Episode 016
Emma Dye
How do you take a small business from $250,000 to over a million in just two years? In this episode of Women’s Million Dollar Conversations, Alice Tang sits down with Emma Dye, the Founder and “Chief Salad Officer” of Crisp Salads Northwest. Emma shares her inspiring journey of using the Entrepreneurial Organization (EO) Accelerator program as a stepping stone to reach $2.2 million in revenue.
Emma discusses the importance of ethical persistence, seeking out mentors who have already walked the path, and why she views her business as a safe haven for her 40+ employees. Whether you’re in the restaurant industry or any small business, Emma’s advice on “thinking outside the box” to solve financial hurdles is a masterclass in resilient leadership.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
-How business accelerator programs can help you scale past the million-dollar mark.
-The importance of not ignoring your financials—from food costs to bookkeeping.
-Why mentors and “sounding boards” are essential for making big decisions.
-How to balance pride and responsibility when you want to quit.
"I'm a big believer that sometimes good is good enough and you just have to move forward.”
[00:00:20] Alice Tang: Everyone, welcome to Women’s Million Dollar Conversation. Today we are very excited to have Emma Die, Founder and CEO of Crisp Salad with us. She is a rockstar. We all know that in the Northwest, so I want the rest of the world know about that. Emma, welcome. Would you tell us a little bit about your company, Crisp Salad, and what you do and your vision for the future.
[00:00:49] Emma Dye: Yeah, absolutely. And thank you so much Alice, for this opportunity and for providing this format for women to learn about other women and be inspired to reach these financial milestones and [00:01:00] goals. I think it’s wonderful that you do this. So I am the founder and chief salad officer of Crisp Salads Northwest and I had launched in 2005 and we now have three locations and we’re also in the motor center for the Trailblazer season, which is our local basketball team here in Oregon.
So we’re on the club level there and it’s been quite the journey and been very exciting. And one of our philosophies or sayings, if you will, is we work hard, but we also have fun. So I’m really excited to be here with you today, Alice, and talk about that.
[00:01:33] Alice Tang: Beautiful. Beautiful. So I’ll guess have either earned a million, made a million, or saved a million.
[00:01:42] Emma Dye: Yeah.
[00:01:42] Alice Tang: So I’m gonna take you back, Emma, to the time when you first hit your million. Tell us how did you get there and how does, how did it make you feel?
[00:01:54] Emma Dye: Oh my gosh. Yeah, it’s, it was always my desire to have well over a [00:02:00] million dollars in revenue and I have a pretty lofty goal to get to 10 million in revenue.
Currently we’re at about 2.2 million in revenue, and prior to reaching the million dollar revenue mark, it took a few years to get there. I had met somebody who was in an organization called the Entrepreneurial Organization, EO. I actually had a couple friends that were in it, and I knew that you had to be over a million dollars in revenue to join that organization because my friends were in it.
But I met somebody randomly at the restaurant who came in and loved us, and this gentleman was talking about my business as I was working in the restaurant. And he mentioned EO and I said, my revenue’s not there yet. And he said there’s this accelerator program, so for businesses that are 250,000 to a million and are you have to be the founder and can’t be fired.
And so I was like, oh my gosh, I didn’t know that it was this like kind of stepping stone. So I joined the accelerator program and I was in E O A. Entrepreneurial Organization Accelerator program for about two years, and I was just thrilled when I, pulled that [00:03:00] rolling 12 P&O and saw that we were on track to do 1.2 million that year.
And I was like, yay, I get to graduate and join EO. So that was a really good feeling and it was a neat milestone to have with EO knowing that I got this kind of almost like an award, a graduation into the next level of that organization because I hit a million and that was back in early 2020.
[00:03:24] Alice Tang: Very good. It speaks really loudly of setting goals for anyone or even an entrepreneur we are talking about. Set a goal. Believe in your goal. Execute towards the goal. And do not deviate.
[00:03:37] Emma Dye: Absolutely. Don’t give up. Don’t take no for an answer. Yeah, just do what you gotta do ethically, obviously. But yeah.
[00:03:44] Alice Tang: Awesome. Beautiful.
The next question I would like to ask is on your way to success to that million or even beyond now, right? What are some of the bias that you are facing?
[00:03:56] Emma Dye: Yeah. It’s, it’s interesting because [00:04:00] there’s a couple different, things that I’ve experienced in my life, and they might not be what you’re normally used to hearing.
