Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to AUTUMN MODENA. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
AUTUMN, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.
RefuTea’s mission is to support refugees by bridging the gap between resettlement and assimilation. The vision is to hire refugees to work in a tea shop so they can earn a living, learn more about their community and practice their English. Since RefuTea does not own a cafe yet, at the end of each quarter we donate ten percent of sales to a local refugee agency.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Autumn and I started my business RefuTea when I was in college. RefuTea is a social enterprise that helps support refugees recently resettled in their communities by selling loose leaf teas. It has now been nine years and I am still growing the business. I think it proves that I am committed to the vision and I believe it is important to do something that gives back to your community. The teas are ethically sourced and hand packaged in Michigan. I think tea has a more international feel to it than coffee and I’ve always preferred tea over coffee.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
It probably sounds silly but I think word of mouth has been the best source of new clients for me. It seems old fashioned these days with all the impact social media has in consumer dynamics but for me, going into stores and talking to the owners and customers has given me my most loyal consumer base.
Any advice for managing a team?
I think people are the most important part of a business. I hate when companies prioritize profits over people. I currently have a small team but I always tell them how much I appreciate them and I make a conscious effort to communicate well and listen to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: refuteashop.com/shop
- Instagram: @refuteashop
Image Credits
Amber Mo Creative