Episode 81: A Conversation with Margaret Gay of 27 Teas

Sharri Harmel: Well today I’m in conversation with Margaret Gay. She is the founder and CEO of 27 Teas, a tea company that she started in 2018. 27 Teas is a loose leaf tea company that provides delicious teas, tea blends, and even some herbal varieties. Now her company ships anywhere in the United States. So join this growing US tea culture. Margaret began her career in the corporate world, working for a defense contractor and their leadership program.

Sharri Harmel: She’s a graduate of Syracuse University, the Whitman school of Management, both undergraduate as well as her MBA. She knew she wanted to start her own business and made lists of things she loved and was passionate about, but she just couldn’t settle on any one idea. And maybe some of you can relate. But she’s a tea drinker and she was continually disappointed by the tea that was offered by her local cafes.

Sharri Harmel: That’s where she finally got her idea, which was to start her tea company. Margaret kept that corporate job though, and work nights and weekends on her idea until after a year she knew she was ready and she quit her corporate job to work on 27 Teas. Full-time. Margaret shares incredible nuggets of wisdom in this particular conversation, as she explains her journey to start and grow her company, the special challenges of an entrepreneur and how to keep moving forward.

Sharri Harmel: I’m going to let Margaret share her story with you. I’ll stop talking, but she has nuggets truly of wisdom to share with you wherever you are on this journey. So let’s get started. Hi Margaret. 

Margaret Gay: Hi. So nice to see you. 

Sharri Harmel: Great to see you. I shared with everyone a little bit about your bio, but I am so excited truly to hear about 27 Teas.

Sharri Harmel: I’m a tea drinker. I have my tea right here, so I want to hear where this all started because as I read in your bio, you came from, you know, this very corporate structured, you know, training and then worked for a defense contractor, and supply chain. That just sounds all corporate to me. So share if you can, how this, how this happened.

Margaret Gay: So I went to school at Syracuse University. I wanted to do something in the business realm. I did three different majors because I had no clue what I wanted to do. Supply chain marketing and entrepreneurship, undergrad assistant for undergrad, but I had no clue what kind of business I wanted to start.

Margaret Gay: It seemed very overwhelming. So I did the responsible thing after graduation and got a job so I could pay on my student loan. I did take a job at a defense contractor in a leadership development program. And so that was really great out of college. They provided a lot of different leadership roles and also education and higher education as well.

Margaret Gay: They did pay for me to go back to school and get my MBA, which was a great perk. So working there was fine, but I always kind of knew I wanted something else. Something more. 

Sharri Harmel: You said something at the very beginning about you wanted to start a business. So were you always a bit of an entrepreneurial thing?

Margaret Gay: Maybe a little bit, I don’t really come from like an entrepreneurial family. I come from the two parents that worked like the same place, their whole career. My dad’s a little bit more entrepreneurial. He kind of like would do some little side businesses from the house kind of a thing, but I never really did anything.

Margaret Gay: Like as a kid, I didn’t even have a lemonade stand. I never had that kind of a thing, but I don’t even know what kind of sparked that interest in me. I think it’s just seeing like the lifestyle that some entrepreneurs have and like that time flexibility, I don’t necessarily think time freedom because those that own their businesses typically have more work in than the nine to five or type person.

Margaret Gay: But I wanted that flexibility and I wanted to really be passionate about something and I kind of felt that the best way to do that would be to be my own boss. 

Sharri Harmel: Okay. So time was the motivator initially. Even though I found out later, which we’ll talk about what is it like to be an entrepreneur versus a corporate executive very different time, but time was the initial motivator, but then what happened?  I mean, somewhere along the way it happened. 

Margaret Gay: So I was kind of just feeling unsatisfied in my job. And I was like, there’s got to be something else. I, obviously, one of my majors was entrepreneurship. I want to start a business, but I have no clue what I want to do. And I kept kind of like kicking the can down the road.

Margaret Gay: It was actually on my 27th birthday. And I was talking to my husband. I was like, this is it. I’m going I’m I got to pick something. I got to just do something, even if it’s just to get the ball rolling and to like, get my feet wet and figure it out. I need to do something. I just need to be passionate. I need to have joy and happiness.

Margaret Gay: I need that back in my life. So let’s start with something that I really like. I really like tea and I hate when we go to a cafe and you get this awesome locally roasted coffee, and I’m stuck with a teabag that I could have bought from the grocery store. And I pay almost the same price. It’s like, wait, I feel like I just got a McDonald’s burger at a fancy steakhouse.

Margaret Gay: Like the quality doesn’t seem too good to me. I want to help bridge the gap for the tea drinker, because I feel like I’m always short changed. So I was like, I see that there’s definitely a gap in the market there for tea lovers. And that’s something that I really enjoy. Like, you know, maybe start dabbling in mixing some tea blends and see if I can enter this space.

