Meet Lauren Mendoza | Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Mendoza and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
Starting your own business is scary, exciting, and so rewarding. Getting to share the ups and downs with my two children has been such a beautiful experience. They get to see me working hard. They have seen this business grow right along side them. They are now old enough where they can help out and that’s a joy to see. They have a sense of pride participating in this business.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Slack Tide makes small batch culinary sea salts. We have combined multiple traditional salt making processes to create something unique and beautiful. We boat out to the ocean to harvest the deep ocean waters off the coast of Maine. We need to time the tide just right, the ocean conditions, and the weather before we can harvest our water. This takes a lot of planning and effort but provides us with pristine water to start our process. We use solar evaporation in the summer and brine rejection (freezing of sea water) in the winter to make our salt. Our business started very small. No more than a 4′ x 6′ hobby greenhouse to test and retest our process. We have learned rapidly how to scale up our production and now have 6 full sized greenhouses and are building a dedicated production facility this spring.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I grew up in York, where we live and make our salt, and love playing tour guide for friends from away who come to visit! I like to grab a box of the most delicious donuts you’ve ever had at Lovebirds donuts in kittery, then head to Nubble Light for a little picnic with a view. Nubble is a beautiful classic Maine lighthouse perched on a tiny island right off the coast.
We are lucky to have a number of stunning walking trails that hug the ocean, my favorite is the Fishermens Walk in York Harbor. It will take you from the beach along the York River to the Wiggly Bridge. This is a tiny suspension bridge for foot traffic.
After a nice walk I recommend driving up to The Cliff House resort on the Northern tip of town for lunch. In addition to the restaurants there, they also have a fantastic spa.
The Cliff House is very close to downtown Ogunquit which has great shopping. (my favorite store there is Flips, the cutest shoe shop)
For dinner, Nick’s Steakhouse in York is fantastic. Wonderful ambiance with fire pits on the deck and the best martinis.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This business would not have blossomed the way it did without the support of the other female owned small businesses I am surrounded by. Particularly Amy Clark from Ocean Fire Pottery in York, Maine. She has been so encouraging and helpful every step of the way. Her guidance as an experienced business owner made a huge difference for us.

Website: www.slacktidemaine.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slacktidemaine/

Image Credits
Tiffany Mizzell Matt Cosby