We recently connected with Melissa Harlan and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Dedicated to providing organic, vegan and gluten free food in a fun way that connects people with each other to build community and share kindness with the world.

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?

Drink Me! Tea Room is a unique experience providing Tempe with a charming and magical tea escape. A gluten-free, plant-based, afternoon tea room where guests enjoy allergen-friendly chef confections, organic teas, and local spirits to celebrate and connect with family and friends. I am very proud of the team for maintaining sustainable business practices. Along with obtaining a City of Tempe sustainability business of the year award.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

We recovered and grew after opening a new business in the middle of a pandemic. Then within one month of opening the entire dining room flooded.No matter what comes our way we keep moving forward.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I believe treating the team with respect and giving them a voice to collaborate on ideas for the business allows them to feel ownership. As well as paying the team livable wages.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://drinkmetearoom.com

Image Credits
Eric & Gizel Bahlman