Margaret Gay: So it was my 27th birthday and I was messing around with, you know, what could the name of the business be? I decided what about 27 Teas? Like I’m 27. This is going to be the year that changes the trajectory of my life. It was almost a motivational thing for myself too, which is kind of funny because I was like, if I name it 27, it’s going to happen this year because next year I’ll be 28.

Margaret Gay: If it doesn’t happen, there’ll be a little thing for myself. So in a way it was my own personal way of making sure I get out of my own head and get out of my own way and just make it happen. Like stop making excuses for yourself and just do something. If this doesn’t turn out to be the end, all be all.

Margaret Gay: At least like you have gotten your feet wet and you’ve entered that realm and explore what it is to be a business owner. So, yeah, I started dabbling with mixing and blending teas 

Sharri Harmel: At home, pretty much?

Margaret Gay: Yeah. So I did a lot of research online and a lot of learning through things that I found online and started the business from there and it really took off and I found that there’s such a need in the area for tea options. I’ve found so many tea lovers that were like, oh, Teavana in the mall closed, but I have all these, this equipment and the things to make the tea. And I have this infuser that someone got me, but I have no actual loose-leaf tea. And I was like, perfect, come on over to me. Yeah. So it just really took off and it’s been a great success and it keeps building momentum.

Margaret Gay: It’s just been awesome. And I did quit my corporate job about a year after starting the business. I was doing them both at the same time for a while. And then I quit and have been doing this full-time since March of 2019. So it’s been almost four years. 

Sharri Harmel: That’s crazy. There’s so many lessons though. I have to say Margaret and what you just shared because so many and our audiences, Women, obviously, and Women of all ages, but sometimes we get stuck in what is it I’m supposed to do? I want to do something, but what is it I’m supposed to do? And then we do research and listen to people and sometimes. All that feedback gets in those in the way of what you described, which is what do I like?

Sharri Harmel: What do I enjoy? And what kind of is upsetting to me, you know, uh, if you had had great tea everywhere you went. You were, you’d still be a tea drinker, but you never thought of creating a tea company by any stretch of the imagination. So go back to, that’s a word of wisdom. Go back to what it is you love.

Margaret Gay: Yeah. And I think, um, one of the big hang-ups for me too, was how much I was making at my corporate job. And what that kind of work was, is that a defense contractor you’re doing very meaningful work, very elaborate work as a company and going from that to blending tea. I feel like some people could be like, you’re doing what, like how much tea are you going to have to blend to make your current salary?

Margaret Gay: And people get so caught up in the money part of it, or like, wait, so you’re going to blend tea, which is like not a life or death thing. And before you were doing something that really was life-changing for people and it made a huge impact. And I think sometimes people get caught up in the ego of some of that.

Margaret Gay: Um, and think like, well, yeah, I might have to be passionate about it, but that’s not really important or whatever. So I think it’s really just, like you said, finding something that you enjoy in the day-to-day, because if you’re not enjoying the work, whatever kind of work it is. Yeah. And what’s the point?

Sharri Harmel: Yeah, no matter how impactful something is on a significant scale, you know, defense contracting is multi-pronged and obviously very large this from a scale standpoint. And, uh, and yet you knew you had to start your tea small, but I like what you just brought up. Did people say that to you, what kind of support did you have? Did you have friends that were with you on this or friends that said, Margaret you’re crazy. What about your husband? What about your parents? 

Margaret Gay: Yeah, I mean, yeah, so some people, I think, definitely thought like, okay, you’re crazy. And I was married at the time, so I did have the support and the financial support of my husband and things.

Margaret Gay: Some people thought, oh, She’s just going to quit her job. And this is like a hobby. And I still feel like sometimes I get that like really she’s just doing this to as, as more of a I sometimes I feel like people don’t necessarily take it as seriously because they don’t see that maybe they’re not a tea lover and they don’t see like how big the business has.

Margaret Gay: Or maybe I’m creating that story for myself, which, which is something I always try to remind myself as maybe the comments or things that people say. They’re saying things because they don’t understand the entrepreneurial life or they don’t understand what it means to be a business owner, um, or the ins and outs of, you know, this is, this is my first baby.

Margaret Gay: You, you give life to this thing. Um, and it’s so much work and time and effort. And unless someone has gone through that process, then. Intimate, you know, close to a person going through this process, you might not understand, but thankfully my husband and he’s pushes me more than anyone. I mean, he was the one who was like, just quit and just do it.

Margaret Gay: And so he is last night, he was up till like 10 o’clock at night, doing research for me, trying to figure out some email stuff. So I think he’s just like the most supportive partner. I think it would have taken me a lot longer to go down this path if it was. For having a partner, which is unfortunate because a lot of people don’t have a partner.

Margaret Gay: And I don’t know if I would’ve had the guts to do it if I was going it alone. Yeah, which, which is sad, but I do recognize that and I do recognize the privilege that I have by having the support of loved ones around me. 

