We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lynn Flake a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lynn , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Our mission at Petals Tea Shop is pretty simple, we drink tea, read books, and change lives. Tea and books not only go together, but they both bring people together — and that is what we do too.
As an educator, one of my favorite parts of my job was creating meaningful connections with students and their families. I loved pouring into the individuals that I encountered and doing whatever I could to make their lives better, easier, or richer. Simply put, I love serving others. However, I recently left the classroom and I immediately missed the opportunities to connect and serve, so I decided that would become the heart and soul of the small business that I was building.
I want Petals Tea Shop to always be far more than just a tea shop. I want us to be a place that brings people together and creates a sense of community and connection for everyone who is touched by our business. We want to use our resources to bless others and invest in the lives of those around us. One of the ways we are doing that is through our book donation program. I believe that the gift of literacy and books should be easily accessible for everyone. As a former reading teacher and a giant bookworm, I know all too well the inequalities and barriers that families encounter when it comes to accessing literacy — and it just isn’t fair. That was when I knew that our book themed teas could give us the chance to step up and help others.
How many times has a book picked us up and dusted us off? Hugged us? Threw us a lifeline? Showed us a new way of thinking? Let us process hard emotions? Helped us cope? Let us escape? Taught us a lesson? Touched our hearts? How many times have you read a book that connected with your very soul? THAT is what we are providing to these kids and families.
Reading is a critical skill and directly contributes to an individual’s quality of life. Kids who are readers have higher/faster level of cognitive development, increased critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, and creativity. Reading clinically reduces stress and literally improves an individual’s health and wellness. It also plays a major role in the success of an individual throughout their academic career and into adulthood.
There are a million hurdles and reasons why not all families are reading families, and why not all children have the opportunity to read. Time, cost, transportation, and education all also play a factor. Some parents are working two jobs just to keep the lights on, others are caring for a terminally ill family member, or are just trying to survive day to day with mental illness. That’s where our tea shop comes in! I want to be able to just take one thing off of the plate of the grownups and give the kids everything we know the reading world has to offer. Everyone deserves equal access to literacy no matter where they are or what challenges life has thrown their way. Books should be for everyone, so we have to make sure that everyone has access to them — starting right here in our own backyard.
Our goal this year is to donate over 2,000 books to local organizations who serve children and families in our area.
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 name is Lynn, and I’m the owner and Tea Artist behind Petals Tea Shop, LLC.
What is a Tea Artist, you ask? Excellent question! I’m an artist who uses my knowledge of tea, science, and herbalism to create unique tea blends that are packed with nutritional benefits, so they’re as good for you as they are fun and delicious. I love being creative, and I draw my inspiration for new teas from everywhere! It could be a flavor, an experience, a medicinal need, nature, or even a book that sparks my imagination and brings a new tea to life.
My study of teas and herbs actually began with our own small backyard garden. I love spending time outdoors! As a busy wife, mom, and reading teacher, I found that I was I was desperately missing the opportunity to connect with nature and I missed getting to be creative for creativity’s sake. Utilizing our beautiful backyard garden in all of its glory seemed like the natural thing to do! After a lot of study, practice, research, and a healthy dose of trial and error — Petals Tea Shop was born!
It didn’t take long before our small business outgrew our quaint family garden and I stepped out of the classroom to begin working for Petals full time. But as much as I was loving making tea I immediately felt like there were a few things missing from my life. I needed to find a way to bring all of my passions together, which is why I began creating book inspired tea blends and finding ways for our small business to support children and connect with our local community.
The Petals Tea Shop team recognizes that we have been so richly blessed by our small business and our community. Therefore, we are proud to use our resources to give back to others. After all, what good is creating magic if you keep it all to yourself?
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
When I began our small business I had no intention of it becoming a full time career path. I knew nothing about owning and running a business and the idea of doing such scared me to death.
I have never had a job that did not involve working with children. As a teen I baby sat, worked in nurseries, was a summer camp counselor, etc. I graduated Clemson with a degree in Elementary Education and was a classroom teacher for 9 years. I never dreamed of doing anything else, but God had plans for me that I didn’t know about.
In the Spring of 2021 I was about to go on maternity leave with my 3rd child and decided that for fun I would make products from our family garden to sell for a few months. The business was called Loved by Lynn and I made herbal teas, butters, jams, scones, pestos, bath salts, and more. I quickly realized that I was enjoying the process of creating and running a small business and decided that I would stick with it as a side-hustle when I school resumed in August. During that time I began reading more about business ownership and learning everything that I could from other women who owned small businesses in the Greenville area. I became hooked. I had no idea how I was going to build a full size small business while holding down a full time teaching job, but I was going to try! I changed the name of the business to Petals Tea Shop and announced that I would be focusing on creating tea blends. After almost a year, the burn out of teaching was really starting to take its toll on me. I was tired, and as a mom of now three small children I was really struggling. Some things happened at work that caused me to make the decision to step away from my classroom and I was heart-broken. Truly, teaching was the joy of my life and I wasn’t sure who I was going to be if I wasn’t a teacher anymore. But God stepped in as He has a way of doing and began showing me that there was something else He wanted me to do. He began putting people and resources in my path to help me learn to grow the business. He guided me towards a purpose that I felt could feed my soul in the same ways that teaching did.
One of my favorite quotes has become “it only takes 20 years to make it over night.” From the outside looking in it can be so easy to think that someone had some kind of “big break” and suddenly they rocketed to success. In my experience, that is almost never the case. It is the small steps, the day to day work, every tiny mile stone that makes up the path to building a full time business. Businesses are built brick by brick and moment by moment. You have to take stock of every small milestone and celebrate along the way. One day it might be that you hit 500 followers on a social media account, the next might be that a local store places your first ever wholesale order (even if it is just $100), it might be the first time someone comes to you at an event and says “I found you because of instagram!” or hiring your first employee. Keep track of the small milestones and one day you’ll be able to look up and see how far you have come!
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
One of the aspects that makes our tea shop more than just a tea shop is our sense of community. We live in a day and age where people crave connection. And after I left the classroom, I found myself craving those deep meaningful connections as well. One of the first choices I made when it came to social media was to create a Facebook group instead of just a business page. In particular, I wanted this group to go beyond being a place where I could market and sell my products. I wanted it to be a place where others could find value that helped fulfill some of their other needs. We talk about life, books, tea, mental and emotional health, self care, and more. I’ve always been very intentional about trying to connect with and get to know not just those who purchase our products, but also the people whose paths intersect with ours. It doesn’t matter if someone finds us on a social media platform, meets us face to face, or has not met us at all yet — everyone becomes part of our community.
The intentionality of creating a community environment helps us get to know our customers to the point where friendships emerge. Many of the individuals that began as customers have become close personal friends of mine, many of which live across the country and the world. These individuals have become some of my biggest cheerleaders and as much as I try to give back to them, truly they bless me ten fold.
Contact Info:
- Website: PetalsTeaShop.com
- Instagram: petals_teashop
- Facebook: Public Facebook Group: Petals Tea Shop and Lounge