Obviously being a woman is its own thing, but outside of that, I actually didn’t get my college degree until I was 32. So I had taken some classes when I was younger, had some credits, but wound up, you know, joining the work world and I started making really good money and so I did not get that degree.
And I had a couple of corporate jobs where a degree was, everybody thought it was mandatory, but I would be the only person that got hired that didn’t have that four year degree or beyond. And so I really, you know, in conversations with coworkers and upper management in those corporate roles there was some bias again, like this shock and who are you that you don’t have a college degree?
So I did go back and get it in my early thirties, but I remember that being a very a source of angst for me when people would ask me where I went to college, where did they just assumed that I had a degree, so they would ask these questions.
So that was one. And then another bias that I’ve [00:05:00] experienced is my husband and I made the conscious decision not to have children. And I, you. Now I’m almost 50, so I don’t get this question anymore, but when I was younger, definitely. I mean, actually we still have conversations with folks, once in a while where they’re shocked that we decided not to have children. So there was a little bit of bias about that and just some interesting conversations, both personally and in work. When you’re working, you’re talking about this stuff too.
And then the last one is, I think, funny. I’m also five foot tall . And my husband’s also short too. He is maybe five six. So, you know, Being a short person in this world, there’s that song, Short People Get No Love. So that’s interesting too. So I think it’s sometimes hard for people maybe to take you seriously when you’re, short and blonde and bubbly and all of this good stuff.
[00:05:43] Alice Tang: You definitely look tall in your interview by the television.
[00:05:47] Emma Dye: I guess.
[00:05:49] Alice Tang: Cause I went through your website and, just make sure that I know who I’m interviewing with. And plus, I really is a fan of, eating healthy.
[00:05:56] Emma Dye: Oh, I love it.
[00:05:57] Alice Tang: You look tall than five, so I can relate to that [00:06:00] because I always tell people I’m five, but actually I’m four 11, but I just round this up.
[00:06:07] Emma Dye: I love it. That’s, well, I’m sure you probably wear a little, you at least a little bit of a platform heel there to get you there.
[00:06:11] Alice Tang: I will. I will definitely heels.
[00:06:16] Emma Dye: Except for when I’m at the restaurant. I can’t wear heels, so…
[00:06:18] Alice Tang: Alright. What is your number one piece of advice for people who said, Emma, you took the accelerated program, taking yourself from $250,000 to past that million in two years. That’s crazy. What’s the first number one piece of advice you would give to a woman who inspire to be you, who can relate to your experience?
[00:06:41] Emma Dye: Yeah. I feel like this is something that’s said a lot. So I’ll say two things because one is I think, more common. Never take no for an answer. Don’t give up whether you’re female or male or non-binary. Just, stay focused on your goals and don’t listen to people. Like I, when I opened the restaurant, I had some friends and family who otherwise are [00:07:00] normally very supportive, but they were like, are you crazy? Restaurants have this failure rate. I had a couple people try to talk me out of it. And they weren’t necessarily wrong. It is an extremely tough industry. Small business in of itself is very difficult. But the restaurant industry is, its, is its own thing, right? Like the profit margins are extremely small. But that aside, it was what I wanted to do and I felt like I could do it and that I could do it better than maybe some other people. That being said, the advice I would give is I wish I would have sought out more mentors sooner.
So, you know, I opened in 2015. I didn’t join Accelerator until 2018, and it was a whole new world for me because I met so many other business owners and people who had already exceeded that million dollar market and were going through the struggles that I was going through, not just restaurant, every business have a lot personnel issues, hr, supply chain, everything. It’s not just the [00:08:00] restaurant business. And having those folks as mentors were really, really helped me a lot.
So my number one piece of advice is don’t be afraid to reach out to people in the community that are either in your industry or that you admire. A lot of people, even if you’re not in EO and have that direct connection, we’ll have coffee with you. If ask nicely and you show up and maybe offer to buy them coffee or donate something to one of their favorite charities. You don’t know what you don’t know until you start talking to people. And those experience shares were what has helped me get to where I am today are other people, and I just wish I would’ve done it sooner.