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. That’s fair. That’s beautifully said. And also sometimes we have partners, but the partner would rather that you stayed in the high paying corporate job with all the banks. Then working as an entrepreneur, which we all know takes seems to take a lot more time. You’re never finished, right? As an entrepreneur. 

Margaret Gay: Yeah. I am never finished. And, and one last point, I feel like I want to make, cause I think it’s so important for anyone out there trying to start a business or thinking of it is I always knew that no matter what, I have a solid educational background, like I have a degree, I have a master’s degree.

Margaret Gay: Sometimes people don’t realize like, okay, if, if what’s the absolute worst case that could happen, this. Okay then what’s my plan B and my plan B as I figure out some other business or I go and work for someone else on figuring out the next thing, I’m an employable person. So the option to start a business isn’t necessarily that scary because there are backup plans.

Margaret Gay: And I know it’s not easy to find a job necessarily, but I think, always thinking about what’s the absolute worst that could happen if I made this. And then took this next big step. You times you realize it’s not that, that big of a, of a thing. Like let’s, let’s do it. Let’s go all in. Let’s try it out.

Sharri Harmel: But it’s interesting because you said you didn’t immediately quit your job. Um, your full-time job, you were doing both at the same time, kind of trying to figure out you tell me, what were you doing in that year that you were working in both places basically. 

Margaret Gay: And I definitely wanted things as polished in the business, um, because it was hard to do in your spare time, you know, your nights and weekends.

Margaret Gay: But really I was just focusing on the basics, like trying to find some customers, trying to make SEO work on the website, things like that. But once I was able to quit things just skyrocketed because I was actually able to go this isn’t 2019. So this is pre COVID world. Four days a week at markets, whether it was like a farmer’s market or artisan markets.

Margaret Gay: And I got right in front of people and I was able to get their feedback on the products, the branding, the packaging, the flavors. I was able to go back and tweak things. I was able to start my mailing list, which has been huge because I was getting, you know, right in front of the people and that year of going crazy and working a million hours. Paid-off tenfold, especially the past couple of years where I wasn’t able to get in front of people, but that I attribute to the growth of my business is by putting in all that sweat and hard work 

Sharri Harmel: That face time…

Margaret Gay: Yeah. And that’s the part that wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t had quit my job because I spent so much time, obviously I wasn’t making as much money that I’ve spent so much time getting in front of people and building my brand. And that’s what changed everything for me. Okay. 

Sharri Harmel: We’re going to go into the weeds a little bit here if you don’t mind though. Um, because when I think of myself, let’s say if I wanted to start a tea company as an example, I mean, I could research about teas and whatnot, but I, I wouldn’t know how to go from the idea to actually even bringing something to an artisanal fair or a farmer’s fair or whatever, so that people could test, Ah, how’d you know how to do this and what were the steps? 

Margaret Gay: I, I was really intimidated by all that actually. Um, cause I was like, you know, how do you go about even getting into a farmer’s market or a fair, you know, what kind of things do you need to bring?

Margaret Gay: And I just really started researching. You know, how, how do I go about marketing and branding myself and getting in front of people? I knew that I needed to do that. And I figured farmer’s markets were kind of a cheap and easy way to do that and started reaching out, thinking, Googling, like, what are the things I need for a successful farmer’s market?

Margaret Gay: So I’m really, it’s this it’s the Google University. I always joke, but it’s like, there’s so much free, amazing information out there. People who have done something similar to you. And most of it’s all free and you can learn a lot. Yeah. A lot of trial and error. And then now everything runs like clockwork.

Margaret Gay: And I know, you know, how to set up markets and fairs, and I know how to do a blending of a tea and to add flavorings to tea and things like that. But, um, I was very intimidated getting started doing all of that, 

Sharri Harmel: but all that was self-taught. 

Margaret Gay: Yes. 

Sharri Harmel: Okay. So you didn’t go to Tea School? 

Sharri Harmel: I did not. 

Sharri Harmel: There is not, maybe that’s something down the road when your mind be creating a tea school.

Margaret Gay: My husband and I, we did go to Thailand and we were able to go to a tea plantation area and we were able to pick tea leaves, which is really neat. And they’re not one of the bigger producers of tea we just happened to be in the area. So we made sure to do that. Um, but at least getting into that culture a little bit and physically seeing them make the tea.

Margaret Gay: And pick the tea was a really cool educational experience. So we, we have had that little experience of physically being somewhere. Um, but unfortunately I have not been able to do more traveling, um, education to figure. Yeah, 

Sharri Harmel: Well, no one has been able to, so whether we’re flying there for education or otherwise! You purchase tea, correct? You purchase the leaves. 

Margaret Gay: Yes. Everything I use is pretty dried. Yeah. So I’m in New Hampshire and, um, my facility does not have, I don’t have a drying, like a dehydrator, um, process. So everything I do buy is already been dehydrated or most things actually don’t grow in the United States. We’re not going to grow well here.

