A Taste Of The Good Life

Michael J. Pallerino

August 28, 2008

W hile reading one of her favorite cooking magazines, Gena Knox came upon a story that would change her life. The landscape architect, who always carried a deep passion for cooking, became immersed in a story on plank grilling. But after reading it, she couldn't decide whether she was more surprised she hadn't heard of the Native American grilling technique or more frustrated that the magazine didn't reference any sources for follow up.

An online search led her to a small company in the Pacific Northwest that sold the planks. The search also enlightened her on the origins of the cooking technique. Crafted by the American Indians in the Pacific Northwest and along the Atlantic Coast, the tasty technique that allows for meat, fish and vegetables to cook in their own juices was not a household name. As the story goes, the Indians would vertically bound the fish onto alder, maple or cedar boards and place it downwind from a bonfire (it's okay to admit your mouth is watering here). Legend even has it the preparation had healing powers.

It was all Gena needed to read. She fell in love with the taste and pledged to introduce the technique to the world. So she ordered a pallet of Western Red Cedar, cut it up, designed a logo, ordered labels, branded the planks and hit the streets. During a show at the Atlanta Merchandise Mart, she sold $6,000 worth of planks in a handful of days. "I thought, 'wow, maybe there is something to this,' " she says.

Simply put, Fire & Flavor - the name Gena and her husband, Davis - gave the company, is geared toward making every meal a gourmet one. Started five years ago with those Western Red Cedar planks, the company, which posts more than $4 million in annual revenue and employs 18 people, sells grilling products and accessories online and in 8,000 stores across the country. Retailers include such big-name players as Lowe's, Kroger, Publix and Whole Foods.

When the company hit the million-dollar sales mark and started to get exposure in the aforementioned national chains, the Knoxes knew they had broken through.

The Family That Works Together ...

For the first year-and-a-half, Gena ran the business. After the company stabilized and started generating more revenue, Davis stopped his moonlighting as a marketing manager for an Atlanta aviation services business and joined the mix.

Davis admits the experience served him well, providing what he calls an "on the job MBA experience." In just two years, the company quickly grew to more than 4,000 employees and provided services to 19 of the largest airports in the country. "I learned a lot at the time," he says. "I was a young buck back then. Of course, I still am." 

Says Gena, "We never thought this would turn into a full-time job for both of us."

And yes, they've heard all those "a-husband-and-wife-team-cannot-be-together-all-the-time" stories. That's why they implemented their own strategy early on. The key is to find different parts of the business on which to focus. For example, Gena works on the sales side, while Davis handles the operations end of the business. They collaborate on the marketing side.

"That is really the saving grace," Gena says. "People will say, 'You can't be together all the time.' But when we come home and have dinner, Davis will fill me in on what's happening on the operations side and I'll give him updates on the sales end. [Believe it or not] we can actually ask each other about our days, because even though we're in the same office, we do different things. It's been important to divide our responsibilities."

It's safe to say the strategy is working. Fire & Flavor recently ranked No. 264 on the 2008 Inc. 500. The company also came in eighth on the magazine's list of the nation's 100 fastest growing Food & Beverage companies.

In a cooking world that includes the likes of Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart, the Knoxes know what they have to do. "People say that if you want to be a big fish you have to start thinking like a big fish," Davis says. "And that's what we are doing - thinking like a big fish."

Says Gena, "Neither one of us really thinks we've made it quite yet. Once the brand becomes a household name and everybody knows what Fire & Flavor is, we'll say we made it. We have lots of room together. Our goal is to have people look at Fire & Flavor as a solution for easy, healthy cooking. We're not that brand yet. Even though we've accomplished a lot, we have so much more room to grow. It's exciting, but we're not there yet ... We never envisioned this, so our success has just made our goals larger."

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Michael J. Pallerino is an award-winning writer and editor. Over the past 22 years, he has written for numerous national consumer and trade publications. His work has been cited by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, ESPN Magazine, Sports Business Journal, BusinessWeek and CNN, among others. He has also achieved numerous honors, including the Jesse H. Neal Editorial Achievement Award, recognized as the Pulitzer Prize for business-to-business magazines.

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