Episode 021
Lori Spencer
How do you build a million-dollar brand when nobody even knows what your product is? In this episode of Women’s Million Dollar Conversations, Alice Tang sits down with Lori Spencer, co-founder of Oregon Chai and a 25-year veteran of the food and beverage industry. Lori shares the organic, high-energy journey of growing a startup by 350% and watching the “million-dollar thermometer” in the office climb to the top.
Lori reveals the grit it took to succeed in the 90s—including selling her car and moving back home to fund her dream—and how she transitioned from a “fear of sales” to realizing that sales is simply building relationships. Whether you are a founder or a corporate leader, Lori’s advice on building a “community” rather than just a “network” is a game-changer for long-term resilience.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
The “mouth-to-mouth” marketing strategy that launched the Chai tea category.
Why Lori’s “boardroom” is actually her daily walk.
The importance of the “Mentor Table” and how to curate your own circle of advisors.
Why “Asking for Help” is the single most important skill for a growing entrepreneur
"Always remember to advocate for yourself and ask for help when you need it."
[00:00:20] Alice Tang: Hello, Lori Spencer, my wonderful friend and the founder, co-founder of Oregon Chai. We are so happy to have Lori, beautiful, Lori today here. Everybody in Portland in the food and beverages industry know about Lori.
Now. If you don’t know her, this is a great chance. Lori, tell us about yourself and your business.
[00:00:46] Lori Spencer: Yes. Thank you Alice. Thank you for having me. As Alice said, I’m Lori Spencer and I am an executive and consultant in the food and beverage industry. I have been in the industry for 25 [00:01:00] years and I have owned my own practice for 15 years. My practice focuses around small to mid-size companies and I help in a variety of ways. General business, marketing and business development are my areas of focus.
[00:01:19] Alice Tang: And in the food and beverages industry specifically?
[00:01:22] Lori Spencer: Correct. I have done a lot of work in consumer products. I’ve done some in healthcare, but a primary focus of my practice is definitely food and beverage. Yes.
[00:01:32] Alice Tang: Great. This is Women’s Million Dollar Conversation. Of course, we are here with great women who have great success to be a role model. We are talking about money here. First question, Lori, what’s your value of money?
[00:01:48] Lori Spencer: Money provides freedom and money also provides the flexibility to be able to make choices for yourself in what you want to do. It allows choices and being able to [00:02:00] choose things that you would like to do, maybe not necessarily what you need to do. And, now as a parent and mom, to be able to provide for your family and kids is quite something. Not having that, the stress of money and everything that comes.
[00:02:17] Alice Tang: Very good. Yeah. In my day-to-day work, we talk about money freedom or financial freedom a lot, and you are absolutely right. Providing the freedom of choices, so you feel less stress. And you don’t have to, although you might want to do certain things. Lori, you hit it on the nail.
We want to drive down a little bit to your funding of Oregon Chi because you one of the people along with the people who were running with you, your co-founders, has taken it past a million and then you sold it. So we want to hear that journey, to the first million dollars. How long does it take you to get there and tell us a little bit about when you get there, how does it make you or [00:03:00] everybody around you feel?
[00:03:01] Lori Spencer: Yes, I was gonna say for the purposes of today’s discussions around a million dollars, I very much wanted to share about the Oregon Chai story and how we did reach that million.
And at the time, it seemed like forever to get to that million dollars. So Oregon Chai was extremely successful early on. We were growing at 350% after a year and a half, which is phenomenal growth. And when I look back on it, that million dollar mark, we literally had one of those thermometers in the office that we would watch to see when we were gonna hit that million dollar mark.
And it came from a lot of, that first initial year, sampling and getting people to try it. Nobody knew what Chai was. So our goal was to get it to people’s mouths. It was an outstanding product just as far as recipe and taste. And so [00:04:00] without any awareness or education, we had to get it to people’s mouths. So we spent a lot of time and dollars on, sampling on the sides of streets or in stores or, in coffee shops. And we would have these chai raves and chai gatherings where we’d have lots of people. And so it was done very organically early on. But when we hit that million, we definitely celebrated because we had that, we had our visual in the office.