Margaret Gay: So like tea leaves primarily don’t grow here. So I do source those, um, using both like brokers and middlemen that are located here in United States for sake of faster delivery. Um, and then I recently did start purchasing direct from a tea distributor in Japan. So, that’s kind of the next step I’ve taken is really trying to get direct to source as opposed to using, kind of the middleman, although it does increase like the shipping times and things like that.

Sharri Harmel: Yes, and cost. So what’s the culture of tea and actually I’m going to back up because you made the comment at the very beginning about how people were like, you’re going to start a tea company. I mean, how crazy is that? You’re too young, but I’m not. I remember when Starbucks started, it was kind of outside of the box.  It was like a coffee shop and we’re going to go in there and sit and talk. And, and here we are how many, you know, what, 30 years later, or 35 years later, I mean, it’s incredible what that has done. So why not with tea, but talk to me about the culture, kind of the tea culture of America, because it’s not like great Britain.

Margaret Gay: Yeah, so, so I studied abroad in London for six months. And so I really got an appreciation of the tea culture in Europe and all over Europe. I’ve been to a lot of places, and it’s so different than here. I was actually just talking to another current student at Syracuse University, who’s from Europe and they’re inventing a specialty infuser.  They have a patent out there and he was explaining to me, he’s like, it’s so weird here. You can’t just go to any store and buy it in bulk. Like in Europe, it’s, it’s just so different. So we were commenting on yeah, the culture is so different. And actually 80% of the tea consumed in America is consumed as iced tea.

Margaret Gay: So America is an ice tea drinking culture, typically not hot. So I think that’s why there’s so many more limited options. Typically when people are going out, especially to a cafe and spending money, they want something that isn’t as easily made in their home. So they want something with a latte, some sort of froth milk, something that’s a little fancier than tea.

Margaret Gay: I feel like people are just like, oh, well, that’s something I have when I’m sick or that’s something I have at, in the evenings. And I have a lot of customers who they specifically buy just caffeine free tea. Cause they are coffee drinkers, but they do love their herbal tea in the evening.  So I do have a bunch of herbal blends as well as table blends, but I think that’s why there aren’t so many options in the United States, but I mean, still there’s, there’s a ton of tea drinkers. They’re just, for whatever reason, they just haven’t been catered to as much as the coffee drinker. So it’s an interesting culture here. That’s for sure. 

Sharri Harmel: Yes, and America is so big. Do you find different tea? Um, how do I want to say it almost likes and, and dislikes at different parts of the country? 

Margaret Gay: I haven’t noticed that yet and I do now get sales from all over the country, which is really great. I haven’t noticed trends based upon region, but I do obviously notice seasonal trends. People love the apple and the pumpkin kind of things in the fall, or like the peppermint and stuff in the winter. So there definitely is a big trend with that.

Margaret Gay: And then I do try to educate people on ice tea can be any tea. A lot of times, if you go down the grocery store aisle, you’ll see something that’s like, oh, this is for ice tea. And I’m like, well, yes, you do need to take maybe some different consideration in preparing your tea when you’re making ice tea, but you can make any option and into an ice tea. So don’t let like the branding of something fool you. If it tastes good cold, you can do it. So I do spend a lot of time trying to educate people on how to brew it really, really easily at home. And they can do any flavor. Don’t pay regard to what the marketers are trying to influence you with at the grocery.

Sharri Harmel: Didn’t I read something about the fact that during COVID you started to do online something online sessions or teaching sessions?

Margaret Gay: Well together, a bunch of different other artisans and makers and I did some virtual markets that were really popular and now I think I’m just going to do it Christmas time, but I think that might be what you’re referring to.

Margaret Gay: So during COVID I did I think three that first year we’re virtual artists and markets, and they were really, really popular. I made sure every different artisan gave a special dealer discount to the customer for that market period. And they were like three or four day markets. So it was a really great way for people to get some exposure to new small businesses, because a lot of people do want to support small business.

Margaret Gay: They just have a hard time finding them. You get lost in Etsy, or you get lost in Google. If you’re trying to Google for a local name, it’s really hard. So just any opportunity I can to bring together different makers or for me to meet other makers as always really fun. 

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. That’s really an interesting point though, because I like to support local, but as an example, I’m not going to go, I’m not going to get in the car and drive to your farmer’s market or your artisan’s market.  Yet I would love to see what’s there and, and have the option that I could order online. Why not? So that’s kind of an, it’s an interesting idea. Like travel, it’s almost like travel to an artesian affair. Yeah. What’s your favorite tea, out of curiosity? 

