We recently connected with Asena Tuna and have shared our conversation below.

Asena, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Growing up in Türkiye, I’ve always had a passion for loose-leaf teas, herbs, and natural remedies. However, after moving to Canada for school, I couldn’t find the affordable natural remedies I was used to for my sleep problems, period cramps, anxiety, and more. I didn’t want to take over-the-counter pills with unknown effects on my body, which are unfortunately prevalent in North America.

Around the time I was experiencing anxiety and sleep problems, I created my first blend, “Night Routine.” Using it regularly helped me sleep throughout the night and wake up well-rested, so I started gifting it to friends and educating them about the benefits of herbs. Everyone loved it, and one friend even said, “I haven’t slept this well in years!”

A month later, to reduce the number of painkillers I was taking during my period, I created the “Period” herbal tea blend, which helped me a lot with cramps and bloat. Again, I gifted it to coworkers and friends and received great feedback! At this point, people started asking if they could buy a big bag of it. Which made me realize my blends could help so many others!

That’s when I created three more blends for digestion, mental awareness, and stress, and launched SimpliciTEA with a mission to support women in their daily routines and encourage them to prioritize their well-being with the help of teas and herbs.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Turkish immigrant in Canada. I came here to study college and stayed after graduation. I am proud of myself and other immigrants for dedicating ourselves to learning a new language and culture, and moving to a different country to follow our dreams.

After graduation I started working full-time, and dealing with life’s stresses led me to develop sleep problems and anxiety, inspiring me to prioritize self-care and create routines to take care of my well-being. Growing up I have always loved teas and herbs for their healing properties so I wanted to make them a part of my self-care routine. This is when I started blending teas for sleep problems, period cramps, lack of focus, stress & more.

As I experienced the benefits of these blends, I realized there was a lack of information available on natural remedies for self-care. I wanted to spread my knowledge and have more people benefit from these blends. That’s when I started SimpliciTEA.

I named my brand SimpliciTEA because of the simplicity of the blends, made with organic tea leaves, flowers, herbs, seeds, and roots of plants already found on earth to help us heal from the inside out. Each blend is carefully crafted with a purpose and story behind it, and I’m thrilled for everyone to benefit from them.

I currently offer five purposeful tea blends to support women in their daily routines, with a dedication to creating more that benefit the mind, body, and soul.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

You can purchase all of my blends from my website www.simplicitea.ca. I chose to exclusively sell on my website because I wanted to master the Shopify platform to continuously improve my website and build a brand.

As I grow my business I am planning to expand it to Amazon which would require different packaging and another learning curve to promote my business.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Yes! I started my business after taking the “Start and Scale” course by Foundr with Gretta van Riel. This course helped me immensely in understanding how to start and grow an online business. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in venturing into e-commerce.

Additionally, I would like to recommend some books that have been valuable to me on my entrepreneurial journey:

Atomic Habits by James Clear: This book emphasizes the power of making as small as 1% incremental improvements each day, which can have a compounding effect on our success.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: This book provides valuable insights on how to build better relationships and work effectively with others, which is crucial in any field.

Supermaker by Jaime Schmidt: In this book, Jaime talks about her entrepreneurial journey from the very beginning. I found it so inspiring and relatable. It encouraged me to keep pursuing my goals, even when things felt uncertain or confusing.     

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.simplicitea.ca/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplicitea.ca/
• Other: My Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/asenaatuna/