#awinewith Tamarin Howse
MEET Tamarin Howse, Founder of Better Tea Co.
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:07):
Tamarin, thank you so much for being on Spark tv. It's a pleasure to have you.
Tamarin Howse (00:12):
Thank you for having me. I'm very excited to be here.
Danielle Lewis (00:15):
I'm so excited too because I've been stalking you online, so I'm super excited to hear more about the business and share your story. So why don't we start there? Let's tell everyone who you are and what you do.
Tamarin Howse (00:29):
Okay. Well, I am Tamin. I am based in New Zealand. I have a tea business that is focused around supporting better mental health and wellbeing. So we've got, at the moment, three T's that address different needs that we might have, things like stress or sleep, our gut health, our physical health. And it all started with my own experience with stress and anxiety, although I didn't know that that's what it was called. At the time. I was working in a very busy corporate life and we were going through a big restructure, and it was a very, very stressful time we had, it was my first time going through that. So I didn't know really what a redundancy would look like and what it meant for our team. And at the same time, I was having all these weird things happening to my body. My throat would be really tight, my stomach would be sore, I would get pins and needles in my fingertips, and I didn't know at the time that there were sometimes symptoms of anxiety, and I attributed it to caffeine. So started cutting out caffeine for my life, but still missed having a hot cup of tea, a hot cup. So I started to have tea and design some herbal blends that helped with those different symptoms. And at the same time, because of the redundancy, my colleagues and I would connect and touch base and group, I guess over this cup of tea, and it became our anxiety sessions. And that's when you
Danielle Lewis (02:12):
Go,
Tamarin Howse (02:13):
I love that. So it would be two very terrible times in my life, but tea was sort of the nice little ray of hope that we had. And so that's my first tea anxiety. It's grown from there.
Danielle Lewis (02:27):
I love it so much. And I feel like today I need a hundred cups of this. So when I saw it, I was like, oh, I'm super excited to talk to you about this because I think the people dialing in, the people listening in are business owners, so we can all relate to feeling a little stressed and overwhelmed. And this episode will be airing towards the end of the year. So I know there's lots of people who are just over it who are feeling burnt out. So I'm interested in this because I think understanding your own health and wellbeing is super important, especially as a business owner where you are constantly, I think, in a state of stress half the time. And I love that you drew on your own experience to create these blends as well. Talk to me about the three different teas that you have.
Tamarin Howse (03:23):
Okay. So we've talked about anxiety and how they originated. The ingredients themselves eventually morph to support anxiety a lot more. So things like St onward, which can help with your mood, raspberry leaf, which can help with our hormones because often that can affect our mental health licorice roots, or if you've had a panic attack, it kind of helps your blood sugar levels, things like that. And then another blend we have is called gut feelings. And there's a lot of research that proves that there's a direct relationship between our gut health and our mental health. And if we can look after what's happening inside, actually that can help what's happening up here as well. So the gut tea has things like tumor rick and lemongrass, and it's probably has a bit of immune benefiting properties as well that really just to support our natural gut health.
(04:16):
And then finally, my last tea was designed to support pain and chronic pain, and there's a lot of rules around what I can and can't say legal myself. I have desiccated discs, so I get really, really bad back pain. I can't stand for a long time. And that really affected my mental health when I was going through that diagnosis. I couldn't even brush my teeth for two minutes. Standing up and grocery shopping was a challenge. And that really starts to affect you because I look perfectly able bodied on the outside, but standing in the queue at the supermarket, I was in tears sitting on the floor. And so this tea hemp relief came around from thinking of ways that I can naturally help my body with inflammation. And at the same time, my dad got sick with cancer. And so I was doing a lot of research around natural remedies and I mean, there's only so far that natural things can go alongside medicine, of course, but things like willow bark is actually what is used in aspirin. So there's a lot of,
Danielle Lewis (05:37):
Oh wow.
Tamarin Howse (05:38):
Medicine today that is based on herbal medicine. So I don't want to sound too woo, but I
Danielle Lewis (05:43):
Love the woo here, bring it on it on
Tamarin Howse (05:46):
Very complimentary. And so hemp relief has hemp in it as well and all just to really help with inflammation.
Danielle Lewis (05:55):
Yes.
