MILWAUKEE — A woman-owned business in Milwaukee is seeing success after relaunching during the pandemic.

There are dozens of women-owned businesses on the shelves of Outpost grocery stores. For one woman, it’s been a goal of hers to see her product on the shelves.

Walking into the doors of an Oupost grocery store is always something fun for Wendi Horcos because she gets to see her product on the shelves.

“It’s surreal,” Horcos, owner of Mama Fuerte, said.

Her homemade chutney now sits next to a handful of other women-owned businesses and it’s something she’s proud of. Back in the kitchen, where her product is made is where the hard work begins. Her company, Mama Fuerte, has its own SA BRAAI Chutney.

She started the business back in 2013 with her husband, but they shut the business down when they got divorced in 2018. Their goal was to bring chutney to Wisconsin.

“People know what chutney is in other countries,” Horcos said. “So when our product went off the shelf, I mean, our website was down, somehow people started finding us and emailing us.”

Horcos said people came looking for the product they loved. So she decided to start things back up in 2020.

“It has been a very interesting journey, to say the least,” Horcos said. “For as much work as it is, there is just such a reward.”

She’s now back to making her sweet, tangy condiment as a female entrepreneur. She is using all the proceeds to help create a fund for her son’s college tuition.

“It’s been pushing me and challenging me and there are these moments where I have lifted and spent the whole day doing all this stuff that I normally wouldn’t do and i’m like ahhh I did it,” Horcos said.

It has been providing a sense of empowerment for herself. She’s been able to bring a passion project back to life and back on the shelves.