Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to KaShala Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, KaShala thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When I began my business journey I was a one woman show, and remained that way for the first two years. As an artist I thrive in bringing herbal ideas into fruition, but I was unable to handle all of the administrative tasks on my own such as developing social media presence, branding, and taxes! On my first attempt at branding, I was gipped by another artist who said they were going to create a logo for my company and instead copyrighted my logo under their own personal business. I learned very quickly that all business partners needed finished products for my to my own research, background checks, interviewed. Finding a business partner that I could trust to handle my business with caution and care was not easy, but something I was proud to accomplish! My business partner and I met in college, and created a Pinterest board called “For the Love of Tea”. When I looking for a business partner, I asked myself: who loves tea as much as I do, and has both skills that compliment and contrast mine? I first hired Dominique as an intern to help with rebranding, and vending events. Don’s background in Merchandising and PR were pivotal skills I needed to rebrand and begin scaling my business. If I were to do anything different, I’d go back and add Dom to the team sooner! Choosing the right business partner stood between me and my target audience. Following the rebrand, Steeped Pearl’s social media presence has increased;we achieved an elevated branding that speaks directly to our customers.
Bottomline: when choosing a business partner you’ll need a self motivated person with integrity! Seek partners with passion for what they do, so you can gallop to success, rather than crawl. Choose a business partner who has experience executing their ideas! Dominique was the perfect business partner because she checks all these boxes while also knowledgeable and kind.

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

I’ve always had a love for tea, as a child I always had a longer couch which resulted in my father bringing me before bed. This habit stuck even when I wasn’t feeling under the weather. The first blend I created was Elder Elixir which is an herbal interpretation of the tea my father used to make me when I were younger. He would make a plain black tea with lemon wedge and a cough drop. I recreated this taste with lemon balm, elder flower, eucalyptus,,and fresh ground ginger to warm your chest! Before I knew it, I had created four blends, and a business was born! Steeped Pearl is named after my paternal grandmother, Willie Pearl Fenn! My love for tea was passed down from several generations. We currently release eight blends a year four in the spring and another four in the fall. Fall 2023 blends will be released the second week of October! Steeped Pearl Tea sources all of our herbs and seasoning from local Ohio markets and farms. By doing this we are able to support women farms in Cleveland and Columbus, OH! We are locally grown, black, veteran, and fully women owned! Steeped Pearl is a loose leaf artisan blend company connecting flavor profiles, health benefits, and family history into each cup! We mix traditional blends with unconventional flavor!Each blend is crafted to curate a feeling or generate healing.!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Choosing the rights events to vend! When I first started my business I had a habit of choosing random vending events with low table cost. I sooner learned that this wasn’t a very good strategy because I would often end up at events where my products weren’t attractive to the low foot traffic. When I became more intentional about choosing events I seen immediate increases in sales. Knowing your customer, and where they like to shop was turnkey. Tea lovers are versatile and can be anywhere but when I shifted from community events to antique and craft shows the customers were more interested in what I had to offer and prepared to purchase.

Also positioning yourself to be supported by customers who want to support you is important. I often repeat that I am an artist that is supported by other artists! Pairing my tea with book events, art galleries, poetry readings, and various music events I seen increases right away. I am a African American, bisexual, army veteran and positioning my business with people who support those groups are was also helpful.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

We recently completed the Empowerment Program with Women’s Business Center of Ohio. The program awarded us with a free GoDaddy website for 2 years, along with training to help create and build traffic to my website. EDCI has been invaluable partner in helping us secure resources for Steeped Pearl. We are currently also participating in an incubator program with EDCI, where we partner to run a storefront at Setup Cornershop Collective at 12635 Larchmere Blvd Cleveland,OH. Otherwise shoppers can order from steepedpearltea.com!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://steepedpearltea.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steepedpearl/
• Facebook: https://tr.ee/P-0Mo4238y

Image Credits
Derrick Todd @musedbydjv on IG