Margaret Gay: Chocolate peppermint bark is my favorite, right now … it’s been my favorite for a while, but I just I have it all year round. I’m not limited to a Christmassy, like winter drink. That’s one of the ones that’s my go-to, I’m just, I’m always trying new blends and things. So a lot of times I don’t actually drink my own blends that I sell on the website because I’m always trying something new or I’m trying out new inventory, like shipments of products from another distributor or whatever. So that if that is the one that I always keep in the kitchen and I’m always drinking that. 

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. I love that. So say it again so everyone can hear. 

Margaret Gay: Peppermint bark. 

Sharri Harmel: It’s like the best of all worlds, quite frankly.

Margaret Gay: Yes and no sugar. So you can have your little chocolate-chocolate tastes without all the bad stuff, actually. 

Sharri Harmel: So, you have an MBA, you came from the corporate world, your undergraduate is in business, all business. Did that prepare you, do you think to be an entrepreneur or are there skills that you have that you take with you? No matter what you’re doing that have been especially aligned with being an entrepreneur, 

Margaret Gay: my husband and I were just talking about education the other day, um, and how higher education we feel. It’s so important specifically, and that time in your life, when you, you need a growth period, you can’t just go straight from high school out like into the real world.

Margaret Gay: You just have a lot of growing to do. And I think the trait that I have is I still want to grow and I still want to educate myself and I’m not afraid of going out and finding it and wanting to grow. I sometimes think higher education, all the things you need to do to get a degree can seem kind of daunting.

Margaret Gay: And are not, not necessarily are things that I use today. So in that regard, we were kind of saying higher education is an interesting thing, but there’s so much you can learn. And like that same $10,000 you would spend a semester at school and you can start a business for $10,000 and learn. 10 times as much as you’ve learned from a whole degree, in my opinion, it’s an amazing use of your time and your money to start something, even if it’s just a part-time thing, because you’ll learn and you’ll grow like the website building skills that my husband and I have learned, cause we’ve kind of started in dabbled in a bunch of different things.

Margaret Gay: Even if the first thing didn’t work out, we have those skills now that we can continue to use. We know how to use WordPress. We know how SEO works. We’ve learned all of that, but it wasn’t through a school. It was just through office. Learning a new tubing and figuring it out and talking to other business owners.

Margaret Gay: And once you figure it all out for the first time, the next time you go to do something it’s so much easier and then you can learn so much more on that next venture. So I think just the constant willingness to learn and to grow is the one thing I take with me. But I, I do think. Uh, purpose to the education, but it’s, it’s an interesting thought and thing that we are having a conversation you’re having the other day.

Sharri Harmel: Yes. And it’s, it’s also, you and your husband are still young, so you can remember school, put it that way. And some of us are, you know, where are we there? Yes, we were. So I bring that up because sometimes some of the people who may be listening to this call have done other things in their lifetime. They might have. You know, gone to college, all of that, um, worked in corporate, maybe they’re checking out of corporate after a long corporate career, or maybe they stayed at home and raise children. And now they’re trying to kind of, I hate to use the word reinvent, but it’s like change now. It’s my time.

Sharri Harmel: Now I can start something that I’ve been thinking about for so many years. And I think it’s really important to know. You’re, you’re sharing a little bit of this, but I want you to be even more direct. As to what are the skills that you absolutely had to have in order and embrace. This is how I’m going to make this happen so that it doesn’t the idea just doesn’t stay in your journal doesn’t stay on your bookshelf. Doesn’t stay in your conversations. You actually get started because I’m going to push back. When you set a willingness to work. You were beyond a willingness to learn, you were committed to learning you it’s like this intense, it felt like to me, as you were talking this intensity to learn more and do more.

Margaret Gay: Yeah. I think one of the things from the very beginning that I think whether it wasn’t really knowing it or not, but by setting the name 27 Teas, because I was 27 and I didn’t want to be kicking myself at 28 being like this never happened. I think the other way you can say that is set a goal, put it on the calendar, say, okay, by this day, this will happen.  Even if it’s just a little milestone, okay. By this day, I’m going to register my business with this. Okay, black and white. That is it. It is happening by this day. I’m going to go to the bank and open a bank account. That’s it. It’s happening by this day, I’m going to join this women’s group or this Facebook group that is going to be people that I can network with.

Margaret Gay: And I’m going to commit to at least once a month reaching out to another business owner and brainstorming or asking them a question, or just getting to know people in the space, just putting things like that on the calendar. And just saying like, it’s happening, like I’m doing it just like you’d have a meeting at work and your corporate world.

Margaret Gay: Right. I can’t skip this meeting with my boss. I can’t skip this meeting with myself. I’m my boss here in this situation, I must show up and I must do it. So kind of being hard on yourself. And if you can find someone to help you be accountable, whether it’s your life partner or another business owner, or a friend or someone that understands what you’re trying to do.