And I think we did celebrate as a team at the time. And from that million dollar mark, we wanted more. We wanted to keep going and wanted to just keep pushing ourselves to, sell more chai, educate more on Oregon Chai and, be the success of the category. Passion and drive were really what we had.
It was a new category. Nobody was doing alternative beverages in 1994. As four women [00:05:00] with a lot of passion and drive, we, we were determined to, start this chai tea category. So
[00:05:08] Alice Tang: Beautiful. Love that story. Would you just tell us, if you recall how many months, does it take for you to hit the million from the zero, right? You started at zero?
[00:05:21] Lori Spencer: Yes.
[00:05:22] Alice Tang: How many months or years?
[00:05:24] Lori Spencer: I was going to say it took about three years of.
[00:05:27] Alice Tang: That’s amazing.
[00:05:28] Lori Spencer: Hard work and dedication and like I said, when I look back on it, that felt like forever, but you are correct. Three years is not long. Not long when?
[00:05:39] Alice Tang: When you look back, but not looking forward.
[00:05:42] Lori Spencer: Correct. Now, today. That would take a lot longer due to competition, due to, a very crowded space. So a little bit of this is our timing. Was, in 19 94, 95, the timing of our [00:06:00] beverage, the work ethic of all of us, a few of us were single, no families yet.
We put all of our heart and soul into the company and you really do in the early days you have to it. It was quite a story. I had to sell my car, move home. I was working seven days a week, and a lot of that was around the sampling piece that I talked about.
[00:06:24] Alice Tang: Very good. Very good. So on your journey to success, both to the million and beyond that million until the company was happily acquired by somebody. What are some of the bias or biggest bias that you personally have experienced or collectively as a company has experienced?
[00:06:48] Lori Spencer: Yes, great question. So for an example at Oregon Chai we were a women owned business and it was the early nineties and it was unheard of. There were very few women [00:07:00] owned companies at the time and let alone having the success that we did. And I’ve definitely worked, I worked through having children and, sometimes there was a lot of guilt that came with that, but I learned that, success came from working hard and that if I was going to get to a place of success that I was going to have to put the work in.
In the food and beverage industry, it’s been a very male dominant industry for years and years. And, there’s meetings and conversations that I had been in that, couldn’t believe that there was a woman at the table. At times and that’s obviously changed and things have opened up, and that’s due to more consumer products coming to the marketplace and more women owned businesses.
And if anything, I was gonna say, it’s at a very important and exciting time now with so many women leading the way and leading, leading the charge in the consumer products industry. It’s wonderful [00:08:00] to see. It’s come a long way though, and it’s taken a lot of, perseverance and power to to get there. So.
[00:08:08] Alice Tang: Lori, you just reminded me of a quote that I couldn’t remember who said that. “We have out today because we are sending standing on the shoulders of the people before us who paved the path.” And paraphrasing to, the conversation you just gave us, the today’s founders or today’s people who’s trying and thriving in the food industry or start opening, they’re standing on shoulders of yours and your co-founders and people at the time who just, do it no matter what. Sold my car go back to my parents’ home. Yes. I’m not taking any route, but this one.
[00:08:48] Lori Spencer: That’s right. And I was gonna say, there’s a profound difference that I have seen over my 30 years of being in this industry. Definitely. And it’s great to see I always smile and almost get [00:09:00] goosebumps when I see so many women’s speakers now and writing books or sharing their journeys.
And that was unheard of back in the nineties, believe it or not. You didn’t see a lot that.
[00:09:11] Alice Tang: I’m, I think we are owe enough to say that we are letting people stand on our
shoulders.
[00:09:17] Lori Spencer: Yes, absolutely.
[00:09:20] Alice Tang: Talking about the the newer generation or the newcomers. What is your number one piece of advice for somebody who is watching this commerce, this interview and they said, aspire to be a Lori. The number one piece of advice to them.
[00:09:35] Lori Spencer: Yes. Keep going. So I feel fortunate and lucky that I have surrounded myself with an incredible network of people. Earlier on in my career, one of my first bosses gave me advice to always have a mentor table. And so you want to, in your career, you start now in your twenties and you want to fill that table. And [00:10:00] you’re always going to be replacing people in that table. And so surrounding yourself with a network of people that you know you can rely on throughout your career and throughout your journey to, to call on as needed. And I took that to heart and I’ve really taken time to build that table, and build that circle and ask for the permission to be able to have those people at my table and take advantage of having that knowledge and that network.
