Soy Sistas.

In 1997, Robin Del Rio set out in search of a simple commercial kitchen where she could produce organic salsa. Instead, she came home the proud new owner of her very own factory, the Ashland Soy Works in Ashland, Oregon.

"It was a gift in disguise," she says. "The people we were trying to reach were people already eating tofu, already consciously wanting delicious, healthy food. Doing the salsa and tofu would also be a benefit to the community. It wasn't in my 5-year plan to be a tofu factory owner, but we dance to the music the universe hands us."

For a partner, Del Rio recruited her best friend and sister, Judith Roberts, who had just returned from China where she'd finished her master's degree in anthropology. "It was an obvious opportunity," says Roberts. "I jumped in with both feet."

Little did they know, however, that the universe's music was about to change, and they'd soon be doing some fancy stepping to keep up.

Within a year, the factory equipment which had been "lovingly patched together" by the former owners--began to demand repair and, frequently, replacement. And the factory's exhaust system just wasn't doing the job. "As we puzzled about it, the ceiling--saturated by steam for over 15 years--fell down," Del Rio recalls. "No more puzzling. When you puzzle about something, and your intuition tells yon to move on it, and you don't, the world will move without you."

Luckily for the world, this pair always manages to catch up.

Today, from their little factory in the ...