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

Kim , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry

The biggest trends I’m seeing in the tea industry are due to the massive shifts in people’s daily activity, personal health responsibility and work atmosphere caused by the Covid pandemic. Basically, we were trapped at home and all of our routines were shattered. Many wisely took this time to examine their daily routines and do a hard edit just to stay mentally and physically healthy. When everything came to a grinding halt, this included daily habits such as exercise, food choices and work that two years later… still present a challenge. Those that said “this is my opportunity to adopt healthy habits and purge my life of things that don’t work” are far ahead of those that fell victim to the isolation and fear. Why am I saying all this? Well, this pandemic and the subsequent shift in lifestyle caused the biggest movement of new tea drinkers that this industry has ever seen in such a compressed amount of time! Tea is the second most consumed beverage on the planet, year round. Second only to water and now we’re seeing a whole new interest in consumption of organic teas as well as the personal ritual of making tea that can be a form of meditation. Tea time Zoom calls, FaceTime and tea classes via video chat became a thing and they are helping expand the tea industry, worldwide in ways we never expected and are happy to welcome!

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?

I started my Tea Master training in 2009 through the Specialty Tea Institute and have taken many hours of education through various tea education sources over the years. My last training and mastery course was with American Tea Masters Association where I earned the title of Tea Blending Master in 2012. I’m now an independent public speaker and trainer for International Tea Education Institute. I choose to be active in my industry’s ongoing shifts to provide education and organic teas to everyday households as well as large businesses who wish to offer our True Leaf Tea custom blends under their own brand. We teach local tea classes for those who would like to know more about tea and “find their taste”. I enjoy helping people new to the world of tea discover health benefits as much as I like to learn from other tea professionals about industry trends.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Diversity!! We don’t have a demographic. I like it that way. I’ve tried very hard to design it that way. This goes against the grain of business that says “know your audience” to be successful. I have specifically, intentionally decided I don’t have a “type” and it has been a gamble for which I’m thrilled is successful! We have every culture, age, sex, religion and background you could imagine coming into the tea room (McHugh Tea Room in Bellaire, Tx) every day. We don’t have a demographic for the online business of True Leaf Tea or for the tea classes. Again, this is by design. We became that place where you feel you belong. I want to be an all inclusive place to enjoy tea, friendships, education, culture and celebrate human connection and interests through tea and the connection it inspires. I get the best questions and can address the most interesting concerns about health, lifestyle and wellbeing over a cup of tea at a table full of distinctly different and yet SO similar people. The thing I’ve noticed most is that we really are all more similar than you would think and that ANYONE willing to embrace their community’s diversity and understand their interests will be a better human for it in ways that simply can’t be explained. I am forever changed by every opportunity to experience what other people seek for peace, satisfaction and life balance at my tea talks. Who knew TEA would bring people together in this way?!
Again… amazing that the strategy of diversity was a huge contributor in the growth of True Leaf Tea and McHugh Tea Room.

Any advice for managing a team?

Your team is your front line. Your team IS the reflection of YOU and what your business stands for on a daily basis. Step one… Choose your team wisely!! Be slow to hire and quick to fire. One poor employee can take down your best people. Be involved, present and consistent. My employees know that my door is ALWAYS open. I will protect them, hear them and do what is best for the business, first. I don’t play favorites. I’m wise enough to know who needs a little more attention and the ones that need to be left alone to succeed. Also, I leave my personal life at the door and I ask this of all my employees. This gives them permission and encouragement to be their best and not be burdened by personal challenges which can effect their service, relationships and attitude at work.
To keep morale high, I don’t ask my employees to do anything that I’m not willing to do. I let them see me changing light bulbs, cleaning drains, sweeping and serving people. You must be the example to grow your business and exercise behavior that encourages respect from your employees.
Have a “team leader” or manager between you and your employees, if possible. This person is worth their weight in gold and should be respected as such. They are the gate keeper and your eyes and ears to help your people and squash issues before they actually become a problem.
Two things that have worked beautifully to build morale and instill loyalty:
1. A very fun thing I’ve done in the last few years is randomly buy scratch-off lotto tickets on the way to work for everyone. We’ve had a few big winners and it’s been a blast calling them “money bags” for a week and pretending like we need a loan from them.
2. Give employees their birthday off and a handwritten birthday card with cash to spend with reckless abandon (LOL). If their birthday lands on a day that we’re closed, I give them a day the following or previous week.
3. I tip-out my staff EVERY Saturday. I don’t personally take tips in my tea room. If I serve a table or process a take out order, the tips go to my kitchen staff. Busy days are now the best days and they get pumped to get to work. (Several customers have figured this out over the years and will intentionally tip 100% if they see my name on a ticket.) The staff LOVE this and I get very few staff asking off on our busiest days thanks to this tip-out policy I’ve implemented.

Bottom line…I do my best to always be fair and treat everyone with respect because it’s what a I expect in return. They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care about their quality of life under your guidance.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.trueleaftea.com. Www.mchughtea.com
• Instagram: @trueleaftea @mchughtea
• Facebook: @trueleaftea @mchughtea