Tyla Simone Crayton was just 16 years old when she started a fully-staffed business, selling chicken wings she and a small staff of high school students prepared with a sauce she developed herself, she said.

After earning national recognition with a 2024 Restaurant Royalty title from PepsiCo’s Dig In program, and just months away from graduating with a degree from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley—Crayton now sets her sights on investing into the Sienna Wings brand and making a million dollars, she said.
Tyla Simone Crayton, owner of Sienna Wings and creator of Sienna Sauce, started her business while still a sophomore in high school. As she prepares to graduate from college, she said she plans to earn a million dollars from marketing and growing the brand. (Asia Armour/Community Impact)
Tyla Simone Crayton, owner of Sienna Wings and creator of Sienna Sauce, started her business while still a sophomore in high school. As she prepares to graduate from college, she said she plans to earn a million dollars from marketing and growing the brand. (Asia Armour/Community Impact)
How it started

Sienna Wings opened at grocery store Harvest Market Sienna in Missouri City in summer 2023, Crayton said, but it grew from a home-based business that started in 2017.

Crayton began taking all her classes online in the 2018-19 school year to spend more time marketing Sienna Sauce, and still graduated in 2021. Even as a high school student, Crayton said she understood the value of her time.

“That's the first thing, and then advocating for yourself in any environment is the second thing,” she said. "Because you've got to use the system to your advantage. You can't just play the cards that are handed to you.”
Crayton's dedication earned her a brand deal and the title of 2024 Restaurant Royalty from Pepsi's Dig In program, which highlights Black business owners in the U.S. (Asia Armour/Community Impact)
Crayton's dedication earned her a brand deal and the title of 2024 Restaurant Royalty from Pepsi's Dig In program, which highlights Black business owners in the U.S. (Asia Armour/Community Impact)
Respecting the craft


When Crayton returns to work at Sienna Wings full time in September, she said she will focus on doing pop-ups at H-E-B multiple times a week and expand the restaurant’s business hours both earlier and later.

“I might have to come here and show up by myself, but that’s okay,” she said. “I’m setting weekly goals and just really grinding.”
The #1 Sauce Boss Combo ($25.25) includes 10 wings, two sides including mac and cheese and french fries, and two dipping sauces. (Asia Armour/Community Impact)
The #1 Sauce Boss Combo ($25.25) includes 10 wings, two sides including mac and cheese and french fries, and two dipping sauces. (Asia Armour/Community Impact)
Though she will prioritize growing the Sienna Wings brand in the Houston-area, Crayton plans to establish an eatery—which sells chicken wing combos with macaroni and cheese and french fries, as well as full bottles of her signature Sienna Sauce—in California one day.

The inspiration

Crayton said she learned the discipline and confidence it takes to own a business by watching her mom—who, as a single parent, decided to move herself and her daughter from New York to Houston in 2005.


“I learned a lot of grit and grind and resilience from my mother and just watching her get through a lot of things,” Crayton said. “When you’re raised like that ... you just don’t have the luxury to play around—especially being Black, and being a Black woman. ... It’s like, failure is never really a choice.”