The Moment Everything Changed
In 2018, I deployed overseas.
It's difficult to explain what deployment does to a person unless you've lived it.
The experience has a way of stripping away everything that doesn't matter.
The endless emails.
The daily stress.
The small problems we convince ourselves are important.
When you're constantly reminded of your own mortality, something strange happens.
You become fully present.
For the first time in a long time, I wasn't thinking about tomorrow.
I was thinking about today.
The people around me.
The conversations we were having.
The meals we shared.
And when I eventually came home, I couldn't stop thinking about that lesson.
Life is fragile.
Time is limited.
The people sitting around your table matter more than you realize.
"After deploying overseas, I learned to cherish and appreciate the small things. With sharing a meal with friends and family being at the center of it all."
Sean Maloney, Founder of 13 Stars Hot Sauce
The Accidental Beginning
When I got home, a friend of mine happened to be growing peppers in his backyard.
Like most guys, we started messing around with them.
Making homemade hot sauces.
Trying things.
Ruining things.
Learning as we went.
Truthfully?
Most of the early batches were terrible.
But a few of them were incredible.
We bottled them up and started sharing them with friends and family during dinners, football games, and cookouts.
Then something unexpected happened.
People kept asking:
"Where can I buy this?"
That question changed everything.
What started as a hobby became an obsession.
All these years later, we're still chasing the same thing:
Creating sauces that deserve a permanent place at the table.
125+ Pepper Varieties Tested
85 Ingredients Eliminated
100s of Trail Batches
Decades of Refinement
Meet Sean
My journey in the world of hot sauce began before I was even born, sparked by my mother's cravings for hot sauce during pregnancy.
Where she used to go to the local taco shop and eat straight up hot sauce packets.
Fast forward to the age of 10 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure from using too much hot sauce on my food (I was even putting it on my pancakes).
15 years later, as an Air Force veteran, my two overseas deployments gave me a renewed appreciation on life.
Seeing both human resilience and fragility firsthand pushed me to create something bigger than myself.
Why We Give Back
Service doesn't end when the uniform comes off.
Too many veterans and first responders continue fighting battles long after the public stops paying attention.
Battles with mental health.
Purpose.
Identity.
The invisible wounds that don't always show up in photographs.
I've dealt with these struggles firsthand.
That's why supporting veteran and first responder causes has been part of our mission from day one.
Not because it's good marketing.
Because it's the right thing to do.
The Community We're Building
13 Stars has never been about hot sauce.
Not really.
It's about creating a community of people who believe in service, hard work, craftsmanship, good food, and taking care of each other.
People who believe meals should be shared.
Conversations should be honest.
And life is too short for boring food.
Whether you've served in uniform, supported someone who has, or simply believe in what we're building.
Pull up a chair.
We're glad you're here.
Stay Spicy,
Sean
Founder, 13 Stars Hot Sauce
Learn more about the 13 Stars Difference
Our Sauces
Too many hot sauces use fermented mashes that taste...like fermented mashes
Our Mission
Beyond the bottle. Fueling your mission with premium hot sauce that gives back to the people who serve.