Female Entrepreneurs and Food Innovation

Codesmith is proud to host a panel with six incredible female entrepreneurs innovating in the food and beverage industry.

Join us in supporting their work, and hearing about their journey to becoming successful food entrepreneurs. They’ll be sharing their stories, their challenges and how they overcame them, as well as how their products went from concept to distribution in collectively over 8,000 retails stores - including Walmart, Sprouts, and Whole Foods.

They’ll be providing tasty samples so you can experience their food innovations!

We’ll be joined by:

Sashee Chandran - CEO & Founder of Tea Drops
Founded in 2015 by Sashee Chandran, Tea Drops is a woman and minority owned, innovative tea company with a mission to inspire human connection through tea. Based in Los Angeles, Tea Drops ethically sources all of their organic teas, and sheds about 20% less waste than traditional tea bag packaging. Tea Drops has become a favorite among new and experienced tea drinkers alike, launching innovative tea experiences that merge flavorful blends, food art, and edgy design. A favorite of Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States, Tea Drops are also loved by Oprah Magazine, Forbes, and the Tory Burch Foundation.

Rana Lustyan - CEO & Co-founder of Edoughble
As with most of the human race, Rana’s obsession with stealing a taste of cookie dough from the mixing bowl started young and has only grown. A graduate from Le Cordon Bleú with experience at top U.S. restaurants Spago and Boulevard, Rana brings an incredibly high level of passion and expertise to everything from ingredient selection to recipe perfection. Rounding out her CEO and culinary chops, Rana has 2 young daughters, an MBA from USC and is a cancer survivor.

Hannah Hong - Co-founder of Hakuna Banana
Hannah Hong is a co-founder of Hakuna Banana, a plant-based, refined-sugar free ice cream company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. Her background is in management consulting and consumer packaged goods innovation.

Val Fishbain: Co-founder & President of Spread the Love
Val first started making peanut butter with her husband Zach Fishbain in a Vitamix blender when they were planning their wedding in 2013. They wanted to give something pure, healthy and made with love to their guests. They made over 150 jars of homemade peanut butter as wedding favors. After the wedding, they were receiving special requests to fulfill orders, which led them to go into business and start Spread The Love.

Lori Sandoval - Founder & CEO of Salsaology
Born and raised in Southern California, Lori studied Art History at the UCLA. After then attending culinary school at Le Cordon Bleú, Lori spent a decade cooking in notable kitchens in Los Angeles. Lori set out to create a line of cooking sauces and launched SALSAOLOGY in 2015 with two sauces, using flavors in honor of her mother and father’s hometowns. Since then, she’s introduced additional sauces that celebrate the diversity of regional Mexican flavors.

Debbie Mullin - CEO & Founder of Copper Cow Coffee
Debbie grew up with a mixture of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Jewish-American home cooking. Though originally from the bay area, she has lived and worked all across Asia, from Beijing to New Delhi, before relocating to Los Angeles, CA. Copper Cow Coffee reflects the depth of Debbie's travels as well as her stubbornness for recreating, transporting, and elevating the flavors she grew up loving, with a California twist.

About WiSE
This group is for anyone who supports the empowerment and equal representation of women and other minority groups in software engineering as well as entrepreneurship and the broader tech industry. Every month, we will be showcasing talks and projects by women who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and innovation in their industry.