<< Previous   of   Next >> SCBJ/CHRISTINA HARPER  (click to enlarge) Among Melody Biringer’s many entrepreneurial successes is her new array of CRAVE parties, books and business lessons, designed for women who want to begin their own enterprises.

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Melody Biringer a wide-ranging entrepreneur

By Christina Harper
Special to SCBJ

Melody Biringer is no newbie when it comes to being an entrepreneur. Her first foray into enterprise took place when she was 7 and living on the Biringer berry farm in Marysville.

Biringer not only figured out how to sell lemonade for a profit, but she was savvy in working out who would sell it for her: her cousins.

At 18, she set up national distribution for more than 50 gourmet Biringer Farm products, including a line of cookies, jams, syrups and baking mixes.

Some 27 years later Biringer still runs the farm’s business but she also has a new brainchild she named CRAVE, the busy woman’s answer to the ultimate in shopping, pampering and learning to do their own entrepreneurial business.

“It’s very exciting. Women are growing businesses at twice the speed of men. I’m their biggest cheerleader,” Biringer said.

Between the lemonade stands in Marysville and the global expansion of CRAVE, Biringer has worn many business hats, including starting a furniture store and a fitness studio.

But it was because Biringer had been working many hours and missing out on the things she liked to do with her friends that first gave her the idea for CRAVE. The ‘all work and no play’ lifestyle left her craving for fun time. She was helping to run a successful business in 2002 when she decided to host her first CRAVE party at The Ruins in Seattle. The private membership club is more of a high-heels and black-tie environment but Biringer invited everyone to wear pajamas. “I sold the party out in a couple of weeks,” she said.

Soon she was providing CRAVE parties every other month. Biringer found that providing women the venue and opportunity to have much needed fun and pampering in a setting conducive to tasting and testing in the company of a group of friends was a big hit.

Six years later she has licensed CRAVE activities in the Seattle area, Denver, Portland, Vancouver, B.C., Toronto, Montreal and Rotterdam.

As if all this isn’t enough, Biringer also is responsible for bringing the national group Ladies Who Launch to the Seattle area and leads four-week incubator sessions where women learn and share about business in a setting where being an entrepreneur is encouraged and promoted.

Biringer has also added the roles of author and publisher to her list of accomplishments. The third edition of her CRAVE guidebooks will be out in September.

“We really revamped it to where we are telling a woman’s story,” Biringer said, “making the book inspiring to read.”

Biringer is passionate about locally owned businesses and continues to prove her skills and knowledge by helping women in business. Her good work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Lucky Magazine, among others.

Recently, she took time out to talk with the business journal about her energetic schedule, projects and goals.

SCBJ: What can women expect when they come to a CRAVE event?

Biringer: We throw several different themed events in each year. A Sample Sale is a collection of women’s businesses where everything is deeply discounted. A Summer CRAVE is where we have a salmon barbeque with s’mores, lots of shopping and spa services while watching the beautiful sunset at Shilshole beach club. Our largest event of the year is the CRAVEshow in December, a holiday shopping party with entertainment.

SCBJ: What is under the CRAVE company umbrella?

Biringer: We have CRAVE parties, CRAVE books, and CRAVE business. Our next “coffee shop” gathering will be in the middle of July where we have experts to talk to women about business.

SCBJ: How do you feel about what you do with CRAVE and its expanding to Europe?

Biringer:I feel very excited. I want to go faster but I’m only one person. That’s why I’m licensing the CRAVE parties. I want the business to go faster but I’m into growing it organically.

SCBJ: How did you get involved with Ladies Who Launch?

Biringer: I found LWL three years ago when they were just getting started. I had always wanted to start a cool women’s group in the Seattle area but hadn’t got around to doing it. When I met LWL I thought, “How perfect.” It is exactly how I like to do business and it is a national program. So, all the ladies in the local network get bigger benefits by tapping into the national movement too.

SCBJ: How does LWL fit in with the CRAVE movement?

Biringer: LWL has four-week workshops we call incubators. I love to facilitate the incubators because I work out of my home and I thrive on meeting new, interesting women. Almost every month eight to 10 women join me in this four-week event and magic happens. Several of the women get involved with my CRAVE business, too, because they are in my CRAVE world of retail, fashion, beauty, design and connections.

SCBJ: What does it mean to you to see other women realize their potential and take the steps to being entrepreneurs?

Biringer: My whole thing is “get it out of your system.” They could have a Web site this weekend, business cards in 24 hours. It might take off or not. It’s either gonna fly or it’s not. Get it out of your system and try something else next week.

SCBJ: What do you still do for the Biringer Farms business?

Biringer: A lot. We’ve been at two fairs this year and we still do all the festivals. We’ll be at The Bite of Seattle the third weekend in July and the Taste of Edmonds in August. Then there will be Bumbershoot. Fresh berries will be available from stands until the middle or end of July in Marysville, Everett, Lynnwood, and Seattle.

SCBJ: What is next for you?

Biringer: What I’m doing is so big with the potential for books around the country, CRAVE parties around the world. It’s everything I love to do. I can keep innovating ... I don’t need to do anything else.

For more information on CRAVE and Ladies Who Launch, visit www.craveparty.com or www.ladieswholaunch.com.