My children know that I love my work making tea.
They know there are boxes delivered from around the world, that the dining room table occasionally becomes a workspace, and that weekends often mean loading up the car and heading to a farmers market. They know that Mom and Dad have emails to answer, orders to pack, products to make, and customers to talk to. They see the work.
What they probably don't see is the "why".
I'm not just building a business that feeds us, I'm building a foundation for my children to know they can do anything they set their minds to.
What I hope they takeaway from watching me work.
That you can start with very little or without everything being "perfect" and still begin. That building something worth having isn't always glamorous or easy, and that there will be days when you question yourself, change direction, start over, but keep going anyway.
There are parts of entrepreneurship my children will probably never fully see.
They won't see every late-night calculation or every difficult decision. They won't know about the orders that didn't come through, the months when the numbers didn't make sense, or the moments when I wondered whether I was asking too much of myself.
But they will see me continue. And I hope they will use my example as a reason to never give up.
The most important lessons aren't taught in a classroom.
I got pregnant with my oldest in college and it changed the course of my life. I wasn't able to pursue the high powered career in the entertainment industry I was studying for, or live a life of gratification on the beaches of Southern California as I had become accustomed to. Instead I went straight to work, without finishing my degree and had to build a life for myself and my child from nothing.
Showing my children that their mother was capable of creating a company, negotiate business deals, make consequential decisions, take risks, make mistakes, solve problems, work with her hands, and stand behind something she believes in - is my life's work. Making delicious tea is just the byproduct.
The legacy I'm building isn't a company, it's children who will one day be builders of their own destiny.
They've seen the beautiful parts of running a small business, but they've also seen the work behind it.
They've seen that creating something from scratch requires planing and experimentation. That someone has to pack the boxes, make the samples, clean up and show up no matter the weather. That when an idea doesn't work, you have to try something new and never give up. That what the world sees is only a fraction of the work.
I am also building something they can remember.
I think about the moments I remember from my own childhood. Sometimes they are vivid memories of a specific moment, but more often they are sensory experiences. The smell, the ambiance, the feeling.
One day my children will look back and associate the smell of herbs and tea leaves, early mornings on chilly days, getting treats from their favorite bakers at a farmer's market, and conversations after long days with feeling loved and included..
There is something powerful about creating family traditions while you're simultaneously creating a business. The two become intertwined and give days a sense of purpose that might otherwise be overlooked.
Creating a legacy isn't about leaving behind a fortune.
When I think about building a legacy for my children, I don't think about what I can eventually leave them. I think about what I can leave in them.
Curiosity. Work-ethic. Creativity. Independence. Courage. Adaptability.
An understanding that success isn't always immediate, and that setbacks don't have to be the end of the story.
_ _ _ _ _
So yes, my children know that Mom makes tea.
But I hope that someday they'll understand that I was doing something much bigger than that.
That in my own imperfect way, I was building a legacy for them.
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