sauce is becoming a staple in so many households in North Carolina and beyond.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
There is no doubt in my mind, my Grandparents and Parents taught me the most about work. They believed that hard work payed off and that is what was instilled in our families way of living. They all inspired me with their work ethics and dedication to their families and how it took hard work to provide for the best for me and that someday I would do the same.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to try something new, even if you fail. If you have always wished for something and want to try something you have never done before, give it a try. Learn from those that care about you, those that will inspire you and be proud of you, those that will teach you and mostly, those that will be by your side through the storm and the successes.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Many of my dear and close friends have told me that I care so much about helping my family and helping others in life. That I take the time to call people, send them a card or just make a simple meal for them. They have always expressed how much family matters to me and how I love to help them and do for them, just as my parents did and grandparents did for me.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
What I am doing is what I love to do and doing it because it makes me happy. It’s hard to say if I was born to do this or not and I was certainly not told to do it. What I am doing means a lot to me as a person. I hold tight many of our family traditions and this Chili Sauce is just one of them. There was an article written in Our State Magazine called The Secret of the Sauce. This article covers my love for family traditions, keeping close to heart so many good memories of my childhood and family members to dear to me. Read the article in Our State Magazine at:
https://www.ourstate.com/the-secret-of-the-sauce/ …and you will see clearly why I do what I do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.karenkave.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkavenc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenKaveNC/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VintageCookingKarenKave
- Other: Our State Magazine: https://www.ourstate.com/the-secret-of-the-sauce/
WRAL Tar Heel Traveler: https://www.wral.com/video/holly-springs-woman-s-kave-fully-of-family-memories/20310435/
Image Credits
Photography by Stacey Van Berkel