Margaret Gay: Writing down the things that you don’t know and you need to learn is also good or people that you can find that do know how to do it. Yeah. And I started my business bootstrapping the whole thing. I, I paid for everything. I didn’t hire anything out. I still don’t pay for like, the Canva membership.  I still just do like the free version of everything. And then at the point where I’m like, okay, like now there are things where I don’t have the best skill. I don’t have the best social media skills. What do I want to be outsourcing and asking for help to grow the business? Kind of knowing what those weaknesses are that you have or things that you don’t like to do.

Margaret Gay: And then trying to find people to help fill those at some point, or find the education you need to get better at those things. Kind of making that list is a really helpful thing.

Sharri Harmel: Yeah, really well. And going back, you said something, making a list of what I don’t know that I need to know or hire somebody who knows it or ask for, you know, somebody to help me for whatever it is that I need is really key because sometimes we get caught in you don’t, but sometimes those of us that are starting things and have started things over and over, we’ll see a pattern where we avoid what we do. Rather than write it down because by writing it down, you acknowledge, I need that. I don’t know how to do that. 

Margaret Gay: And like, like, what are the most intimidating things about this new venture of mine? And also a good thing to write down? Like the biggest thing for me was all the health things like, okay, this is a food business.

Margaret Gay: Oh my gosh, what am I going to have to have for labeling and for production facility space and what’s the state requirements and all of that was so overwhelming to me, but find someone who’s done it just to at least say to you, don’t worry. You can do this. Even if that’s all that may say to you, and then you work through the steps, kind of recognizing what’s intimidating and what’s stopping you from moving forward as also.

Sharri Harmel: Love that. Now you mentioned, I want to reach out at least once a month with another business owner. Is that something that you did from the very beginning? 

Margaret Gay: I did join a couple online groups like Facebook groups that are local to the area so that I would have the opportunity to meet them in person. I’m one of them at the time met every once a month on Tuesdays.

Margaret Gay: I don’t remember exactly now, but they did meet in person. And that was great. So I got people that I still work with today. Like my food photographer, I met through that group. So that really helped me not feel as alone because when you’re starting a business, especially if you’re starting by yourself, it’s just, you, you don’t have any coworkers.

Margaret Gay: There’s no one else to, to feel like you’re collaborating with someone on a project or having that comradery. So that was really important to me at the time. And obviously the past couple of years, things have been a little different, but by at least having those relationships. Started or finding them online and building them there.

Margaret Gay: Now I’m in a couple different groups, one that meets, we have like a mastermind that we, we talk every other week and it’s mainly product based businesses, which is really helpful and they’re all local to in Hampshire. So I have met them in person, which is also really nice. And then another moms group, um, that meets once a month and they’re all business owners.

Margaret Gay: So that’s another cool group that now fits my demographic of young female moms. 

Sharri Harmel: Yes, and how does that, how does that impact you? You know, having those two, two groups, what difference has it made in how you feel about yourself and how you cope, truly the loneliness, even if it’s you and your husband working in the business.  You know, there’s only two people, it’s not an office full of people to interact. 

Margaret Gay: Yeah, it gives me so much energy. And so my husband still works full-time at his job and just helps me on the weekends and nights and things. But I hear him downstairs all day in his office and he’s talking to people and I’m up here like, I haven’t spoken to another person, all that. So yeah, I can get lonely or it’s really easy to get this, go off on a tangent doing something that’s not as important as another task. So having those people, especially like my mastermind group, where we say, okay, in two weeks, like, what’s our goals, what are we going to have done?

Margaret Gay: And we just hold each other accountable. It’s really helpful. But it also just fills my cup. I get so much more energy out of like meeting other people. I mean, like, yes, you get it because a lot of my friends don’t own their own businesses. So it’s, it’s hard to connect when this is such a big part of my life, with people who definitely don’t get a lot of the things that I’m going through on a day to day. 

Sharri Harmel: Yes, I hear entrepreneur after entrepreneur talk about it in that way. I also hear more than once have heard the concept that starting your own business is like having a child and the child kind of grows up. Sometimes they’re still at two, like a two year old child. And, not from the years that you’re actually in the business. I had one recently say, you know, I can’t wait to see the child grow up. She’s referring to her business to grow up, expand and leave the nest!

Sharri Harmel: But how do you take care of you and all that? Because you do have to shut down sometimes, you know, shut the door of the office, even if it’s a home office and say, I’m going to leave this. How do you take care of Margaret? 

Margaret Gay: And that’s been like an ever changing thing too. Cause I had a baby almost a year ago.  So now adding mom to the title of, of things that I do throughout the day has, has been a new thing to navigate, trying to come up with a hobby. We were joking that has been a night. Like he plays the guitar so he can pick up his hobby, just like whenever he wants on a whim, but for me, I’m like, I don’t do instruments.

Margaret Gay: Like what do I do? But, um, I do pottery. So I have made an effort to really continue taking pottery classes and not every week, but, um, pretty frequently. Right now, I’m finishing up a 10 week course once a week, go and get out of the house. See other people get into a creative space, not be a mom, not be a business owner and just be a creative.

