HOUSTON – After evacuating their home in Louisiana in 2016 due to catastrophic floods Jamie and Stanley Alford had to find a way to start over, and they did just that - relocating to Houston with their family, where they managed to get out the mud and triumph together.
“My daughter was about 2 weeks old. All of a sudden, the National Guard knocked on our door and said, ‘Hey. Y’all need to be out of there this evening.’ And, you know, our whole life as we knew it, it changed completely,” said Stanley.
For Jamie, one of the hardest parts of the experience was leaving behind their small town life.
“It was devastating to uproot from everything that you know as far as careers, family, friends,” said Jamie. “It was an eye-opener, but we got through it.”
Stanley began making calls to contacts for potential job opportunities and soon found himself heading to Houston where a college friend offered them a couch to stay on in the interim.
“It was a struggle, you know? But, once you lose everything sometimes you just have to adjust, and that’s exactly what we did, and in a nutshell that’s how we made it here to Houston, Texas,” said Stanley.
After hustling to save up enough money to find a place of their own, Stanley and Jamie moved into an apartment and began to settle into their new home where Stanley was able to rekindle an old flame.
“I’ve always had a love for cooking. We came out. We had a trailer. My wife bought me one big pot, and the trailer, the pot it just said, ‘Hey, how about you give Houston real Louisiana crawfish,’ and that’s when I started,’ said Stanley.
The couple began catering crawfish boils as a hobby while balancing work and family life. It wasn’t something they would take on full time until later, when a unique idea would propel them to another level.
“Late 2019, we came up with the idea of Boil in a Box, [which] gave us the opportunity to serve more than one location at one time,” said Stanley. “We didn’t know that we were about to have a worldwide pandemic that was pretty much going to make our theory a high demand product.”
Out the Mud offers different options for their Boil in a Box product, including a full crawfish boil menu in various sizes complete with corn, potatoes sausage and other add-ons. They offer contactless delivery options throughout the Greater Houston area and even ship nationwide.
“The volume has definitely increased. We went from doing two to three orders a month, now we are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, like 10 to 15 on a Friday, 15 to 30 on a Saturday and Sundays are maybe 20 orders,” said Jamie.
And their cajun flavors have also caught the attention of celebrities like Bun B, Paul Wall, Lil Keke, Funny Mike and Sloane Stephens. But, both Stanley and Jamie stay humble and true to their muddy roots.
“We literally had to start over, and that’s pretty much us getting it out the mud,” said Stanley. “It’s not only the name of our company, but it’s really a lifestyle.”
To connect with Stanley and Jamie, visit the Out the Mud website here.