Tyla-Simone Crayton is the 20-year old CEO of Sienna Sauce, a family-based business that wasestablished on April 7, 2017, in Sienna, TX. Popularly known for its versatility, Sienna Sauce isan “Everything Sauce” and can be used as a dip, marinade, glaze, or an added ingredient.
The dream of becoming the youngest-ever sauce boss started when Tyla-Simone was very young. Herfavorite wing place closed down in New York City and she asked her Mom if she could try to recreate theflavor by playing with ingredients in her kitchen. With the support and assistance of her mother, MoniqueCrayton, Tyla-Simone created something even better and healthier. The low-sodium, honey based Sienna Sauce contains no high-fructose corn syrup and is gluten-free so the consumers can indulge in its greattaste, guilt-free.
The birth of Sienna Sauce began in NYC when Tyla-Simone and Monique were still residing in Brooklyn,New York. After perfecting the sauce, they would make the sauce for different occasions like, “WingsWednesdays” at family functions, or when they would have a casual Mom-and-Me wing night at home. Itwas moments like this, in their humble beginnings that developed a stronger mother-daughter relationship between the two.
In April of 2015, they decided to bring their NYC flare down to Texas and started cooking and selling Sienna Wings every Friday out of their home. Little did they know, they would be bottling sauce to sell tothe masses in just 3 years. It has been Tyla-Simone’s overall goal to package the sauce she created at avery young age and get it on the shelves of grocery stores around the globe. Recognizing the passionTyla-Simone had, Monique took a leap of faith, left her job to fully support her daughter's dreams andbecame the President of Sienna Sauce. Their hard work slowly started paying off as Sienna Sauce andTyla-Simone began to make noise.
Soon after, Tyla-Simone started getting interviews from different media outlets such as NowThis, BlackEnterprise, Inside Edition, Good Morning America, C-Span, CNBC, ABC, Revolt TV, The Kelly ClarksonShow, and ABCs Shark Tank Season where she secured a deal by a Shark.
Continuing to build her business and bringing her vision to life, Tyla-Simone made herself known in theelite world of venture capitalist, angel investors and won over $40k in pitch competitions since launchingher Sienna Sauce brand. She quickly became one of the most sought-after teen entrepreneurs and was 1 ofthe selected 5 kid entrepreneurs invited to the World Food Championships. Working as a full-timeentrepreneur and a full-time student, Tyla-Simone sacrificed a normal teenage life to pursue her dreams.With 2 years left of high school, she started homeschool while still maintaining her growing Sienna Sauce business. It was not an easy decision to make but one that made the most sense for the amount of time shewould have to commit to both her business and school life.Maintaining a 4.0 GPA, Tyla-Simone continued to receive countless honors from many amazingorganizations including The Icon Awards, She is CEO, National Black MBAAssociation, Top 50Professionals & Entrepreneurs, C.O.R.E Magazine Top 100, just to name a few.
Tyla-Simone received a Pinnacle Award from the Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce as thefirst-ever recipient to receive an award for Youth Entrepreneurship. Continually making the city whereshe resided proud, she received a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from Congresswoman SheilaJackson Lee. She was also given a Proclamation from the Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner and FortBend County Judge for her achievements and accomplishments in entrepreneurship. Tyla-Simone willreceive the The President Awards next month for her community service.
Beneath all of these accolades and achievements as a CEO, Tyla-Simone is passionate about volunteeringher time in her community. One organization in particular that she is committed to, is the Sistership Foundation.
Tyla-Simone continues to inspire her fellow youth to start their own businesses by speaking to themabout entrepreneurship. Serving as a board member of the Black History Club, and a member of theAmerican Sign Language Club (ASL), Tyla-Simone is now a Junior attending UC Berkeley and hasjust been accepted in to the HAAS School of Business.At the young age of 19 Tyla-Simone opened her first Restaurant Sienna Wings 4 months ago in Sienna TX, her goal is to build the blueprint and franchise the company.Monique’s never-ending support and belief for her daughter knows no boundaries and has helpedTyla-Simone become the Sauce Boss that she is now. The business that she and her mother workedhard to build is becoming a household name. They have grown to be a powerful mother-daughterduo team and have no plans on stopping. As the saying goes, “Teamwork makes the dream work”.Sienna Sauce is currently sold in over 600 stores nationwide, including Target, H-E-B, Wegmansand Randall’s; and also available on amazon.com and siennasauce.com.