And I honestly don’t know what I would do without my network. Because it’s been such a huge, important piece of my journey for sure. And that goes for family and friends too. People that I’ve been able to call on or depend on.
And so if you know you need seek advice or seek your network, start now and build that community. If you have that community and you’re not utilizing it I would definitely [00:11:00] think about that and how you can do better at that. It’s everything.
[00:11:03] Alice Tang: It’s everything, network. Given there is so much uncertainty in our world and every year they come a new title, whether it’s Covid or inflation, let’s name it, right? You give a different label. Everything is uncertain. But if we have a strong network, according to a wonderful Lori, You are way more resilient.
[00:11:25] Lori Spencer: I do wanna say I don’t like the word network and it feels very rigid and very firm to me. So I like to call it community cuz that’s really what we are building in our life is a community and whether that’s personal or professional. But I’ve done my best to try to bring them together as much as I can. And so it’s one whole, whole piece.
[00:11:48] Alice Tang: Okay. Community versus network. Got it. Got it.
I’m gonna take you back to a time when you, maybe a two of three, when you’re building your business, things didn’t work and [00:12:00] you’re banging your head against the wall, and you really want to quit. What kept you going?
[00:12:09] Lori Spencer: Self-determination, hard work, strong work ethic, passion and drive. I take those pieces to me in all of my work and also ask for help. This is something that to me it’s a skill, and I’ve had to learn it, to ask for help. We are in our culture. Asking for help is almost an apology in a way. People treat it that way. Not an apology, but asking for help is portrayed sometimes as Not a positive, and I had to learn that asking for help is actually what gets you through, gets you to what you need.
So one of my things that I told my children every single week that they went to school, raise your hand and ask for help. Ask, [00:13:00] and you shall receive. So that would be my, when you’re banging your head against the wall in business or you’re stuck and you need something, ask for help. Whether that’s to a coworker, whether that’s to a teacher or a professor, or your local community. Asking for help has definitely helped me a lot in my career, and especially at those times when I’ve been stuck or maybe wanting to quit. And when I seek that help, it opens up a whole new chapter of how to think or how to solve or how to get through.
[00:13:36] Alice Tang: Ask for help. I think we can also unpack this between the growth mindset and the limited mindset. The limited mindset is, I got to be right. I got it. I don’t want to expose myself to tell the world that actually I don’t have the tools. I’m not that good.
In the growth mindset is how can we leverage the community? [00:14:00] They are there. They are there to help me. Only if I raise my hand and ask.
[00:14:08] Lori Spencer: Correct.
[00:14:08] Alice Tang: Thank you, Lori.
[00:14:09] Lori Spencer: And also advocating for yourself. I’ve had to learn how to advocate for my children, advocate for my career, advocate for my health and we’re not necessarily trained to do that, so it’s also the same. So advocating and asking for help is a big.
[00:14:27] Alice Tang: Advocating and asking for help. Change topic when you are processing a very big decision. How do you process it? What do you do? Do you go to you like meditate in a quiet place for seven days?
[00:14:42] Lori Spencer: I was actually going to say the first part of my career would’ve been definitely seeking as much information and research I could around it and gathering that research. I would say that the later part of my career has definitely been focused around health and [00:15:00] wellness and really keeping, I call it my center. So finding my center. And one of the biggest things in my center right now is walking. And so, I cannot tell you how much walking has helped my mental, my physical and I’ve now turned it into sort of my boardroom is my walk. Just where I problem solve and, come up with some of those solutions and come up with, if I’m stuck or feeling challenged or feeling up against the wall I will take a walk.
And it’s absolutely been my saving grace in a lot of ways, and where it really started playing a big role was in Covid.
[00:15:39] Alice Tang: Very good. Now what is the one thing that you wish you would do differently if you were starting over 25 years ago? Here come 1994 founding Chai.
