surprised by what it takes to bring these products to life. Although Shanae considers her strength to be in matching flavors, she says that it can be challenging to create new tea blends that not only taste good but are beneficial. It typically takes five weeks to make a blend and the corresponding names usually just come to Shenae.
When she’s having a hard time coming up with names for her tea blends, Shanae has no problem reaching out to her followers, which she recently did when attempting to come up with a name for the orange spice tea, Hypnotize, that will be released for the holidays.
Ivy’s Tea Co. is heavily influenced by the culture, from the names of its products to the writing on the website. The brand is unapologetically authentic and it’s intriguing and refreshing for the consumer. Although the “for the culture” theme came along by accident, Shanae says that Hip Hop and black culture is the driving force behind everything in America and in the world.
She didn’t always identify with being American and it was hip hop that taught her how to be a black American at a young age. She learned the music, the slang, and dance, and realized that Hip Hop has the power to connect with herbalism. Being authentic through her brand was never an option for her and this authenticity has helped her build her clientele.
Many challenges arise when starting a business, those challenges can be even greater as a young black female entrepreneur. Shanae, of course, knew there would be challenges, like time management, gaining access to capital, and even changing the way people see tea. At a point, Shenae had to refocus. This meant pulling herself out of her bubble and finding a balance between building her brand and building her tribe.
She put systems of time management in place and made it a point to network, which has opened up many doors, including the one that led to Buy From a Black Woman (BFABW) the non-profit organization that helped to fund the launch of Ivy’s Tea Co.
Ivy’s Tea Co. is a