Tamarin Howse (05:55):
I can't say that it helps, but that's what it's designed to do, whether it does or not.
Danielle Lewis (06:03):
Well, I'd say sample it for yourself people and see
(06:08):
That's always a good thing. No, and I do love as well that you say it's complimentary. I think that when it comes to anything in life, whether it be business, personal health, usually there's not one silver bullet. There's not one answer. There's lots of little things that we can do for ourselves throughout the day that helps us get there. I mean, I was thinking about even myself on the coffee bandwagon at the moment as well, going, oh, I've got to cut back. Feeling stressed and having three cups of coffee is not doing me anything else. But I also know that it's not just cut back and coffee and then my whole life will be amazing. I've also got to think about all of the other things that go into it. But I love that there's an alternative. There's something that you can go to that is, if you have a cup of one of these teas, it will help you on your journey and be complimentary to the other things that you bring into your life.
Tamarin Howse (07:06):
That's right. It's definitely part of that experience. And having a cup of tea, of course, there's some benefits through the herbs themselves, but also through that conscious time that you're taking to stop and pause and have a moment and just kind of reconnect and have a breather. That in itself I think does probably more benefit than anything else. Just having works wonders time. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (07:33):
Yeah, I love that. It's that funny. My mom once said to me, she's like, when you've got a headache and you take a headache tablet, she's like, what are you doing with that? You're drinking a glass of water. So she's like, sometimes you're just a bit dehydrated. You need the glass of water. You don't actually need the medicine. So she always said to me, just have a cup of water first and see what happens. I was like, oh, that's such an interesting idea. You think you're doing one thing, but really it's something else. So I love that. Not only is it the benefit of the ingredients, but it is also that time and space. So right. Taking those moments is really important. We need to give ourselves that space sometime to actually relax and get ourselves together.
Tamarin Howse (08:17):
So true.
Danielle Lewis (08:18):
So good. So I'm always fascinated by people who've built product-based businesses, and especially with a product like Tea where we physically ingest it. I can imagine that going through the process of getting that all together, creating it, getting it certified, all those things would've been a really interesting process. Can you share that story with us?
Tamarin Howse (08:42):
Yes. I mean, I never set out to become a tea merchant. My background is product design, full disclosures. I do love design, and I've always,
Danielle Lewis (08:55):
That's why they look so good. That's why they looks so amazing.
Tamarin Howse (08:58):
Thank you. So yeah, so I've always enjoyed industrial design. My career took me through the path of customer experience design. So that's what I was doing for organizations in New Zealand. Some of our big telcos, Westpac designing their customer experience, we're trying to improve it. It's only so much you can do with corporates. So I've kind of always really loved the design process. And when this challenge in my life came up and then the tea was sort of this tool that I was using conversations and for myself, just felt natural to develop it and design it. And part of my role at the time was doing customer research. So I would give customers broadband boxes and they'd have to unbox the broadband and plug it all in and figure out, do the instructions make sense? So my job is to test, does it make sense? And so it makes sense to also test my tea because the one thing if it works for me.
(10:01):
And so I gave tea to my colleagues and their sisters and their friends, and I said, please try these different teas. Keep a diary. Let me know what works, what doesn't work, what you like, what you don't like. At the same time, I would go to markets and I would give different samples to customers, and I'd be like, what do you like about these from a taste perspective? So it actually took me about 18 months to get the first blend that I was happy with. And I only sold anxiety in the markets and to friends and stuff for a year and a half as well. And then we went into lockdown.
Danielle Lewis (10:40):
Oh, joy.
Tamarin Howse (10:41):
Yeah. I lost my job at the airline that I was working for at the time. And so I thought, well, look, let's double down and focus on tea. The whole country was under a lot of stress and there was a big movement towards supporting small businesses. And New Zealand really, really got behind that. There was this Facebook group and people were sharing different businesses and it grew exponentially. And that kind of launched the brand a bit. And then I thought, oh, I better start doing this properly that registered with the council and went through all that process. And it's quite overwhelming. I remember the first process of actually being registered with the ministry of Primary Industries here, and it was like a 70 page document, and I was just reading through it, and I was like, I work with horrible insurance forms and ish, but even this was like, oh my goodness, I don't know how I'm going to get through this. But actually anything in business or any problem in life, you just start at one thing at a time. Just work through
Danielle Lewis (11:55):
That is the best advice. We need to put a pin in that. That is literally the best advice ever. When you have a giant challenge in front of yourself, just focusing in on the next step and not thinking about the 70 page document, just thinking about question number one. It is the best way to get through anything.