[00:08:37] Alice Tang: Beautifully said. Once again. I have to applaud that. For me, when I was fearful of asking somebody’s time, especially somebody’s super big meaning, the highest produced person in my industry, whatever that is, what that, whatever that means in other people’s industry. I was fearful, but actually when I approached them, they are just [00:09:00] another very nice, very kind human being. They wanted to help, so I didn’t ask for their first child or first born grandchild. I asked for 15 minutes.
[00:09:12] Emma Dye: Exactly.
[00:09:12] Alice Tang: I asked for 15 minutes, and they always can give, but if you just give them a very difficult time, like two hours, sorry, nobody has two hours, you have 15 minutes. They do have 30 minutes, so very good advice.
Yeah. Somebody bigger than you need to show you.
[00:09:30] Emma Dye: Yeah.
[00:09:30] Alice Tang: Blind spots, right? What am I not seeing?
[00:09:33] Emma Dye: Yeah. It’s also, you know, they always say this about running or working out or playing a sport too. It’s play with people who are better than you. Don’t be afraid of that. Don’t be afraid to do those things because it makes you better.
And then likewise, being in the position I’m in now, I will talk to people if they reach out. I’m also here now to help folks. The way people have helped me. I think it’s just great in both directions, right? The best way to learn is to teach. And having conversations with folks who are [00:10:00] up and coming, I learn stuff all the time. I learn about new technologies, I learn about, you know, things change. So what I did back in 2015 isn’t necessarily what people are doing in 2023.
[00:10:09] Alice Tang: And things, so change quickly.
[00:10:12] Emma Dye: Yeah.
[00:10:12] Alice Tang: Let’s get to our next question is describe the process that you would take if you have to make a big decision. And entrepreneur Business owners, we always have to make big decision, so especially when the stake are very high, what do you do?
[00:10:28] Emma Dye: Yeah, so it’s such a balancing act Alice, right? Like you don’t want to take forever and overanalyze and weigh yourself down and talk to 20 different people. At least I don’t like, that’s not how I make a decision. But I do wanna do some of that, right? Like you have to do some analysis and take in the information that’s important and vital. And then seek possibly a sounding board from a couple of people that I respect and I admire and I know make good decisions and get their input. But the final decision is [00:11:00] mine. And I have to go with what I think is best and what my gut is telling me along with my logic. But I do like to talk to, at least one, if not three other people sounding boards.
But I’m a big believer and sometimes good is good enough and you just gotta move forward and you might make a mistake. It might not be the best decision long term. We all, everybody has hindsight, but we don’t have a crystal ball. So we have to make these decisions based on the information that we have and the allotment of time that we have. So I do the best that I can with the information that I have and the people resources that I have.
[00:11:34] Alice Tang: I love what you, how you say, everybody has hindsight, meaning looking back, but we don’t have a crystal ball. And also you have spoken loudly about taking action and correcting the course. It’s important to take action rather than being paralyzed I didn’t know what to do. So sometimes decision made too late if you would agree, Emma?
[00:11:52] Emma Dye: Yeah.
[00:11:53] Alice Tang: Is no decision.
[00:11:54] Emma Dye: Yeah, absolutely. It’s, no decision is not moving forward so
[00:11:59] Alice Tang: It’s [00:12:00] also a decision too, but it’s not to move forward.
[00:12:01] Emma Dye: Yeah, a decision to not make a decision. Yeah.
[00:12:05] Alice Tang: Okay. Next question. I’m sure there are moments that life is too tough or business is too tough. Everything could happen, wrong, happen on you, and there is moments maybe you want to quit. And what kept you going?
[00:12:20] Emma Dye: Oh my gosh, yes. I’ve had many sleepless nights and some recently, so there’s a lot going on and what keeps me going, there are a few things.
One is the people that work for me. I have right now about 40 employees. And in the summer we have 50. And there are folks that rely on me for their income to make their rent, and that, that weighs on me. That’s very important to me that I’ve created these jobs for folks, I’m also the first job for a lot of high schoolers. We have six. A lot of young folks that work for us up to, you know, our experienced kitchen people and my COO. They all rely on Crisp and the revenue that we provide to pay their salaries and their wages and benefits. So that is something [00:13:00] that is very motivating to me. Sometimes I’m like, I’m just gonna shut the doors and move to Mexico but you can’t, I can’t do that. I could never do that to the folks that rely on me. So that is something that’s very motivating to me.