Margaret Gay: And I love it. And I feel like that. Fills me up too and gives me some new energy. So that’s finding just a little time, even if it’s just like an hour a week, that’s something different, um, is really helpful for me. And also keeping a schedule. I always wake up and I work out in the morning before doing any business and then get to business after, and then ending in a reasonable time to have dinner. Be mom, have family time. Do that. 

Sharri Harmel: So you really hold to a schedule as you create it and then stick to it as though you’re in an office with 50 people?

Margaret Gay: Yeah. And that’s kind of ever-changing too. Like I said, in 2019, I was working like a crazy person. Always going to events and things like that. So I was working all kinds of crazy hours. Having a mom has definitely changed that and made specifically the events I attend. I’m much more purposeful in choosing them and lucky that I’m at a point in the business where I can pick and choose what I go to. But I do know too, like it’s got to be worth my time to be away from my family, which has really helped me narrow down what’s worth my time, which is a good thing to focus on.

Sharri Harmel: Absolutely and all of it is priorities. Life has priorities. What do I want to do and when? Naming your company 27 Teas, this is something I have to do now it’s a priority, you know, and suddenly you were making it. So tell us about where 27 Teas is today and where are you? I see your company going, what vision do you have for this “child?”

Margaret Gay: Yes. So overall, my vision is I really want to change the way that people in new England drink tea and envisioned tea. I want loose leaf to be the norm in this area. I would love for the tea culture to be much more like Europe, where it’s super common to have great tea. So in doing that, I really want to expand I’m hopefully going to open up a little.  Right now, it’s an online business only. I don’t have a retail shop. I’m trying to find a space, which is, that’s been the trickiest part. So navigating that.  I have nothing to report right now, but I am working through some options for space to move to. But then besides that we really want to grow our wholesale portion of the business.

Margaret Gay: It’s grown exponentially the past year, but we’d like to continue doing that so that we can fulfill like that, that reason why I started the company to help bring delicious. Awesome drinks, two cafes. So the tea, the tea lover can walk in and find awesome matcha latte or something with butterfly, pea flower in it, something really cool that they wouldn’t normally have at home. That’s my goal is that I can walk into a cafe and order something because right now I walk into cafes and I don’t order anything because I feel like it’s not worth it for me.

Sharri Harmel: I know those teabags have been there for a very long time, in most cases. So, or the water you get is lukewarm. And then she was supposed to pour over your teabag.  But talk also because you’re more than just a tea company, this whole water project I thought was just fascinating. So can you speak to that a little bit? 

Margaret Gay: Yeah. So when I was starting to company, that kind of goes to what was I searching for. I was searching for more joy and happiness and purpose. And I figured when I’m starting a business, what would my dream business look like? And it would be something that’s more than just a company, something that can also give back and do more and be more. So I did want to add a social aspect to it. So I picked water as my charity of choice because you can’t make a cup of tea without water. And it’s something so many people don’t have access to. And unfortunately, a lot of women and children pay the price and have to miss out on school or, um, have to go and collect water for their families and can’t do other things and being a woman and a mom myself.  So that really hits close to home. So that was something that I really wanted to help change for other women and children.  And I picked The Water Project because actually one of the women I met when I started reaching out to different organizations, um, in the area for networking, she worked for, she had done some creative work for The Water Project and pointed me in their direction.

Margaret Gay: So it’s great because they’re headquartered in Concord, New Hampshire. So this was back in 2018, 2019. I was able to actually go visit them. And they are so open and willing to share all the information about the different projects that working on the visibility is amazing. They show the status of the projects.

Margaret Gay: If something’s broken, what they’re doing to fix it, it’s not just like, Hey, let’s go throw money at a thing and then walk away, which is something else that was really important to me. So since starting working with them, we’ve given to three or four different schools. I’ve always picked schools as the project because I really want to help kids.

Margaret Gay: And it’s more than just water. They also help with sanitation education. Um, so hand washing latrines, things like that, which is so important, making sure that I’m doing something besides just starting business, but it’s also important for me now, especially being a mom, knowing that and helping other kids, because I would hate for my child not to have access to those basic needs.

Sharri Harmel: Yeah, isn’t that the truth? Well, so people can go to 27teas.com  and do you order, is it bulk? Is it a tea bags? Cause I think there was something about teabags that you mentioned too. 

Margaret Gay: So yeah, so there are three different sizes, a one ounce, a two ounce and a four ounce, each ounce of teas. But different depending on the type of tea, but you can expect between like 12 and 18 cups of tea, worth of tea per ounce, and you will get it loose in one big bag. So then you’ll have to measure it out. I do suggest that people measure, because oftentimes you think you’re using a teaspoon, but it’s actually a tablespoon and you don’t want to crowd your infuser, whatever you’re using.

