Photos by Cait Pearson


Fara Heath

Collage Creative and Top Nosh


Two truths and a lie: Which of these has Fara Heath not done?

  • Created a precursor to Etsy, warehousing and shipping the work of 80 artists (and hitting the road with a display booth so she’d have a business reason to go to music festivals)

  • After offering to help her husband manage his private music student schedule, ended up building out a whole brick-and-mortar music school as well

  • Seeing the lack of quality bagel options in Portland, began importing bagels and schmeers from NYC to satisfy the taste buds of former New Yorkers like herself

Of course Fara has actually done all of these things. (You saw that coming, right?) 


She's not afraid to dive in deep. After all, the only place you can really swim is where the water is over your head.


It's always hard to summarize the expertise of a serial entrepreneur and freelancer like Fara, but her consulting work tends to fall into the project management category. 


Every 5 years or so, she gets the personal bug to start a new venture from scratch. In between, she helps other people with projects from building a website to starting their own business.


“I get pulled in for web development or digital marketing projects, and sometimes that translates into management of other things within the company. For one current client, I came in as an account manager to help them figure out how to better serve their customers and ultimately I created a whole digital system to manage their clientele. That kind of thing happens to me a lot.”


Her favorite thing is to get involved with a new business and help it figure out how to get where it’s going. “Starting a business is a huge risk and really scary, so I enjoy helping other people through that scary process,” she says.


“A lot of times small business owners don’t have a process at all. They just have a dream, and the fearlessness to go for that dream. But the details bog people down and can be the death of a lot of small businesses. Suddenly you're saying, I thought I was just gonna be standing behind a counter and selling my product, and meanwhile all these unexpected things are happening and there’s taxes to do and a website to build ... I don’t know how to make time for that or who to call to help me. I help break things into small bites so they can stay on track.”


Fara began her professional life in social work, a career path that grew out of her personal experiences. “I had a tough time being a teenager myself. I was really rebellious and questioned everything.'”


“But no matter how rebellious I got, I always knew that I wanted to go to college and pursue a career and be successful professionally. So even though I was giving my parents a really hard time, I was also applying to college.”


“I was drawn toward helping others in similar situations. That's actually how I work as a project manager too: You’re having all these issues; how can we get you to the next place -- for yourself, not for anyone else?”


Getting to the next place for herself included literally getting to the next place. “So much of my rebellion came from feeling like I didn’t belong in NYC. When I visited Portland, and realized how much more it fit who I wanted to be and how I wanted to live my life, being here made so much more sense for me.”


Fara drives by 4949 SW Macadam every day as she takes her son to school, so she was really excited to see Urban Office show up. “I came in one of the first days it was even open. I was surprised how affordable it was, and I thought, All right, for the same money that I spend at coffee shops every month, I can have a place to work – and not have to drive back home during the school day. It made sense. It was month to month, so I could just try it out -- and here I still am.”


“It has brought all kinds of things to me that I didn’t know to expect: strategic partnerships, good freelance clients ... And being around other professionals, even just saying hi at the coffee machine in the morning, creates a nice environment and helps with focus. I'm so much more productive here. I really feel like I’m at work. And when I’m not here, I’m not working. That balance is still hard for me, but being here helps define it.”


Fara's neighborhood recommendation is definitely the Cottonwood School, where her son attends. “It's place-based,” Fara explains, “which involves actual experiential learning around the lessons. So if the kids are learning about architecture, they might go to an architecture firm or visit a building or work on a project with a local architect coming in to help. It's awesome.”


As for a good read, Fara loves learning about new businesses, what they're trying, and where they were successful or went wrong. She recommends Morning Brew for keeping up with business case studies and how political happenings and new technology are affecting the market.


And it's not hard for Fara to think of a Portlander who's inspiring her: Jessie Burke. Fara and Jessie got to know each other when they both had young children and were starting businesses. “Jessie wanted to create a coffee shop where you could get work done and also feel like your kids were welcome.” That coffee shop, Posies in Kenton, is still flourishing.


Jessie is a co-owner of the Society Hotel in Portland’s Old Town (turning an 1800s building into hip dorm-style lodging) and she and her partners just opened their second hotel in the Gorge. Fara says, “Jessie's not afraid to start things, and she somehow keeps multiple businesses going at once with 3 children. I just find her amazing.”




The Skinny

For TL;DR folks ...



Every 5 years or so, Fara Heath gets the personal bug to start a new venture from scratch. In between (and alongside), she helps other people with projects from building a website to starting their own business.


“A lot of times small business owners don’t have a process at all. They just have a dream, and the fearlessness to go for that dream. But the unexpected details can be the death of a lot of small businesses. I help set goals and break things into small bites so they can stay on track.”


Find Fara’s web design and project management skills at Collage Creative and her genuine NYC bagels at Top Nosh


Why Portland: “Growing up in NYC, I felt really out of place. When I visited Portland, and realized how much more it fit who I wanted to be and how I wanted to live my life, being here made so much more sense for me.”


Why Urban Office: Fara drives Macadam every day as she takes her sons to school, so she was really excited to see Urban Office show up. “I came in one of the first days it was even open. I was surprised how affordable it was, and I thought, All right, for the same money that I spend at coffee shops every month, I can have a place to work. I'm so much more productive here.”


Neighborhood rec: The Cottonwood School. “It's place-based education, which involves actual experiential learning around the lessons. So if the kids are learning about architecture, they might go to an architecture firm or visit a building or work on a project with a local architect coming in to help. It's awesome.”


Influential read: “Morning Brew  is great for keeping up with business case studies and how political happenings and new technology are affecting the market.”


Inspiring Portlander: Jessie Burke, owner of Posies and co-owner of The Society Hotel. “Jessie's not afraid to start things, and she somehow keeps multiple businesses going at once with 3 children. I just find her amazing.”