Teresa Collie has a message for anyone thinking of starting up their own business
Just go for it.
It’s an attitude borne of experience.
It was just six months ago that Teresa first wondered why dipping sauces in the UK lack the variety of those in the US.
On Saturday, the Bridge of Don native officially launches her company D!p, and its debut range of three North American-inspired flavoured salsas.
It is a moment that the 45-year-old admits is both terrifying and exciting at the same time. It is also one that may not have come if not for a dislike of her previous job.
“If I’d been in a job that I was delighted with, I might not have made the switch,” says Teresa, who used to work in administration. “I was definitely looking for a change.”
Teresa admits she was lucky in her mission to be helped by friend Campbell Archibald, one half of Dundee venture capital company CAM Ventures.
Campbell is helping to fund the D!p salsas, though all the work is done by Teresa.
“He said to me, let’s do it,” she says of Campbell. “He just felt that I had the right attitude.”
Ken Bruce’s helping hand
The three salsas in Teresa’s D!p line up vary wildly in flavour but do have one thing in common – their names are inspired by famous song titles.
First up is Papa Don’t Peach. Tequila Little Time and Rasp-beret Chipotle round out the rest of the pun-tastic portfolio.
Teresa maintains that the flavours took precedence over punability when it came to picking the range.
But she had a lot of fun coming up with the names – helped in part by Ken Bruce.
For the Papa Don’t Peach name, she was listening to the Radio 2 DJ in her Bridge of Don kitchen when Ken played the Madonna song.
“I thought to myself: ‘Aha, there you go! Nailed it’,” she says.
Teresa hopes to launch more flavours in the future, and is already working on new puns.
One day, she hopes to see her handiwork grace supermarket shelves across the country.
For the time being, she will be selling D!p at food shows across the north-east, starting at Aberdeenshire’s Echt Show on Saturday July 9.
The following week she will be at Glamis before heading over to the Lonach Games on August 27.
“I’ve always been on the other side of the tables,” Teresa says of the food shows. “This will be a completely different experience for me.”