Tamarin Howse (12:14):
Yeah, that's right. And so slowly chipping away at it, and I mean, your product is it anyway, so actually it's not that hard once you get started, but that getting started is still very scary. And then it just, you keep going, and then somebody says, oh, have you done this? And you're like, oh, no, I didn't do that. So some of it was me being proactive. Other times it was just mistakes.
Danielle Lewis (12:48):
Well, and that's it. Sometimes I think as a business owner, we just trip over something and be like, oh, we need to solve that now. Yeah,
Tamarin Howse (12:54):
That's right. That's exactly right. So a lot of tripping over, but yeah, it's working. So yeah.
Danielle Lewis (13:00):
Oh my God. It is definitely working. It's a gorgeous product to a very important problem a lot of us have. I think so. No, you should be so proud. I absolutely love it. How did you go, I mean, obviously from a product design point of view, that process makes a lot of sense, but even as going from employee to business owner, what was that transition like for you?
Tamarin Howse (13:25):
That was, even now, I feel like that's sick in my stomach. It was really scary. I mean, again, at the time, the whole world was, it was a horrible time. We were all unsure, I don't want to say the word uncertain, but that was the theme job, personal life. I had just gone through a divorce, so I was living under somebody's house with my two dogs, and it was not a good time.
Danielle Lewis (13:52):
No.
Tamarin Howse (13:53):
Oh my gosh. But I guess having a project kept me busy, and I really enjoyed it. And my customers that I did have were really, really supportive. They were so excited to sharing the design process with me, and they were excited to try new products. And even though everything was remote, I would post samples to customers and be like, well, what did you think about this? And so I love that felt really connected to, I want to call it my community, but my customers. And it kind of just keeps you motivated in that momentum. But yeah, I kind of forgot your question actually. I'm so sorry.
Danielle Lewis (14:37):
Oh, no, no, no. Just about. No, I, I'm loving it. I'm loving it. It's just about going from employee to business owner, what that transition was sort of
Tamarin Howse (14:46):
One of the positive things about going through divorce and selling the house and everything. I was renting this really tiny place. It was really cheap rent, so the risk was really low for me. I wasn't going to have to worry about a mortgage. And because I had been made redundant, I also had a bit of cash
(15:05):
As well. So I had a bit of a buffer. And that's why I thought, look now or never, that Facebook page post got me. I think at the time it was me, it was like $3,000 in sales, which was more than I'd made the whole year prior. And so I knew that there was potential to really grow this. And I thought, if I can just get in front of that many people all the time, so easy. But anyway, I knew that it was possible to, and so I just did that through lockdown and never really went back to work after that. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (15:40):
I love it. And look, and it is, I find sometimes as business owners just what's that next little spark of hope that we go, oh yes, this could be possible. And it just gives you that little bit of boost to take the next step, take the next risk post in the group, start an Instagram account, whatever it is.
Tamarin Howse (16:01):
Yeah, definitely. And I think because New Zealand was so supportive of new businesses, it felt like a safe place to do this and a safe time. Eventually when I had to get this office, that was quite scary because it was a case of am I sure that I'm going to make enough each month to pay the landlord and commit to this lease? And that was what was quite scary. But so far we're good.
Danielle Lewis (16:33):
Yes. Oh my God. Good on you. I love it. I love it. And what's next for the tea brand? I love it. What's going on next in your world?
Tamarin Howse (16:43):
So actually Australia, a couple months ago, we went to the we being my mom. So my mom's joined me in the business. She helps me mix and blend and pack the orders. Awesome. And so we went over to Melbourne for the gift there.
Danielle Lewis (16:58):
Cool.
Tamarin Howse (16:59):
Into Aussie. And we got a couple handfuls of new retailers across. So we're going to just keep trying to push that. And I think in the new year we might try another trade show and just, yeah, it keeps expanding, I guess. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (17:15):
That's so good. And do you ship anywhere or?