[00:15:52] Lori Spencer: Yeah. I feel fortunate and lucky that I started my career as a founder and I was able to learn all [00:16:00] aspects of the business from operations to sales, to driving a forklift, to answering the phone, to, in the early days we wore all hats. So we learned raising capital, raising money, hiring. And so, I feel lucky that I was able to wear all those hats.
And taking that in my career and focusing on, marketing and sales and general business have been a big focus, but maybe taking advantage of the fact that in my early part of my career, I had worn all those hats and maybe if I had maybe spent the time to, to learn each of those along the way, but for the most part, I don’t have a lot of regrets just due to the fact that I have been exposed to a lot. If I could have maybe honed in on my skillset on some of those other areas that I learned early on, and as I took that with me, that might be something that I, could have done.
I was always in [00:17:00] fear of sales. I was always, not in fear of sales, but just, oh, I can’t do that area. But honestly I’m doing sales every day. Sales is, building relationships and being with people and making things happen. And I’m doing that every day. So it’s been I think, not fearing things and going for it is really you good thing.
[00:17:23] Alice Tang: Agree with you. I actually love sales happen too. I’m very weak in many areas, but I felt that just riding on what you said, sales is really applying influence because you can only take a horse to the water and whether the horse drink or not, it really depend on our wilderness and capacity and urgency. All these things, the stars need to lined up and it’s out of my control. My job is to take down to the beautiful water. Drink whenever they’re ready.
[00:17:52] Lori Spencer: I love that. I love that.
[00:17:55] Alice Tang: So we are winding down to the last two questions, if I may. What is a [00:18:00] piece of the best or the worst advice you ever had in your life that made the biggest impact?
[00:18:08] Lori Spencer: Yes, I love this question. I do have so many, but I’m going to share. So I come from a very close-knit family. My grandmother, my aunt and my mom were all very strong, smart, and spirited women, and worked hard, all of them. And growing up, we had a family motto, which was, be kind, work hard, and have fun. And that was instilled in me to, to this day.
And since I have taken that into my immediate family, to my kids, and if you saw one of my children today, and you said to them, what is the best piece of advice you could give to someone? They would probably say that just because it was in the house, in our house on the wall, and yeah I basically tried to really live my life to those words, and [00:19:00] that’s from my grandmother, that’s from my parents. And now I’m taking that to my children and passing that along.
[00:19:06] Alice Tang: Thank you. Thank you. Last question. What are you grateful for today?
[00:19:11] Lori Spencer: So much. I’m grateful for my health. I’m grateful for my family, my community, both personally and professionally. And I’m thankful for my dog, Harley.
[00:19:23] Alice Tang: Lori, it has been great to be with you for the past 15, 20 minutes. When people are curious and want to find more about Lori how can they find you?
[00:19:34] Lori Spencer: They can find me on my website. AboutLoriSpencer.com and they can also find me on LinkedIn. And yeah, I’m very much relevant and current on social channels and so they can find me that way as well.
[00:19:50] Alice Tang: Thank you, Lori. I’m grateful for you and our conversation today. It touched me.
[00:19:53] Lori Spencer: I’m grateful for you too, Alice. And thank you for being an absolute shining star in our [00:20:00] community. It’s been, an honor to know you.
[00:20:02] Alice Tang: Yes, same here. Same here.
Lori Spencer is a seasoned industry expert with over 25 years of proven success in the consumer products industry, primarily in food and beverage. Her expertise spans marketing, sales, operations, and business management, allowing her to effectively lead teams through start-up, scale, and growth phases across retail, wholesale, direct, and manufacturing channels.
Lori was a founding principal and key catalyst in the growth of Oregon Chai, helping establish the “Chai” beverage category in the US market, from its 1994 inception through its $75 million acquisition in 2004. She has since held leadership roles at notable Portland-based companies including New Seasons Market, Tillamook Creamery, Salt & Straw, and ZoomCare+.
Currently, Lori is the Founder/Principal at Lori Spencer Consulting.
Beyond her entrepreneurial work, Lori is deeply committed to community, serving on the Board of Directors for Tender Loving Empire and having previously served on boards for organizations like Built Oregon, Girls Inc., and the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). She also actively mentors emerging consumer product companies through the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) and other programs.
Lori holds a BFA in Art and a minor in Graphic Design from Dominican University.