Built Festival

Brianne Mees, Co-Owner of Tender Loving Empire

Brianne Mees is an entrepreneur, arts enthusiast and mother living in beautiful Portland, Oregon. Brianne has devoted the last 19 years to creating and growing Tender Loving Empire from a small mom and pop retail operation and hobby record label into a company with 7 locations that has been able to pay $23 million and counting back into our community of makers and artists. She has been involved in shaping almost every aspect of TLE, operations management, finance, branding, buying, visual merchandising, bookkeeping, product development, HR/hiring, administration, marketing and growth. Prior to founding TLE in 2007, with her husband Jared, she earned a BA in Psychology in California and spent the early years of her career working with children and families in the social work field.

Hazel Valdez- Executive Director, Oregon Farmers Markets Association (OFMA)

Hazel Valdez is the Executive Director of the Oregon Farmers Markets Association (OFMA), where she champions Oregon’s growers, makers, and emerging food entrepreneurs. With a background in nonprofit leadership at Literary Arts, PDXWIT, and the Oregon Bioscience Incubator, and as a classically trained French chef, she’s passionate about building joyful, community‑powered food systems. She’s delighted to join Built Oregon’s Farmers Market Panel to celebrate innovation, collaboration, and the makers who keep Oregon delicious!

Amber Holland- Executive Director, Portland Farmers Market

Amber (she/her) was born and raised in the Willamette Valley and began working with Portland Farmers Market in 2007 while attending graduate school at Portland State University, where she earned a Master’s in Public Administration in 2009. After nearly two decades with PFM, Amber brings a deep understanding of farmers market operations, nonprofit leadership, and the people and partnerships that make PFM possible. As Executive Director, she is excited to help guide PFM into the future while staying grounded in its mission to support local farmers and create vibrant community gathering spaces. Amber is passionate about the success of PFM’s farmers and food producers and about supporting the team that makes that success possible. She believes thriving local farms are the foundation of a strong local food economy and is proud to be part of an organization that connects farmers and food producers with their communities.

Ginger Rappaport- Market Manager, Beaverton Farmers Market

Ginger Rapport has dedicated 31 years to the Beaverton Farmers Market, serving as Market Manager and helping shape it into one of Oregon’s largest farmers markets. In addition, she and her husband have spent 45 years in the restaurant industry where she has worked on both sides of the kitchen door. Because of her extensive background in all aspects of the food industry, she served as an industry rep. on the Multnomah County Food Service Advisory Committee to the health department for 15 years. Throughout her career Ginger has been a passionate advocate for local farmers, small food producers, and the importance of bringing communities together around local food.

Peter Zelenka- Managing Director, Woodlawn Farmers Market

Peter Zelenka has more than 20 years of experience in merchandising, category management, marketing, and retail strategy across brick-and-mortar and digital ecosystems. Today, he is a consultant and advisor to new and emerging brands, helping founders build sustainable businesses through strategic growth and authentic brand development. As Managing Director of the Woodlawn Farmers Market, Peter supports local entrepreneurs, strengthens nonprofit and community partnerships, and expands food access initiatives. They are passionate about developing leaders who build thriving businesses while creating fulfilling, balanced lives.

Kim Freeze, PsyD- Founder & CEO, Seed Collective Foundation & Launch Pad Studio, Director Southern Oregon Innovation Hub

Kim is a serial entrepreneur, clinical psychologist, and someone wildly passionate about the people bold enough to bet on themselves. Having launched multiple successful businesses, Kim mentors from experience, not a textbook. She's been in the trenches, made the hard calls, and come out the other side with a deep respect for anyone willing to take that leap. Kim's journey started in rural communities, and that's where her heart still lives. She knows what it means to build something with limited resources, limited access, and unlimited determination. That experience shapes everything about how she shows up for founders — especially those who feel like they're building from the edges. As Founder and CEO of Seed Collective Foundation and Launch Pad Studio in Grants Pass, Oregon, Kim creates spaces where entrepreneurs can start, stumble, grow, and scale. Her background as a clinical psychologist gives her a unique edge, as she understands that building a business is as much an inner journey as an outer one. Mindset, resilience, and clarity aren't soft skills; they're survival skills, and Kim helps founders build them. She doesn't do this because it's her job. She does it because entrepreneurs light her up, and she genuinely can't imagine doing anything else.

