Today we’d like to introduce you to Jazeera Aitzhanova.
Hi Jazeera, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
The spirit behind the endeavor of Humming Cup Tea came to life when I moved to Austin, Texas from Kazakhstan. Teatime is a big part of Kazakh culture. People often meet for a cup of tea to spend time together. I noticed that life in the US is much faster. People prefer drinking coffee and rarely take time to pause. Extremely demanding lifestyle and a fast paced environment often leads people to stress and depression. So, I wanted to share about tea’s health benefits with others. There is plenty of research showing that drinking tea can actually improve your health. From the beginning, tea was sought by the Chinese primarily for the health benefits it provided.
When I just moved to Austin it was very hard to find a good quality loose leaf tea in stores. I only found tea packaged in tea bags. According to tea grading practices tea bags contain the lowest grade of tea also called ‘tea dust’. So I decided that I want to start a company and provide people with access to higher quality loose leaf teas and educate them about tea’s health benefits for their mental and physical health. I did not have a business degree and my background is International Law. Humming Cup Tea is my first startup so in order to succeed I had to learn a lot about business and marketing.
Thankfully, Austin is known for small business support. I took classes taught by the city of Austin Small Business Division program, they provided me with a lot of resources and mentorship. I also got support from SCORE, a local non-profit organization that helps business owners. Their support and guidance helped me tremendously in the beginning stage of my business. When I just started my business five years ago there were not as many tea companies around. It is more competitive now and today we distinguish ourselves from others by offering only the highest quality premium loose leaf teas that do not contain any GMO, pesticides and artificial flavors. We work only with reliable and sustainable sources of tea. We consistently practice a caring attitude towards the environment. Our pyramid tea bags are made from biodegradable material made from cornstarch and not nylon. We also committed to strive to find ways to promote fair working conditions for our farmers. And we are partnering exclusively with companies and tea estates that create and maintain a high level of support for farmers and their families. I am very proud that we have great local partnerships and are planning to expand our product line to more tea varieties and other markets in the US in coming years.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are many challenges and obstacles with running a small business. But I think my biggest obstacle could be internal. It takes a lot of creativity and courage to be successful. Starting a business is exciting but also scary. I had some people telling me that I should quit and find a ‘real job’. When it happened to me I had to fight my doubts but I also noticed that when people challenge me it actually gives me more energy to keep going and prove them wrong. Another big challenge is that customers don’t just come to you because you put up a sign ‘we are open’. Market is saturated and very competitive. The overnight success stories that we often hear are simply not true. It takes a lot of work and dedication to connect with your customers, provide them with amazing experience and continue creating something valuable.
We’ve been impressed with Humming Cup Premium Organic Tea, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Humming Cup Tea we offer only the finest responsibly-sourced and sustainable specialty teas from across the globe. We truly believe that high quality organic loose tea tastes better and contains more nutrients to nourish our bodies. Our tea is grown and processed without harmful pesticides and artificial additives. At Humming Cup, our customers can purchase different varieties of amazing premium quality teas and teaware. We also offer monthly tea and self-care subscription boxes. Every month our customers receive their tea of choice and self-care products to enhance their daily self-care routine. During the pandemic and social distancing we have seen a huge increase in depression and mental health issues. So my hope is that more people will benefit from using our products. What sets apart from others is that we truly care about the quality of our products and how it affects our customers, tea farmers and the environment. We choose organic manufacturing processes where possible and I am very proud that our tea pyramids are made from biodegradable material. Now I am working on creating more sustainable packaging for our teas.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
My dream is to have a large community of people that can support each other. Especially after global pandemic I think it is important for us to connect. Humming Cup Tea is very active on social media and I want more people to find us. Also I would like to invite readers to subscribe to our newsletters to stay up to date about our new products, sales and blog updates. Collaboration and support means a lot for us and we are always happy to connect.
Contact Info:
- Email: jazeera@hummingcup.com
- Website: www.hummingcuptea.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hummingcuptea/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HummingCupTea
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HummingCupTea
Image Credits
Taylor Prinsen Photography Tricia Gottsman Photography
