Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Sanchez
Hi Vanessa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started Teaness in 2016, a year after my son was born, having him motivated me to do what I had always wanted to do, it was a “if not now, when?” moment. Teaness started as a blog on instagram to document my own progress and findings of blending herbs with tea leaves with the intention of keeping indigenous medicine alive and also educate people on the neurological benefits that come from the tea plant (native to Asia), after seeing the benefits of natural medicine in my own body. In 2017 I started getting invites to do pop ups and got to meet a lot of people that way, that in turn spread the word to others in the city. In 2018 I was asked to provide teas for a local coffee shop and it has been growing since then, doing partnerships with different organizations and businesses in the city, and providing teas to local coffee shops and restaurants, our teas are also served in other parts of Texas and we have online customers from all over the US. It’s been a slow and steady growth, being a single mom with full financial responsibility and no parental guidance, I had a lot of setbacks and tough times. I’ve always worked multiple jobs while doing Teaness and raising my son. My career in Accounting and supporting that growth as well has helped fund the growth of Teaness, no outside funding or investors or business partners, mainly because I had no idea how to go about that and I was too busy working and raising my son. I’m very grateful to have come all this way and there’s still so much growth to come.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not smooth but still steady. Money, time, resources have all been struggles in the past but I am in no way defined by them, they were also a necessary part of the journey.
We’ve been impressed with Teaness, Equil, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Apart from Teaness, I have a Bookkeeping Firm called Equil. With Teaness I specialize in selling high quality, un compromised teas wholesale and retail. I also host tea parties, educational classes, and occasionally pop ups. We source our tea leaves farm direct and blend them with organic herbs. Everything is organic and our packaging is compostable. We do our best to protect mother earth, she is who we hope to reflect in our teas. What I am most proud of is the organic growth of everything, the people that buy from us are seeking either health benefits, mindfulness, quality, all of the good things that were my intentions when I created this.
What’s next?
My plans for the future are to grow our inventory and equipment in order to be accessible to a larger audience. Slow and steady, trusting the process and taking steps everyday towards my goals of helping the immediate financial need of those around me. Coming from poverty as a child, I want to be able to give back in a big way, supporting non profits that align with my intentions of a greener, less financially stressed world. Tea & Finances are my 2 passions.
Pricing:
- Retail bags are as low as $10
- Wholesale pricing starts well under $100 with no minimum and free local delivery in and around Downtown
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.teanesstea.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teaness.satx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teaness.satx/
