Celebrating Women's History from Lynda Parrish, owner of Portland Cider
Written by: Lynda Parrish, owner of Portland Cider Company
This March marks not only Portland Cider’s seven year anniversary, but also Women’s History Month. As you would expect, this time of year always has me reminiscing. 2020 looks so different for women then it did when I was growing up, but even quite different from just 7 years ago when we started Portland Cider. It’s exciting to see how things are changing, so with that, I wanted to share my personal history and accounting of how Portland Cider began.
Having grown up in England, I grew up with a strong passion for cider. It was a part of every family gathering, holiday and many nights out at the pub. Having found myself caught up in the corporate rat race for 25 years and feeling unfulfilled with my career at the time, I decided it was time for a change. I moved forward with mixed optimism as I approached the challenges of establishing a small business, but with the momentum of an immerging cider industry, I decided to take the plunge alongside my husband Jeff. And that’s how Portland Cider was born.
With a business plan written neatly on a napkin, I moved forward with my dream of owning my own business. Having enjoyed a good pint of cider or two in my young adulthood, I thought I was onto a good thing by finally doing something that I would enjoy - making a great cider that I could share with everyone.
The fact that I get to work with my husband everyday is a huge plus to owning this business together. We face every business decision together, with equal partnership. The craft brewing and cidermaking industry is primarily male dominated, although the cider industry is closer to 50/50 than our counterpart. It gives me pride to be one of the women leading a cider company here in the US – back home in England it’s an uncommon thing as well. Seeing how this tide is changing though, especially with the collaborative support created from women-led organizations like Pomme Boots and Cider Women, gives me great hope for how things are changing for women-led businesses.
Portland Cider was started in 2013 in Oregon City, OR. The 2,500 square foot facility accommodated our tiny Cidery and an even smaller taproom for the public to be able to put a face to the brand. For the first year Jeff and I worked the taproom ourselves, trading nights and bringing each other dinner. There just didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to for the business and our still relatively young family, but somehow it all worked out.
In 2016 the Cidery moved to Clackamas, to accommodate our growth. We took on a 20,000 square foot facility for our Cidery and new taproom, which turned into a Cider Pub and restaurant. The seven-year journey of Portland Cider Co has had its ups and downs, and its success has taken us by surprise and excitement. Our cidery might not look like I had originally imagined, but if I didn’t take the chance 7 years ago and go for it, I would never really know what I was capable of.