Margaret Gay: I have, um, a couple of different infuser options on my website. I have a basket option. Uh, ball option, which is kind of what people are typically familiar with and paper single use a teabags options. So you can fill a teabag yourself if you want to use a teabag, but I do love the stainless steel option. It’s so much better for the environment and better for your body. And then you can reuse loose leaf so you can get 2, 3, 4 cups of tea out of the same tea leaves. So don’t just make one cup of tea and throw them out. Obviously you want to use it within the same day or two. I wouldn’t keep it on the counter and use them a week or two later, but that’s another great perk to loose leaf is as much higher quality and more than one cup of tea out of the tea leaves. Yeah, you can purchase there. I have free shipping on orders over $45. Otherwise it’s $4.50 for shipping. I do try to keep it somewhat reasonable. Um, and all the different flavors I have are available there. But if you are local to the New Hampshire area, I also have a list of where to find us. And it shows the different shops that, and cafes that sell our tea right now. So you can shop in person, if you prefer. 

Margaret Gay: But our audience, so you know, is really across the country. And so therefore now concentrated, in New England, I decided to reach more people all over all throughout the United States. And that’s no problem at all.

Sharri Harmel: So, so are there directions for somebody to actually, because I I’m asking this crazy question because I got the wild idea. I was going to buy loose tea. This was like a year ago. And so I bought loose tea. Cause I, I thought what’s the big deal because in America we like everything that’s easy and simple and you know, the loose tea sounded like it was going to be a whole process, which it is more of a process than just dunking a tea bag in, uh, in hot water. But the flavor was, the difference of loose tea versus a teabag is entirely different. It, at least the tea bags that you buy that are pre-made and have been on the shelf for a period of time. But do you tell people how to make tea? Because many of us did not grow up in households where anyone, you know, taught us how to make tea.

Margaret Gay: Yes. So when you order, or you will get in your bag a like how to getting started little four by six postcard, and it kind of gives you the overview, but it’s very simple. You measure out your tea the instructions are in the back for the tea to water ratio measure, put it into your infuser, pour hot water over… on the back of the bag of each different type of tea, it tells you how long to let it steep. There are different steep times for tea. That’s also one of the reasons why I think a lot of people don’t like tea is because they’ve brewed it incorrectly, specifically green tea. If you let green tea sit in hot water for too long, it’ll get bitter. 

Margaret Gay: So a lot of people think, oh, I just leave the tea bag in there. The whole entire time I’m drinking. You can get away with that with black tea, but you really shouldn’t do that with green tea, because especially if it’s an actual high quality, like loose-leaf, it will get better. Or if you put it in water, that’s too hot, like straight boiling water, you want.

Margaret Gay: I have it quite boiling. Let it cool down for a few minutes. See, all those instructions are on the back of each bag. And then in that little “Getting Started” guide. So it’s very, very easy. It’s once you’ve done it once it’s like, oh yeah, I don’t know why ever use the teabag. This is so much easier. And there’s no plastics, a lot of the teabags that you use or you find at the grocery store are made with plastics and that’s they break down in the water.

Margaret Gay: Um, and that’s not good for your endocrine system. So stick with the stainless steel so much better for the environment too. Because you can compost, um, the tea leaves from you’re done as opposed to those tea bags with plastic don’t compost very well. 

Sharri Harmel: No, no, definitely not. And also it’s wrapped up and each bag is, is in, uh, is in another bag that’s covered in plastic. So there’s all kinds of issues. 

Sharri Harmel: So I always close with the question. What makes you happy? Know what is it that you absolutely have to have in your life to be happy? 

Margaret Gay: My partner and more than just that, the deep conversations, I think life would be so boring for me. If I didn’t have someone to talk big, to dream big, to have deep conversation with, I value the conversation we have so, so much.

Margaret Gay: And I tell him this all the time. I love the conversation part about us the best, because it keeps me excited and interest, you know, interesting. We, we really try to focus on having unique conversation and that’s my number one. I think. 

Sharri Harmel: Wow. That’s, that’s incredible because it’s something that also carries with you throughout your life and makes you happy every day to put your feet on the ground and get out of the bed and go what’s in front of me. What’s ahead?

Margaret Gay: Yeah. Nice to always be thinking and dreaming. And I think that’s one thing that keeps me happy, even if, you know, you’re not making as much progress on a goal or something that you have, um, being able to talk and dream and think, um, and have those conversations really sparks the energy.

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Love it. Love it. Thank you so much, Margaret, for your time. Oh, it’s been fabulous and so many tips and, uh, I hope everyone’s listened because there were all kinds of nuggets of wisdom there from the beginning to the end that Margaret shared. So thank you. Thank you so much. 72teas.com and I’ll make sure that that shows up in the show notes also. So it’s to get to it. So thanks for your time, Margaret. Thanks, we’ll talk soon.

Margaret Gay: Thanks.

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