what i do
I work with food operators who are already in market, already getting traction, and still cannot figure out why the business is not building the way it should. You have been at this for years. You are making sales. People love your product. You are working harder than you ever expected. Yet you feel like you are going in circles. You keep chasing the next thing. A bigger order. A new channel. More visibility. Something that finally moves the needle. And nothing sticks the way it should. The problem is almost never what you can see. It is what you have stopped questioning. I am not here to validate what you are doing. I am here to find what you cannot see and tell you the truth about it. Sometimes that means identifying the channel you are betting on that will never pay out the way you need it to. Sometimes it means showing you that your packaging is speaking to the wrong person entirely. Sometimes it means saying directly: at this point in your business, you should be further along. Here is exactly why you are not and here is what we are going to do about it. Together we will diagnose what is broken, identify the real opportunity, and build a clear strategy to get you there. I will guide you through every step of it. You will never wonder what comes next or whether you are doing it right, because I will be right there with you until it clicks. Every decision we make will feel like yours, because it has to be. You are the brand. I am the person who has been where you are, who built a food business from scratch to a successful exit, and who knows exactly what it takes to get unstuck.
about lori
I wasn't always a strategist. I was a customer.
I was looking for a great cake for my son's third birthday. I found We Take The Cake, loved the product, saw an opportunity, and bought the company. I had no food industry background. What I had was an operator's instinct and a refusal to guess my way through decisions.
The first two years were hard. The month we turned a $19 profit I was genuinely proud. Not because the number was impressive — because we were building something real. Profitable before the boost. That mattered.
Then Oprah named us one of her Favorite Things.
What most people don't talk about is what happens after. The feature doesn't build the business. What you do with it does. I spent the next 16 years turning that moment into something that lasted — Williams Sonoma, Goldbelly, Neiman Marcus, QVC, 1-800-Flowers, Whole Foods. Nothing fell into my lap. Every partnership took strategy, thought, and effort.
I exited in 2020 after 18 years.
I started Karmel and Company because I kept meeting food operators who were talented, hardworking, and stuck. I knew exactly what they needed to hear. Not encouragement. The truth.
when the right question changes everything
Jamie had been building her performance nutrition brand for seven years. Great product. Real credentials. A loyal following. And a brand name that made complete sense to her — and no one else.
Here's how she described what happened next:
"Behind the scenes over the past few months, I've been working with a business consultant who asked me a simple question that honestly stopped me in my tracks: What is The Office Health? I started explaining that I own a gym called The Office, and that The Office Health felt like a natural extension for the wellness side of the business. Then she said, 'Well what if I don't know you own a gym?' I knew where she was going with this and panic immediately set in at the thought of having to change the name of my business. She kept bringing me back to the Unicorn — our icon, the symbol people always remembered. That question had my creativity swirling. Needless to say, I strongly agreed to her suggestion and ran with it."
— Jamie Maitland, Founder, The Unicorn Co.
That's the work. Not telling her what to do. Asking what she hadn't thought to ask herself.
work with me
the 90 day engagement
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A focused 90-day engagement for food operators who are ready for outside eyes on their business. Four structured calls, email access between sessions, a written strategy summary after our kickoff, and a 48-hour response guarantee. We work through your numbers, your channel, your positioning, and your next move — in that order.
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We spend 90 minutes together and I'm going to ask you things your business partners, your customers, and your own optimism haven't asked you yet. We'll look at your numbers, your channel assumptions, and the decisions you've been making on instinct. By the end of that call you'll know exactly what's working, what isn't, and what needs to change first. Most people leave that call with more clarity than they've had in years.
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$2,500 for the full 90-day engagement. This is not a course, not a template, and not a one-hour pep talk. It's a real working relationship with someone who has built, scaled, and exited a food business — and who will tell you the truth about yours.
If you're not ready for that conversation yet, start with The Playbook at $97. It will either answer your question or show you exactly what to bring to our first call.
the playbook
Not ready to talk yet? Start here.
The Food Brand Operator Playbook is a working document — not a course, not a feel-good framework. It walks you through every major decision in your business and forces you to answer based on data, not on what you hope is true.
Most people who complete it either find the answer they were looking for — or realize exactly what they need to bring to a strategy conversation.
Either way, you'll know more than you did before. And you'll stop guessing.
$97 — instant access.