BOSS OF SAUCE
As the boss of Mama's Sauce, Nick Sambrato is scaling a new business with century-old printing techniques.
ORLANDO, FL
No trip to Orlando could be complete with meeting Nick Sambrato. Every time I’ve been to Orlando I end up interviewing him. That’s only partially because our first interview together was inexplicably garbled. It gave me an excuse to come back to town and sit down again with a man who’s one part Action Jack and one part Willy Wonka.
Nick is simultaneously passionate and laid back at the same time, and that’s a charming combo when you’re the boss of a fast paced letterpress and silkscreen business called Mama’s Sauce. I think the most telling part of the operation is that the people working there are genuinely happy to be on the job. You could feel it in the air, mixed with the smell of drying ink. The staff at Mama’s Sauce love their job. And that’s in large part due to Nick’s style of leadership.
Nick is charismatic guy with plenty of anecdotes about broken fingers, alligators, and his love of Gold Bond. In our interview he also got serious when discussing the search for investors and adjusting his creative vision to have an influx of capital. As a bespoke print operation, Mama’s Sauce could never - and should never - compete with huge fast moving digital print companies with lots of capital. He needed a small investor to scale his boutique print shop quickly, but he had to give up a piece of my company to do that.
“I remember struggling with my ego through the whole thing. And I remember vividly thinking I’d rather kill myself than not own this business.”
Nick’s decision to sidestep his ego and say yes to the investment, is what lead to the inspiring print shop that he stands in today. The trade off of having a financial partner is what lead to the creative projects, the positive culture, and the hum of presses in the small warehouse outside of downtown Orlando.
Mama’s Sauce keeps a copious amount of past projects on display as examples for clients to peruse. The unique sense of belonging that comes with an authentic brand is priceless to a business owner. Every brand is different, yet each one matters in a world where humans crave an emotional, borderline spiritual connection to what they consume.
There’s a spiritual connection to the businesses we create as well. Whether you’re full owner or a business partner, all creative businesses contain a certain piece of the owner’s heart. Adapting to constant changes requires letting go of ego and serving our customers and employees. We can’t be in it only for ourselves. Just like Nick found someone to invest in his dream, he now invests his spirit into the creative staff around him.
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DISCUSSION
Nick had to take on an investor in order to purchase the equipment, lease the space and hire the staff to do Mama’s Sauce the way he envisioned.
Q: Would you take on an investor to scale your business?
Many creators don’t scale their business because they don’t know how to manage a team of people. A creative team needs a balance of freedom and boundaries.
Q: What’s your management style? How will you know if your style is working?