We were lucky to catch up with Sherry Waters recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sherry, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My vocational background in in the nonprofit arena for 28 years, but I went back to school to get my Master’s Degree in Practical Theology (applied faith/values to the community marketplace) in 2013. After graduating in 2015 and finishing up a Chaplain residency at one of our trauma hospitals, I felt the need for our growing thriving city of Charlotte to have a respite center for people to experience a sense of calm serenity and peaceful restoration. I pondered what would invite people to experience that kind of a “third-space” and remembered my Grandmother Pauline and how she curated that from her front porch and living room in Lake Lure, NC. Whenever she would have tea with me – as a child – I felt the most beloved, seen and heard. With that fond memory in mind, I opened decided to open The Pauline Tea-bar Apothecary. I learned as much about herbalism and teas as I could, did a community survey and assessment, created a strategic business plan and launched the tea-bar in July 2019. I discovered building for lease in the community that I was already serving in at my previous nonprofit. We did a grand opening community celebration, inviting neighbors, stakeholders and media and built a successful small business model that has received several local community awards and promotional exposure throughout the state.

Sherry, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Sherry Waters is a Social Entrepreneur & Personal Stewardship Coach/Practitioner who is passionate about increasing awareness on community stewardship and personal responsibility. She coaches individuals on being better stewards of everything with which they’ve been entrusted. Through IEnate, LLC, Sherry inspires others to use their talents, resources and skills to live their lives serving others and the community. Sherry is also a Community Chaplain and interfaith Spiritual Director. She opened The Pauline Tea-Bar Apothecary – a sacred tea lounge cafe’ – in July 2019. Sherry’s vocational career has been in the fund development/marketing field for several Charlotte nonprofit organizations – including the YMCA, Communities in Schools, The Harvest Center and Supportive Housing Communities. A former clinical chaplain for Carolinas Healthcare System, Sherry infuses her spiritual care experiences as a chaplain and holistic integrative wellness support in the stewardship coaching and spiritual care that she provides. She has had the opportunity to work and volunteer in the nonprofit arena for over thirty years in Charlotte; and she serves on several community boards – including Braveworks and Novant Health’s CPE Professional Advisory Group (which she serves as chair). She has her Master’s of Practical Theology/Pastoral Counseling & Care from Pfeiffer University, a B.A degree in Communications from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill; and her certification in Nonprofit Management from Duke University. She is a member of the Spiritual Care Association, the NC Chaplains Association, Charlotte Mecklenburg Black Chamber, NXT Charlotte Business Accelerator Cohort 9 and a Ruth G. Shaw Leadership Mentor for Central Piedmont Community College.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After the covid-pandemic began, we had to shut down our tea lounge for a few weeks. Fortunately, we were invited to serve at a few local farmer’s markets. This helped to recoup some of our tea sales. It was then that we discovered the opportunity of creating an online market to sell and ship our loose leaf teas; and this has proving to be another way for our small business to earn revenue and reach a market of customers – outside of the Charlotte area or those who can’t leave their homes.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The Pauline Tea-Bar Apothecary was invited to open another location in the Historic Westend of Charlotte as a part of an urban restoration project 1 1/2 years ago. We were given some initial capital funding to get started; however, that location did not yield the customer traffic we were hoping for – even after some different programming attempts and hours of operation. We were blessed that the flagship (first) location was able to carry the financial burden/load for this time. After assessing our losses, we decided to close the second location. We were fortunate that this short period of trying to expand to another area didn’t make us go out of business altogether – due to the patron following and support of our community and brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thepaulineteabar.com
• Instagram: @thepaulineteabar
• Facebook: @The Pauline Tea-Bar Apothecary
• Linkedin: Sherry Waters
• Yelp: The Pauline Tea-Bar Apothecary