Today we’d like to introduce you to Lyf Gildersleeve.
Hi lyf, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m a 2nd generation fishmonger, 15 year business owner, sustainable seafood advocate, and father of two kids. I started selling fish at farmers markets, then evolved to trucks, shacks, grocery stores, and now brick and mortar location in SE portland with 25 employees
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s always a challenge owning a small business. Wearing 15 different hats, navigating financing, staffing, sourcing, rising costs, the COVID pandemic, homelessness, lawsuits and so much more.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Flying Fish Company LLC?
Craig and Sandy Gildersleeve opened the first Flying Fish Company in Sandpoint, Idaho in 1979 — the year before their son Lyf was born. Lyf, now president of Flying Fish Company, has spent his entire life around fish, including an aquaculture education at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University.
Flying Fish has three locations: Sandpoint, Idaho; Durango, Colorado; and Portland, Oregon. The Portland location opened in late 2010 as a food cart at the D Street pod on Division Street. In 2011, we opened the fish shack on Hawthorne Boulevard. In 2016, we moved into a stand at Providore Fine Foods on Sandy Boulevard. In February 2020, we opened our standalone location on East Burnside, adding a restaurant, oyster bar, and beer garden to our fish market. In 2025, we debuted our food truck, seen at events across town and available for hire.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.flyingfishpdx.com
- Instagram: flyingfishpdx
- Facebook: flyingfishpdx
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/flying-fish-company-portland?osq=Flying+Fish&q=flying+fish
Image Credits
@nataliegildersleeve
Popular
-
Portraits of the Valley
-
LA’s Most Inspiring Stories
-
Robin Olive on Building an Inclusive Performing Arts Movement and Expanding Opportunities for Every Student
-
Que Johnson on Building Brands That Last: From Visibility to True Market Authority
-
Christina Wren Steps Into the Director’s Chair to Tell Stories That Feel Like Home
-
JordanL on ‘Breathe,’ Belief, and Building a Movement Beyond the Music
