She-Tea was born in 2008 when work colleagues (and self-confessed tea snobs) Vanessa Carslake and Jodie Fergusson-Batte decided that they wanted more from life. After dreaming of creating beautiful tea blends, Vanessa & Jodie decided to make it a reality, cue She-Tea. As they ventured through life's milestones, the friends created different blends to suit their moods and lifestyles such as Booze Hound, Motherhood and B*tch is Back. If that wasn't cool enough, we discovered that Jodie is also the talented artist behind She-Tea's signature illustrations which can be seen on the canisters... how cool is that! After discovering She-Tea we knew it was like no other tea brand on the market and we are so passionate about the business. Vanessa and Jodie to talk She-Tea with Spoilt and what it means to them...
Spoilt is besotted with She-Tea! Was it a big gamble to leave a
well-paying job in search of happiness? Vanessa: Yes it sure was, but we believe in it. We love working for
ourselves, being around our children and actually having created a business
from the ground up, instead of the corporate grind we were living in. But
there are certainly days when we miss the 'golden handcuffs' and all the perks, but
they will come with She-Tea eventually and will be way more satisfying!
Before having children you both
drank and smoked (hence your much-loved Booze Hound blend). Would you say you now lead healthier lifestyles? Jodie: Most definitely. Once we decided we wanted to start a family we totally
changed our lifestyle to suit. Having two kids with just two years between them, juggling the warehouse duties as well as my art
business is daily chaos so a hangover is just not an option - though a rather
large glass of wine is in order sometimes... especially after the 5pm witching
hour!
Vanessa: Jodie and I love to look back and have a good chuckle about antics of the past and we are happy in the knowledge we will have a keen eye for any mischief our kids get into, as we have been there and done it and thought we were pretty sneaky! (laughs)
You're busy mothers and
businesswomen... how do you juggle it all? Jodie: It takes a lot of stamina and determination, with constant reminders of
our goals and vision. We have learnt to stop and take a breath along the way. We laugh a lot, have naughty nicknames for bad days, send ourselves up
regularly and have a giggle about our 'what the hell are we doing?' moments to
break the stress up too.
Vanessa: There are frequent 3am brainwaves that we email through before they are forgotten again, and they have been some of our best ideas. It’s relentless with business and children but we love it and wouldn’t trade it back for the corporate sales life.
What is the process for creating a
new blend and how do you choose a name? Vanessa: We introduce them as we find a need for them. We started our range with
all cheeky blends which we thought were hilarious - well, we did create them
over bottle or two of wine! But since becoming mums and getting more market
feedback we have mellowed down a bit and scrapped tea blends Scorned for Love and Virginal
Quest for Motherhood. They are like a story of our lives really! We create the tea according to an emotion we’d like to evoke or an
experience that we’d like to recognise, then match the tea to that (such as Zen
is a very calming tea and Booze Hound is cleansing for the morning after a big
night), and then Jodie matches the artwork. They are all very interwoven.
How and where do you source your
blends of tea? Vanessa: When we decide on a tea canister creation we then set about sourcing the tea
blend. This involves tea tasting, asking friends and family for feedback on
ideas, research into the benefits of the teas if appropriate, market popularity
and then more tasting. All of our organic teas are sourced from fair trade, biodynamic
plantations in Sri Lanka, as not only do they have delicious tea but they
actually really care and help their workers. They focus on traditional growing
methods as well as support educational opportunities of local growing
communities. Our other blends are sourced from all over the world, and we try to
source organic, fair trade wherever we can but sometimes it isn't possible.
How important was it to source an
ethical product which is both fair-trade and certified organic? Very. We love knowing that the majority of our teas are picked by happy,
supported people and are not doused in chemicals. It’s very important to us
that we pay a good price to our growers so that they are able to sustain
positive working and living conditions. This aspect of our company will not
change and, in fact, we are working on moving towards sourcing all of our
She-Tea blends from this region.
Can you tell us a little about each She-Tea blend? There are a lot of blends in our range now. We have 14 already and
still find new ones we would love to introduce in future. We have our Everyday Organics range in biodegradable pyramid bags, and
these are our biggest sellers. They are the everyday favourite teas (such as
breakfast tea, green & jasmine, vanilla chai and so on), all inspired by
life in the beautiful country town of Daylesford, Victoria. They are quick and
easy to use, just like a tea bag but with beautiful tea leaves and more space
for the leaves to unfurl and provide a taste that is a close second to a pot of
loose leaf tea. Then we have our Loose Leaf Masterpiece - artfully crafted herbal teas
created to support women through each of life's turns. With blends
including Warrior (black citrus tea), Motherhood (apple pie blend), and Sweet
Tooth (black tea, caramel & vanilla), these are used as great little gifts
for women and cover just about all of life’s experiences. If you have a peek at www.she-tea.com.au we
have all of their little stories and ingredients there.
Jodie, you are so talented, we adore
the gorgeous illustrations seen on She-Tea canisters. Have you always dabbled in art? Jodie: Thank you! I have always painted and love painting
women. That’s why when the idea came up of combining my artwork with tea and a
story it just seemed like such a great fit. A lot of women really enjoy original art but not everyone can afford to
buy a painting. Our thinking was that we were providing original art, with the
comfort and ritual of tea, as well as the humour in our blend stories on each
canister. We were bringing something absolutely unique to the tea market and
that’s exactly what we wanted to do.
Tea is the new coffee. Why do you
think this is so? Vanessa: The benefits and variety of tea is so immense and people are really
becoming more aware of this. It is also easy to drink hot and cold, can
be infused into food menus and even kids can drink many of the herbal blends. Tea is also a healthy ritual for a lot of people. It represents
nurturing your body and your mind, and calls on long-standing traditions that
bring a sense of comfort and belonging. Brewing a pot of tea, swirling the leaves, using your favourite cup, and
taking time to lose yourself for a few minutes can mean the difference between
feeling rested and relaxed and feeling rushed and dishevelled.
Which She-Tea blend do you love most and why? Vanessa: I love Motherhood. I created that one as 'an apple pie in a teacup'. It
evokes memories of sitting down and chatting to my mum and my sisters over a
hot apple pie and cuppa and the aim is for busy mums to be able to sit and
relax with it for a few minutes, pluck the Lego and Play-doh out of their
hair, while also getting the great health benefits of the white tea (more
antioxidants than green!). It is also a perfect gift for the Mum who has everything
and loves tea!
What makes you feel Spoilt? Vanessa: Taking some time out for indulgence, as well as feeling the love of my supportive family and friends. My gorgeous husband organised a surprise dinner out last weekend for my birthday and had arranged for one of my best friends to come over and mind the girls! That made me feel Spoilt - so often we hear about crappy relationships and I feel blessed with mine.
Jodie: A spa, massage, tea and a magazine. That’s me!
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