Tell us briefly about what you do.
I am a naturopath and medical herbalist who manages a loose leaf tea and herb business called aaah! Nourishing Tea.    We are primarily online and we also have a handful of selected wholesale outlets that serve or sell our tea in their stores or cafes.   We specialise in Herbal infusions that are created to taste good while delivering a therapeutic dose.   We offer the complete package, from expert knowledge and information about the health benefits of tea and how different infusions will affect your wellbeing, to an emphasis on the best flavours and quality.

Tell us a bit about your company, what is the philosophy behind Aaah! Tea? 
The main philosophy of aaah! Tea is to bring the flavour and experience back to teas and infusions, so our customers can have a delicious tasting beverage, while at the same time improving their health!  The unique offering to consumers is our ‘Healing Herbal’ range, which uses specially blended herbs to ensure a therapeutic dose for specific health concerns such as stress, digestion, insomnia, detox, and pregnancy. 

When creating these blends we will use smaller numbers of herbs in each blend which ensures you will get a herbal infusion that is at a therapeutic level.    They are also blended for taste using peppermint, cinnamon or licorice and other nice tasting herbs to ensure they are enjoyable to drink.   I like to think that all our teas and herbal infusions are a visual feast for our customers, as well as being delicious and full of goodness.  They contain large chunks of fruit, berries and spices and when infused give off wonderful aromas and look beautiful.  You just can’t get the same experience from a tea bag.  

What is your background – how did you get to where you are?
I actually initially studied law at university but realised it wasn’t me after the first semester, so I switched and completed a psychology degree.  I then worked overseas for several years in the IT area.  When I came back to NZ I studied to be a Naturopath, as this had always been an interest of mine.    After qualifying I worked for the supplement company Blackmores, where I held many roles including managing their practitioner range, Brand Manager, Training Manager and finally Marketing and Business Manager.  So I learnt a lot of skills working for a company with very high values and extremely high quality products.  This type of business philosophy still resonates with me today.

I came up with the idea to create my own herbal blends where my aim was two fold – to let people experience the fresh flavours of real herbal teas while improving their health in an enjoyable way!  I then expanded my idea to include all teas – black, green, fruit etc as all teas are essentially health giving and full of nutrition.

In 2007 we opened an aaah! Tea retail store and tea cafe in Auckland City, where we traded for 2 years.   However after falling pregnant and also due to ongoing difficulties with the landlords we decided to close the store.  Happily we have been able to successfully transform our business to where it is today, which is primarily online and wholesale.  This works well for me now as it enables me to still run a business and spend time with my family, although I certainly would like to see a retail face for the business in the future.

Why did you choose to get into health/naturopathy?
A family friend started on the famous 80s health craze ‘The Pritikin Diet’ when I was about 16 years old and I read all the books and that sparked my interest in how diet is linked to good health.  I wasn’t sure that I could make a career about it but then read about a ‘Naturopath’ in a magazine about 2 years later and knew that was what I wanted to do.   I finally started my naturopath qualifications 13 years ago and now have a bachelor in Health Science, Diploma in Naturopathy and Diploma in Herbal medicine – and I keep on being inspired by it and am always learning!

What does a typical day in your professional life involve?
A typical day for me will always include talking to customers either on the phone or via email, taking orders or discussing health issues.  I also spend a lot of time designing and writing my ‘Loyaltea’ email newsletters and putting together other promotions.  I might meet with various suppliers and decide on what stock needs to be ordered, or discussing various print or packaging designs that need doing. 

Currently I am about to launch a new green tea product called Matcha so I have been spending a bit of time sampling for the best flavour and quality, designing labels and writing content for the website.  I am also looking to blend another Healing Herbal blend so have lots of fun mixing different herbs together to taste until I am happy with the flavour.

Writing and researching for the radio, website and articles takes up a lot of my time too   Administration is also part of my job.  Since we are a small growing company there are always the typical aspects of business like paying bills, working on P&Ls, cash-flow management, budgets, PAYE, and so on.

What do you enjoy most about owning your own business?
Since owning my own business I feel it would be very difficult to do anything different!  I absolutely love it!  While it can be very challenging and at times difficult to come up with all the ideas yourself, the rewards far outshine any negatives.  It gives you the autonomy and freedom to try ideas you like, you can plan your life around other activities and family.

I am involved in all aspects of running a business which exposes me to such a broad range of things.  I find this very interesting and stimulating and feel I am constantly learning.  My business is like a hobby because it is in an area I am personally interested in and supports my personal philosophies on health and wellbeing.

As well as owning your own company, you juggle a regular spot as a naturopath on the radio.  How do you manage your time, and maintain a work/life balance?
At times with great difficulty!  I am getting better at it though.  My personality is one where I always have ideas and things buzzing around in my head, the hard bit of it is reining myself in and trying to do one thing at a time before moving to the next.  The good thing is recognise this in myself more than I used to and can see when I am getting out of control.

Having a little toddler too means I can only really work part time, so I make sure the days I have allocated as work days I try to do as much as I can then and I ensure that my non-work days are set aside for my little boy.  I very rarely work weekends anymore unless really needed but I will work in the evenings at times.  I have now been doing regular yoga practice and find this is making a great difference to me in clearing my head and energising me.   

Do you have any advice for aspiring small business owners? 
Plan, plan and plan!   Spend a lot of time initially on business and marketing plans doing as much research as you can find in your field and have sound (and realistic) financial budgets.   Include all your short and long term goals and make sure you work out a roadmap or steps along the way to get you there.   Don’t be afraid to ask for help, especially in the beginning and make sure the advice you are getting is qualified advice, not just from friends and family.

Make it the top of your list to understand the financials – it will always cost you more than you think even if you are very controlled on your finances.  Cash-flow management is very important and will be a killer if you don’t understand it.  Remain flexible, your business will change and evolve and if you don’t evolve with it you will miss out on opportunities that come your way.

And always have an exit strategy – whether it’s on a lease, a loan or a partnership.  That is, how will you get out or change your business if it goes wrong.  It seems silly to plan for the worst but things happen to the best business people all the time, so make sure this is a serious part of your planning.

Finally if you are passionate about it then it will happen – irrelevant of your background or education.

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