She's Empowered Spotlight: Farah Jesani, founder of One Stripe Chai Co.

"I love sharing advice with anyone that's considering taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. I'm so grateful for all the help and mentorship I've been lucky to receive since day one and I'm happy to share that with anyone starting out!"

Meet our good friend Farah Jesani, the founder of One Stripe Chai Co.! She makes some of the most delicious, high-quality chai we've ever had... It's truly the perfect blend of sweet + spicy!

Tell us a little about you!

Hi I'm Farah! I'm 33, the daughter of South Asian immigrants, and I own One Stripe Chai co in Portland, OR where I live with my husband currently!

Tell us about your professional journey.

I graduated from the University of Georgia with a business degree and moved to NYC to work in the corporate world. It was here that I fell in love with the specialty coffee scene. NYC has some of the best cafes and would find myself searching them out. I love coffee shops as spaces that bring people and ideas together. After a few years of consulting, I found myself feeling unfulfilled and decided to quit my job and spend some time in Portland, OR (I had never been here before) to learn more about coffee. I wanted to learn to barista and either open up a coffee shop or roastery. On my journey learning about coffee, I realized that the chai options offered at coffee shops didn't really reflect the bold and flavorful chai I grew up drinking. And thus, the seeds for One Stripe Chai were planted...

How do you stay motivated?

I try to connect with female founders as regularly as I can. Honestly, connecting with peers is so motivating because it allows us to see that we all share similar struggles and also allows us to celebrate each others' wins!

Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in starting a business?

Ask lots of questions! There's no manual out there that tells you everything you need to do step-by-step, so talk to other business owners, hear their stories, and ask them everything! There's no bad questions. The worst that can happen is someone says no, so put yourself out there.

What are your favorite ways to #spreadgood in your community?

I love sharing advice with anyone that's considering taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. I'm so grateful for all the help and mentorship I've been lucky to receive since day one and I'm happy to share that with anyone starting out!

Who is one person who inspires you and why?

Two people- my parents! Both of them are or have been entrepreneurs at some point in their life. They've always been very supportive of any decisions my sisters and I make, no matter how un-traditional it might be. My parents came to America with practically nothing as newlyweds (seriously, moving to America was their honeymoon!). They've worked so hard and made so many sacrifices so we could pursue our interests and dreams.

How do you work to stay centered and practice self-care in your busy day-to-day reality?

Running a business means everyday can look completely different from the next, so I try to keep myself centered by creating small daily practices. I try to drink a warm glass of water with ashwagandha or a glass of mint tea every morning. It ends up being my little calming ritual that sets the tone for the rest of the day.

What do you like to do for fun, when you aren't working?

I love watching baking shows like the Great British Bake Off- everyone is so talented! I also got an iPad recently and have been spending a lot of time learning how to use the Procreate App to draw and paint.

What are some of your favorite recipes with Ground Up?

I like keeping it pretty simple - I love dipping apple slices with every single flavor of Ground Up. We usually have at least 5-6 different flavors in our pantry and we've never tasted a flavor we didn't love!