Entrepreneurial Spirit … Leap of Faith … and No Cable TV

I’m not sure if us entrepreneurial types just attract each other, however it does seem that I am blessed to be surrounded by many Smart, Innovative, and Entrepreneurial people.  One of those is my husband, Rich Curole, yes the very same Rich Curole who was born & bred in Cajun Country.  Rich and I have been together since 2004, and since that time, I have  had my art business Lollipop Art Productions & Wet! Paint Studios.  Rich has always been a creative force in his job in sales, our home, and has positively impacted my business with his own creative ideas.  It only seemed natural that when Rich ended his relationship with his day job that the next logical step would be to own his own business. As you will read below, the journey into the Creation of Crazy Dick’s Cajun foods began years before we actually established the business officially in 2011.  Below is an excerpt from our website:  www.crazydickscajunfoods.com  also LIKE us on Facebook at Crazy Dick’s Cajun Foods and Follow us on Twitter at CDCajunFoods.

 How does it all fit in?

 It’s a lot of hard work right now, and we don’t have cable tv and well we have two very energetic toddler-like wiener dogs who keep us on our  feet. A leap of faith and having passion for those things that I love – amazing food, art, my dogs, family, travel, my career, and well all my friends.  Thanks for your support.

How did it all begin?

 How did a Cajun food company take root in a state so far away from Bayou Country? Did an intellectually challenged Cajun really trade hot nights and scorching hot days for cold days and intolerably colder nights? How is it that a man’s Cajun essence can survive 20 years of Yankee influence? Why did your grandmother insist your parents leave the house wearing clean underwear?

If the proposition of a “real” Cajun food company in Maine seems unfathomable, then fathom no more! Crazy Dick’s Cajun Foods was founded by Rich Curole, a Louisiana native (founder has actual Louisiana birth certificate) who happens to have spent the last twenty years living and working in New England.

For the challenge of “making it” far from home Rich moved to New England in 1991. Shortly after his arrival, it was painfully obvious that finding Cajun food to rival his mother’s was not possible. It was also obvious he would have to learn to cook! Soon enough he had family recipes and a head full of steam, but still lacked a required component: Genuine Cajun Seasoning.

From this deep, intrinsic need Crazy Dick’s Hot Cajun Seasoning was born. Rich experimented with formula after formula to arrive at the perfect balance of heat and flavor. Never to be mistaken for a man of anything but Cajun tastes, he paid particular attention to the aroma, texture and slow, extended burn only Crazy Dick’s delivers. He made sure nothing, other than actual spices, was included in his formula: NO MSG!, NO Preservatives!, and NO Anti-Caking Agents!. To avoid the hard, initial bite experienced with other mixed seasonings, salt was never considered as an ingredient, instantly freeing everyone to use Crazy Dick’s without regard to dietary concerns. And to distance his creation even further from all others, Rich used only certified organic ingredients to maximize the effectiveness of every adjective ever used to describe a Cajun Seasoning!

Some years later Lori Rae Curole, artist and entrepreneur, entered Rich’s life. After taking her first bite of a real Cajun Jambalaya, made with Crazy Dick’s Hot Cajun Seasoning, she demanded it be bottled and shared with the masses. And it wasn’t just the “cheap date” wine talking! Lori had been to New Orleans and the most southern areas of Louisiana. She had sampled the local fare. She had also traveled extensively around the US and abroad, eating great food along the way. In a word, she wasn’t one to fool around when it came to food recommendations.

So the first granules were bottled and gifted to friends and family in 2005, 14 years after Crazy Dick’s was conceived and born into a tasteless world. Those first bottles of Crazy Dick’s Hot Cajun Seasoning, despite crude labeling and moderate expectations, started a chain reaction that left their recipients screaming for more. Its true value had been discovered. It was obvious, someday Crazy Dick’s would be legitimized and brought to market.

Enter the Great Recession. Looking for opportunities to move beyond his previous profession, to catch the wave as it lifted the greater economy out of the dumper, and to fulfill his friends’ and relatives’ dreams of finding Crazy Dick’s on their grocers’ shelves, Rich started Crazy Dick’s Cajun Foods in June of 2011.

At present, Crazy Dick’s is working hard to bring you the most authentic and healthiest Cajun food available. Over time it is expected that Crazy Dick’s portfolio of Cajun accouterments, along with its fan base, will grow. Crazy Dick’s is delighted you’re following our progress and we appreciate your contributions to the developing chapters of “How Crazy Dick’s Success Came to Be.”