We recently connected with Jennifer Nowicki and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later
I think I would have started my business sooner or at least setting up my website, doing different markets and tea festivals. At the end of July 2014 I closed my teahouse in Milwaukee and I moved back to my hometown to regroup. Less than 5 months later I registered my LLC. I was not fully certain what part of tea I would focus on, but I knew it would be in tea. I did a lot of local networking, but the results were not that great. If I was more strategic about it I should have focused on the farmers markets, different events, and my Etsy account, so I could set up my website and getting wholesale accounts. Once I made some money I should have started the larger tea festivals. Once that was more established I could then focus on opening my tea salon, but hindsight is 20.20.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My tea journey started with drinking green tea with my grandmother as a child, then when I lived in Seattle in my early twenties I tried some exquisite loose leaf teas. I was hooked and decided I needed to learn more so I became Wisconsin’s only certified tea specialist since 2009 and because of my education I was able to represent the US tea industry in two world tea conferences in China. My current business is Cultivate Taste Tea and Cultivate Taste Tea Salon: Passionate purveyors of loose leaf tea. No flavorings, candy, or sugar – just pure indulgence. Certified tea specialists from Specialty Tea Institute expertly sources, blends, & offer international award-winning teas online, in our tea salon, & wholesale. High-grade organic & fair-trade ingredients elevate, not mask, the teas, fostering your palate’s growth & well-being. Eco-friendly, biodegradable packaging reflects our commitment to a healthier planet. Sip, savor, and embrace the art of tea with us.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Well, my business survived COVID 19. I had a Pop UP October 2019 to December 2019. I decided to lease temporarily for 3 months where the POP Up was. I was looking for a permanent location, then in March 2020 COVID 19 really hit. There was so much uncertainty and I find not find a permanent location, which might have been a blessing. I remember a decent traffic at the temporary place and was considering renewing for 6 months the temporary place, so I had more time to find a permanent location. Then March happened. My traffic dropped to next to nothing, so renewing the lease made no sense to me. I could not make enough money for the rent, so I decided I needed to pull back and focus on my online sales until we knew more about COVID. There was so much uncertainty. I even had an interview with a distributor that was totally my ideal, but the interview had to be cancelled because of COVID and of COVID they changed direction. That was disheartening, but I do not blame them. For most businesses it was survival mode. I was able to do farmers markets too and did eventually did find a place. In my area opening up happened in the early summer of 2021. I opened my permanent location June 3rd 2021, so it opened up not too long after my place opened.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I bootstrapped my business at first. Whenever I got some money I would put it towards the business. I did eventually get a Kiva loan for $4500 in 2020 for product and my square POS system. I was in the process of getting a WWBIC loan in late 2020 and got it in 2021 for $50,000 to open my physical location with a restaurant. Late in 2021 I got a Wisconsin “We Are All In” grant for $10,000. Mainly used for a ceiling for my commercial kitchen that I had to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cultivatetaste.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatetastetea/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/culitvatetaste
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifernowicki/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CultivateTaste1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cultivatetastetea