Michelle Cairo and her brother Elias founded Olympia Provisions in 2009 with the goal of bringing high-quality charcuterie to the northwest. Today, the family business is booming, thanks to an enduring set of values, clear vision, and the Entrepreneurs' Organization community. 

Tell us about yourself? 

I am a first generation Greek American and like many immigrant children, I grew up working in my parents’ Greek restaurant. My grandfather had worked in the Utah copper mines during the Greek depression and when he returned to Greece he proclaimed: “There’s a place in America a lot like Greece and it’s called ‘Utah.’” So my Greek-born dad convinced my Chicago-born mom to move to Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City. 

“We had columns, pillars, and naked statues, priests passed out drunk in our driveway. We slaughtered animals on our swing sets. We made all our own food.”

Growing up, my brother, Elias and I were the only non-Mormon children among thousands of kids. It was literally like My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We had columns, pillars, and naked statues, priests passed out drunk in our driveway. We slaughtered animals on our swing sets. We made all our own food. We even made our own gum. It was very entrepreneurial, do-it-yourself from start-to-finish.

My dad was always starting restaurants and it was a family affair–we were all involved. I wasn’t necessarily drawn to the restaurant side of it, but I loved the business side. My dad played the penny stock market, so he’d go to all the brokerage firms, and they’d sit around drinking coffee and talking about business. I thought, that’s what I want to do when I grow up. 

So I went to school for finance. I wanted to be a stock broker, then became controller of an architecture firm. I was definitely underqualified but I had plenty of ambition and the belief that I’d figure it out. When I moved to Portland, I became the director of finance for the power company. 

Why did you start your business? 

My brother Elias was doing a charcuterie apprenticeship in Switzerland and trying to decide if he should move to Portland too. His European friends had convinced him that there was no good food in America, that no one cared about sourcing, that it was all factory farms and disgusting processed food. So when he landed I took him directly to the Farmer’s Market at Portland State. There he saw mâche, Oregon truffles, cherries from the Gorge and the fishmongers. He got excited and suggested we get some charcuterie and have a picnic and I told him, well there’s not really charcuterie here.

“We had an opportunity to change the face of American charcuterie.”

He looked at me and said, “Why don’t we do this?” I told him I’d lend him the money, that I was perfectly happy in my corporate job. Like every good Greek brother, he guilted me. So I said, fine, I'll be your partner, but I'm never going to quit my day job. 

It was exciting. We had an opportunity to change the face of American charcuterie and teach people about European-style charcuteries, while letting them experience culture through the food in our restaurants. So, we started Olympia Provisions.

Is there a particularly difficult obstacle you faced that helped you get where you are today? 

When we started Olympia Provisions, I had no intention of quitting my day job as a CFO. The goal was to have a little restaurant and sell our charcuterie in farmer’s markets–and that’s all it would ever be. And then someone called us from the Good Food Awards–the Academy Awards of food made right–and suggested we enter our products. I entered everything, even Elias’s pickles, and he won every category. 

“I decided to quit my job, take a six-figure pay cut and dedicate myself to our business. It goes back to our Greek immigrant values; we take care of our family first.”

Suddenly, Dean & DeLuca is calling. Whole Foods is calling. We needed more space. We scrambled and I found our 5,000-square-foot Northwest location, but we were outgrowing it fast. I was working all the time at my other job, trying to juggle all the balls, but the wheels were falling off the bus. So, I decided to quit my job, take a six-figure pay cut and dedicate myself to our business. It goes back to our Greek immigrant values; we take care of our family first.

It was at times miserable and terrifying. I loved my corporate job; I was used to a team and now was just me and my brother. I had to figure out the business side alongside the realities of the restaurant industry. It was around that time that I joined EO. 

What compelled you to join EO? 

It was 2017, and I was at my wit's end. I didn’t know how to grow this business and I needed people to talk to, business people who knew what they were doing. I had resisted it for years. I didn’t join because of the money; I thought membership was too expensive. But my returns have been incredible—in so many surprising ways. I remember when I first joined my forum at a workshop series and they all started sharing about how they were feeling, sharing their emotions. I was like, wait, what? I just wanted to talk about why my margin was off! 

“Every business owner I know is afraid of something—and it's essential to talk about those fears.”

But I quickly learned that the fear is real for all entrepreneurs. Every business owner I know is afraid of something—and it's essential to talk about those fears. Vulnerability and trust are essential to growth. You have to be a healthy person to run a healthy business. And EO really does give you the tools to be able to do that.

How do you keep yourself in balance? 

It’s important to learn how to acknowledge the fears and trust that they’re there for a reason. Instead of getting paralyzed by the fear, I break it down into specific things I can tactically do. What’s one thing I can focus on, one decision I can make to keep moving forward? 

I have a daily practice based on the book Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. It’s centered around SAVERS – Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, Scribing. I don’t always do them in this order, but it sets my day off right. And like all of us normal, flawed people, sometimes I get busy and let it go. It’s really easy to look down and get lost in the details. But I know I’m a much happier person when I exercise, journal, meditate and visualize what I’m working towards.  

Our theme this year in EO Portland is “lift others up.” How do you lift others up in your work or life? 

I really believe my life and goal is to help people live their best lives. Whether it's reading books on conscious leadership with my executive team or encouraging our employees to communicate and embrace vulnerability. I want to create a safe environment for all of us so that we all feel comfortable talking about anything. We're in these complex relationships at work and we spend a lot of time together. We have to be able to rely on each other, to communicate and trust each other. Once we have that deep relationship, we're more creative problem solvers because we're not afraid to toss out silly ideas. 

Work is a family thing, quite literally—my brother is my partner, my mom used to be our demo person, my niece is my sales manager, our other brother was our driver—it’s a value our company was built upon. Olympia Provisions is so much more than just a transactional thing. We’re experiencing our lives together, day in and day out. Why wouldn’t we lift each other up as high as we can? 

“I really believe my life and goal is to help people live their best lives.”

What’s Next for Olympia Provisions? 

Now, after building this charcuterie business these last thirteen plus years, we're focused on a new mission: bettering the world by redefining American charcuterie, by building a new sourcing model focused on regenerative agriculture. In partnership with NW Farmers, we’re basically busting the mold of factory farms, which currently produce 98% of pork produced in the U.S. You can learn all about it on our website, but we are on a quest to have a 100% small farm supported line of salami, sausage and other tasty treats by 2024. Changing an industry won’t be easy but curing meat on the swing set wasn’t either.

This is an interview series by Talie Smith, EO Board Chair for Chapter Communications, featuring Portland EO members who lift others up through their grit, talent, and courageous entrepreneurial spirit.