And then whether this is right or wrong, I’ve grappled with this I have a lot of pride and I want to be successful. I want to succeed. And it would be really hard for me if the restaurants didn’t survive, if they didn’t do what I am trying to get them to do. And sometimes I don’t know if it’s gonna happen, I’m like, I do everything I can. I’m trying to, logically do the best steps. And then I’m also doing the manifestation and visualizing what we’re gonna do. But it’s really difficult and there’s also factors outside of my control, right?
I can’t control covid, I can’t control supply chain. Really I can just do everything I can to the best of my ability with what’s happening. So those are the things that motivate me, my, my team, the people in my life that rely on me and my pride .
[00:13:55] Alice Tang: Wow. Wow. I like how you answer it because it is about [00:14:00] community around you. Those people have been working for you. And you see their life is counting on you. They are talented people. I’m sure they can find jobs.
[00:14:11] Emma Dye: Yeah.
[00:14:12] Alice Tang: It’s not as much fun as at Crisp.
[00:14:15] Emma Dye: Exactly. I, yeah. No one’s gonna be homeless if, you know they have to leave Crisp. If it’s not easy or fun sometimes to go and find another employer and I do create a really safe, respectful environment for our team members that, I don’t, there’s not every restaurant or every business does that.
[00:14:34] Alice Tang: Yes, yes. I can see that they’re having fun, at least on the television.
[00:14:38] Emma Dye: Yeah. We try, I it’s hard work, but we try to have fun while we’re working.
[00:14:42] Alice Tang: Yes, yes. Because we spend a lot more time with the people we work with than our family. Think about that. . So if you are not having fun, it’s pretty miserable. .
[00:14:52] Emma Dye: Yeah, exactly. So yeah, we definitely try to keep that, that culture alive at Crisp.
[00:14:58] Alice Tang: Awesome. And then, [00:15:00] what is the one thing that you would do differently? Knowing what you know now, nothing is a good answer.
[00:15:06] Emma Dye: Yeah, no, I actually, again, I feel like I’m always like, I have two answers cause one is related to my business now. And the other would be advice I would give, especially to women, cuz I think women don’t tend to do this as much as men, even in 2023.
So personally, prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I wish I would have bought a home when I was single and making good money. I think that’s a really good path to wealth is owning property and it’s something I didn’t do until I, I met my husband. I was too busy working and having fun and traveling and, doing other things and I didn’t take the time to invest my income that I was making into a home, which I could have and should have done in hindsight. That would’ve been a great way to build wealth faster.
And then the second advice I would give as an entrepreneur as to anyone who’s starting a business is to not ignore the financials. So I came from a sales background [00:16:00] and when I started Crisp, it was just me. My husband does real estate full-time and I just thought I just have to focus on making revenue, right? I just have to focus on bringing in people and making sales, and that’ll solve all my problems, and I should have focused more on the bottom line and the money going out, food costs for me as a restaurant than any business in your outgoing costs. Having a good accountant and somebody to, bookkeeper, somebody to help you look at the numbers, like all the time is something that I didn’t do enough in the beginning and I wish I would’ve done that more. So that is advice I would give to anyone. But again, I feel like these are, sometimes women tend to unfortunately not be as numbers orientated. And so I think that’s something that we really should focus on. More.
[00:16:48] Alice Tang: It’s not only woman, Emma it’s also men too.
[00:16:51] Emma Dye: I know. Everybody does it.
[00:16:52] Alice Tang: Because remember what I mean, I’m in the financial industry, although we don’t, do their taxes or do their bookkeeping, but we look at their financials [00:17:00] cuz we have a lot of business owners who we are working with think about the exit strategy and such. And you’ll be surprised if you sat with me shadowing every day. So if you are shadowing, that, people do not quite understand how to read their financial and how to make some meaning of that.
[00:17:20] Emma Dye: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:17:22] Alice Tang: So it, it’s only the revenue that’s not credit, right?
[00:17:25] Emma Dye: Yeah.
[00:17:26] Alice Tang: Money in your bank, paying yourself.
[00:17:27] Emma Dye: Look in the bank account, and I’m like, ok, the money’s up and down. But like, where is it going? So yeah, learning the, being more involved in the financials from the beginning. Great for men and women.
[00:17:39] Alice Tang: While we’re talking about money, what’s the value of money for you? Because some people say it’s financial freedom, no financial security, peace of mind, you name it. What’s it for you?
