Let’s have a Tea Party!

Mad Hatter: Would you like a little more tea?

Alice: Well, I haven’t had any yet,

so I can’t very well take more.

March Hare: Ah, you mean you can’t

very well take less.

Mad Hatter: Yes. You can always take

more than nothing.

I had Applied for the position of Brand Manager with an unknown company about 2 weeks ago. The posting was quite vague so I really didn’t think much about it. All I knew is that is said Entrepreneurial, Brand Manager, and Beverage Industry – and that was enough. I then received an email from Linda asking if I would be interested in meeting up for an interview. Of course I don’t want to turn down an interview so I ask her where her office is and when she would like to meet. Her reply kind of made me laugh. She said that this was truly a start-up company and that the offices were not yet finished. We agreed to meet at a Starbucks the following week, January 30th.

Before the interview I did my research, as any good job-applier would, and found a blurb about Linda indicating that she had been the VP for consumer brands such as Oxi Clean, Orange Glo, and various other cleaning products. I instantly got nervous, as this lady knew her sh*t! (I have no idea why I didn’t just type shit, but I like the way the * looks, so I’ll leave it)

I met Linda and her Husband at the coffee shop and I was instantly charmed as her husband joked with me about not taking him up on his offer for a scone (dribbling coffee out of my mouth while telling her how qualified I am was enough, I don’t think I needed the added attention of scone crumbs lingering… hm, I wonder if she would have told me I had food on my face, I bet she would).

Linda explained to me that the brand of the tea was Tetulia and it came from the tea farm Kazi and Kazi Tea Estate in Bangladesh. The company would consist of the overseas tea farm and the two of us. She had already done package design and set up PR, accounting, and in the process of setting up fulfillment. The idea was to target consumers directly and then after creating a buzz, get into the premium tea market, targeting restaurants and hotels. She explained that the product is unique because not only is it 100% organic, but you can trace it’s life cycle back to the individual that picked it’s leaves. Well – that’s AWESOME in my book!

Yes, this is a start up company. However, I feel very confident about the product, about Linda herself, and about my abilities to make this an amazing journey. Linda said that she had a couple more people to interview (i hex you people, i hex you!) and that there would be a second interview early next week. I’m extremely excited about this opportunity, and I can’t wait to shift my drinking habits from craft beer to organic tea. (well, most of the time anyway)