Randi Holm, Founder of Holm Made Toffee Co.

What started as a plan for a career in sports and sports marketing turned into an unexpected journey for Randi Holm. After graduating from Eastern Washington University, she spent nearly 10 years working in Minor and Major League baseball. A move to Bend, OR (where no professional or collegiate teams exist) forced her to get creative in a tough job market. Randi made the unique pivot to the food and beverage industry where she joined forces with her Mother-In-Law to grow Holm Made Toffee Co. Donna Holm possessed a decades old recipe for her 'famous' Hazelnut Toffee and Randi had the sales and marketing experience to bring it to a larger market in 2011. For 15 years they have grown slowly and steadily building a base for a company that can endure the ups and downs of small business ownership and the changing economic climate. Holm Made Toffee Co. is a family-owned artisan confectioner in Bend. We craft our candy in traditional handmade batches, utilizing Oregon-grown hazelnuts and ingredients from around the PNW.

Corey Scholibo, CEO of Dayo

Corey Scholibo is a consumer brand builder, CEO, COO and CMO who has spent 15+ years building category-defining businesses in CPG, wellness and sustainability. He co-founded Repurpose, a compostable tableware brand that created the category and is now sold through 17,000+ retail doors, and later co-founded and led Wile, one of the first menopause wellness brands to reach national retail, through its 2024 acquisition. Corey has sold into nearly every major U.S. retailer, from Walmart to Erewhon. Today, he advises consumer companies through his company How To CPG across retail, operations, fundraising, brand and growth. He is also co-founder and CEO of Dayo.

Yvonne Smoker, Prosper Portland

Yvonne Smoker currently serves as the Food and Beverage Manufacturing Industry Liaison at Prosper Portland, connecting Portland food and beverage producers to resources, community and capital. She has been a part of the Economic Development team at Prosper Portland for almost 10 years, managing a variety of business support programs designed to help companies grow, scale and create jobs in Portland. Prosper Portland is the city of Portland's economic development agency with a goal of creating an equitable economy and is proud to be a partner and sponsor of Built Oregon and their annual event Built Fest.

Robert and Kristy Batulayan, Koa Roots

Koa Roots was born in 2018 out of a shared passion for food and a deep love for the places that shaped us, Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest. ​Founded by Robert, raised on the island of Kauai, and Kristy from the island of Molokai, our venture is built on a foundation of devotion. We have been life partners for close to two decades and business partners for eight years. Working hand in hand to build a lasting family legacy. ​Our journey began with our signature Hawaiian-style fruit butters and smoked brown butters. Guided by a commitment to sustainability, we operate as a minimal-waste company, thoughtfully upcycling production by-products into new, value-added creations. Over the years, our collection has grown to include rich brown butter snack mixes and baked goods infused with the nostalgic flavors of our island upbringing. ​Today, that spirit of storytelling extends beyond the kitchen into handmade polymer jewelry—crafted to celebrate our culture, honor our heritage, and preserve the memories that bind us together.

Nora Hernández & Oscar Villaseñor Al Xile PDX

Nora Hernández and Oscar Villaseñor are a husband-and-wife team and the founders of Al Xile PDX. Originally from Mexico, they have made Portland home and created Al Xile as a way to share their love of chile, Mexican flavors, and great food with their community. Their handcrafted Chile Crisp in Olive Oil was born in their own kitchen and has grown into a thriving local brand found at farmers markets and specialty retailers across Oregon. For Nora and Oscar, Al Xile is more than a business—it is a celebration of their roots, creativity, family, and the joy of bringing people together around food.

Iggy Perillo & Katie Beaumont- Rad Pop

Rad Pop is a popcorn and craft drink company started in 2021. Rad Pop was built by a public health nurse and an outdoor educator. Long before there was a kettle, we were learning how to read a room, plan for real humans, stay adaptable, and make people feel looked after. That became the way we run the business. We prep hard. We solve problems quickly. We make the booth feel welcoming. We take the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. Sometimes care looks like a public-health plan. Sometimes it looks like fresh lemonade and a bag of Big Dill Energy.