Tamarin Howse (17:19):
We do ship anywhere. We had a viral video a couple weeks ago, and we had a lot of people from all over the world saying, can you ship to us? Can you ship to us? And so now we ship everywhere. Not very cost effective, but
Danielle Lewis (17:33):
It will be. It's one of those things, one of those things. It's like you just say yes and then figure it out later. That's right.
Tamarin Howse (17:40):
True.
Danielle Lewis (17:41):
I love that. What was the viral video? How did you go viral?
Tamarin Howse (17:46):
There is a New Zealand business owner called Brianne West, and she created, I
Danielle Lewis (17:52):
Follow her, yeah, yeah.
Tamarin Howse (17:55):
She's the creator of Etti, which was this plastic free beauty products. And she started a small business called Business, but Better to help business owners. Right. Anyway, so I followed her and she said she set this challenge that if you post for 14 days in a row, whoever posts the most in those 14 days will get a free coffee with me. And I was like, I want a copy with it.
Danielle Lewis (18:21):
Yeah, totally.
Tamarin Howse (18:24):
Very inconsistent in my posting. But when I had that, I said, well, I'm going to do it. So for 14 days I posted and a video went viral. So I hate that she was right, consistent, and
Danielle Lewis (18:38):
These gurus that actually know what they're talking about.
Tamarin Howse (18:42):
So the video was just a random video of my tea infusing in a glass mug with an inspirational quote over the top. So nothing revolutionary, but the algorithm liked it and grew from there. So yes, I should post consistently.
Danielle Lewis (19:01):
That's the lesson here. But it is interesting, isn't it? I think sometimes we hold ourselves back from posting what's the giant idea? What's the big thing that's going to go wrong? And it's like, all I did was just try stuff, show up every day and just post it. And something actually happened. I was like, yeah, that's cool.
Tamarin Howse (19:20):
Exactly right. I remember the first day I found out about the challenge, it was like 11:00 PM at night, and I was like, I can't be out of the challenge on the first day and I better post something. And it's amazing when you just have to do something. I dunno what I posted, something really lame, like me packing an order. But yeah, just showing up and just experimenting. It was worth it.
Danielle Lewis (19:45):
Totally. And I think we said this at the start, it's like sometimes it's just figuring out what works and what doesn't work and doing more of the stuff that works. That's incredible. I love it so much. Okay, let's leave our Spark community with one last piece of advice. So reflecting on your time and journey in business, would there be a piece of wisdom that you would give to another woman in business on her journey?
Tamarin Howse (20:15):
That's an excellent question. It feels so natural As you go through it, you don't really feel like things are happening. It just makes sense. You're like, oh, I'm just going to try this out, or I'm just going to do this. And the next thing you know, we've expanded internationally. We have an office, we've got 200 stockers. It's a business. And I was driving to work today and I was thinking, am I a small business? When do you cross over that line from being a small business to a business? And then I realized, I was like, gosh, I don't even remember getting here. So I guess my advice in the moment right now would actually just be to celebrate the wins that you've had. Be like, oh my gosh, I created this thing, or I've got a new customer. The tiny, tiny things that happen actually are really big deals, and you work really hard for that, and we don't celebrate them enough. Maybe we win an award and I'm like, oh, okay. I want to win this one, or I want to do this, and now I need another tea and I need to go into Australia. And I've never actually celebrated that. Actually, we've got 200 stockers in New Zealand that love us, thousands of customers that love us, that's a win. But I just realized now I should take my own advice.
Danielle Lewis (21:32):
Oh my God, absolutely. Because all of those things are absolutely incredible. You should be celebrating every one of
Tamarin Howse (21:39):
Those. But when you're doing something, you're like, okay, I think I can, what's
Danielle Lewis (21:43):
Next? What's next? I love it. And that is beautiful advice, and it's actually a piece of advice that I'm going to take away myself today. So I appreciate talking to you. This has been absolutely incredible. You are incredible. Congratulations on your business, and thank you for sharing your wisdom with the Spark Crew.
Tamarin Howse (22:04):
Thank you so much for having me. It's been an absolute joy to chat to you, and thank you very much for letting me share my story and journey. So thank you.
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