[00:17:49] Emma Dye: Yeah I love the term financial freedom. It really, and when I think of financial freedom, it means I can give, 10% once a month to the [00:18:00] nonprofit of our choice. And it, it means that I can help more people. I can provide healthcare for my team members that are full-time. I can offer more benefits the more revenue we make. And it’s, so that’s really important to me. And it’s just the freedom to do the right thing and then of course the freedom to have fun and travel and do all of those things too.
[00:18:23] Alice Tang: Of course. So my dad is also an entrepreneur for many years, of course, trial and error. And one of the things he always tell me since a kid, he’s 92 year old, that if money can solve it, it’s not a problem. That’s why you need to have it. I had fun with that when I was young, but when I started this profession 22 years ago, I totally see it. I totally see it.
[00:18:50] Emma Dye: Yeah, that’s, you say.
[00:18:52] Alice Tang: We need to travel to see a close family member and only the most expensive air ticket is available and you [00:19:00] got to go.
[00:19:04] Emma Dye: Yeah.
[00:19:05] Alice Tang: Money. Go. Because you can always make it again.
[00:19:09] Emma Dye: Exactly. Yeah. Freedom and choice, being able to make that choice.
[00:19:13] Alice Tang: Absolutely. My last question, so I’m sad to ask the last questions, because we had such a great conversation. What is one piece of very good or very bad advice that you have ever received in your life?
[00:19:25] Emma Dye: Oh my gosh. Let’s see. Good advice. Definitely is never stop. Don’t take no for an answer. And one of the sayings that I live by is think outside the box. A lot of times we face a situation or challenge and we’re like, oh. This isn’t gonna work. And then as you’re thinking about it and looking at it from different angles, a solution can present itself that you never imagined. I, an example of that is, I worked with some of my landlords through a difficult time. And before that, it didn’t even occur to me that could be a way [00:20:00] to help our financial situation for the time that we needed was to ask them, and again, pride and, I didn’t wanna ask them for help.
And I, and they were more than happy to like, defer our rent for a short amount of time so that we could get through the situation and then pay them back. And, we’ve been a really good tenant for a really long time. And so that was something that had not occurred to me until. I thought about it and I think I actually talked to a friend who was a commercial leasing agent He met, recommended that too. Yeah, so it’s just like thinking outside the box and not giving up. Again, I feel like some of these are Triton and people say it all the time, but it’s, they’re said for a reason and they’re true,
[00:20:35] Alice Tang: Yes. Thank you so much, Emma, today. We are very happy to have you. Tell us how we can find your salad bar in case they’ve never heard about it. Are you kidding? You must have heard about it.
[00:20:48] Emma Dye: Oh gosh. I so appreciate it. Yeah, it’s so interesting having been around since 2015, but just, one location in North Portland until 2020, so a lot of people are still discovering us, which is great.
I love it when they do. So we have the [00:21:00] location in North Portland on North Williams. We’re Kitty Corner from a great restaurant called Ean, which is like one of the restaurants of the years for the last few years. And then we’re on Southeast Division and 20th. We have a location in Happy Valley near the New Seasons. We’re the same complex as the New Seasons. Motor center at the club level during laser games. And then you can find us online, if you Google Crisp Solids Portland, we come up cuz I pay that Google fee. And our, website, we can order, order online, save time, we can choose any of the locations we cater. So yeah, I, I would love to meet new folks and have anybody reach out to me and all the emails for Crisp come to me.
So perfect.
[00:21:38] Alice Tang: This is a good time to close. Women who care about the community have pride to continue going, never give up. Got beyond a million. She’s looking forward to the 10 million.
[00:21:48] Emma Dye: Yes.
[00:21:49] Alice Tang: Congratulations, Emma, and thank you for being our guest. Love it.
[00:21:53] Emma Dye: Thank you for having me. All right. Bye .
[00:21:57] Alice Tang: Bye.
Meet Emma Dye, CEO & Founder of Crisp Salads. Emma is the visionary behind Crisp Salads, the fast-casual restaurant celebrating ten years in business this year—a significant achievement in the current culinary landscape. Founded in 2015, the local, woman-owned small business has become a Portland staple by making flavorful, whole foods more accessible in the Northwest. Under Emma’s leadership, Crisp has earned accolades like the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Restauranteur of the Year award and the International Fresh Produce Association’s Produce Excellence Award, all while fostering a positive company culture and empowering team members.