Ron Khormaei, CEO of Steelport Knife Co.

Ron Khormaei is the founder and CEO of STEELPORT™ Knife Co., a Portland maker of American-crafted kitchen knives and tools, launched in 2020. Born and raised in Iran, he came to the U.S. at fifteen by way of Germany and Canada, and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Oregon State University. He spent thirteen years as an executive at HP, then Logitech, before leaving corporate life in 2010 to work on small companies bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. He has been part of eleven startups since, including FINEX Cast Iron Cookware Co., which he co-founded and sold to Lodge Cast Iron in 2019. He founded and serves as president of the Portland Knife Center of Excellence, bringing together nine Portland knife brands, and he mentors Oregon founders and serves on university and company advisory boards. He is also professional faculty at Oregon State and an adjunct professor at Portland State.

Jason Bolt, CEO of Revant Optics

Jason Bolt founded Revant Optics in his apartment while attending the University of Oregon. He built it into a category-defining direct-to-consumer brand rooted in a simple idea: repair over replace. Revant has since sold more than three million pairs of lenses worldwide and manufactures in Portland's Pearl District, a deliberate bet on domestic production and local jobs. That work has earned Revant Oregon Manufacturer of the Year twice (2017 and 2024), recognition as one of The Oregonian's Top Workplaces in 2026, and two European Eco Design Awards in 2025 for its bio-plastic sunglasses. Before Revant, Jason founded and sold Shady Peeps, a licensed eyewear brand with agreements across 80+ universities, the MLS, and the NBA. Beyond his own companies, Jason invests his time and capital in Oregon's entrepreneurial ecosystem as a board member and investor with Built Oregon, Rumpl, evo, DUST Moto, Daniel House Club, Tender Loving Empire, Fast Penny, and MiiR - organizations that share his conviction that businesses built here should be accountable to the people and place that raised them.

Precious Hannah-King, CEO of Mister OK’s Essentials

Precious Hannah-King is a designer-turned-entrepreneur and the founder of Mister OK’s Essentials, a Portland-based brand known for handcrafted, all-natural candles, body care, and room sprays. Her work centers on clean ingredients, simple design, and creating scent experiences that stay with you. At her Alberta Street studio, she also hosts custom candle-making sessions that bring people into the craft in an approachable, memorable way. Before launching Mister OK’s Essentials in 2017, Precious built a design career at Nike, where she started as an intern and became one of the first Black women to design athletic shoes. Her time there was marked by curiosity and connection.. Wanting to “own something” of her own, she eventually stepped into entrepreneurship, transforming her love for design and storytelling into a modern wellness brand rooted in aroma, ritual, and community.

Lynn Le, VP of Operations at Zembula

Lynn Le is a founder-turned-operator who has spent more than a decade inside consumer and technology companies at their most defining moments. She founded Society Nine, a modern femme boxing brand, and led it for eight years through product development, retail expansion and two funded Kickstarter campaigns. Society Nine forced a male-dominated category to take women seriously, and the noise it made got noticed: a spot in Google's national "Heroes of Small Business" campaign, live interviews on CNBC and at the NYSE, and coverage from Forbes, Fast Company and Marie Claire. Lynn was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for retail/e-comm and Portland Business Journal's 40 Under 40, and Society Nine earned an Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Award and a Good Housekeeping Fitness Award. Since then, Lynn has worked on the other side of the founder's table, advising early-stage companies on commercialization, fundraising and due diligence, and scouting deal flow for Wildwood Ventures. Inside companies, she has led transformation work as a brand strategist at Adopt, a creative studio founded by former Nike executives, and as Head of Product for a global consumer fitness brand. Today she is VP of Operations at Zembula, a B2B SaaS company building personalization technology for enterprise retailers, where she oversees revenue operations and finance. Lynn served on Built Oregon's advisory board during its formative years and remains committed to helping Oregon founders build companies that last.

Jupiter Hotel

For anyone coming from out of town, our hotel sponsor is offering a discounted rate: Go to: www.jupiterhotel.com Click: the “Book Now” button in the top right corner of the page Click: "Enter Promo Code" Enter: “BUILTFEST” (it is case sensitive) Select your dates and book!

• Jupiter Hotel's website