“There is no trouble so great or grave that can’t be diminished by a nice cup of tea” – Bernard-Paul Heroux
“If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you.” – William E. Gladstone
“The spirit of the tea beverage is one of peace, comfort, and refinement” – Arthur Gray
“If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.” – Chinese Proverb
Calming, enhancing, warming, cooling, spiriting, comforting, refining, enlightening, tranquilizing..hmmm, sounds like something that is all things for all people, or something that can function as a chameleon in different settings. That is the role that tea plays in our society. Whether it is black, oolong, green or white, or whether it is grown in Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania, it is a beverage of choice for most of the world’s population on any given day, and quite often multiple times each day. It gets you up in the morning, supplements your lunch of orange beef, pushes you along at four in the afternoon and relaxes you after dinner as you are winding down your day. Recessions and Depressions can’t dampen its demand. Some may even believe that it will lift you from your depressed mood.
Dallas resident Adam Minter is believing that tea will continue to be a beverage of choice for the majority of the globe’s population, and he is organizing his life and allocating his family’s financial plan around providing you with the best tea experience possible, while being a perpetual student of the living science of tea. I recently sat down with Adam and his wife Deena in their East Dallas apartment to attempt to understand the motivating philosophy that daily drives their family.
Chuck: Adam, why have you selected tea as your business?
Adam: Tea is very community-oriented. It brings friends and family together. In a brick and mortar shop people sit for hours talking. I love the relational aspect of tea and how it has developed through the centuries.
Chuck: What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?
Adam: I enjoy it, and I really enjoy the different aspects of tea and the history of tea. Tea is worldwide. It is exciting. It is an adventure for me as I am testing this tea from different parts of the world. I have always wanted to start something that I could enjoy, but have always struggled to find what I enjoy. This business would be a cool trade for my daughters to get into and to take over if they want to be involved. In history families had trades and children would learn these trades.
I will also add that I am exploring different avenues to take in my life at the moment and looking at different endeavors. I have other things I want to focus on outside of business.
Chuck: Adam, what are your strengths as it pertains to running a business?
Adam: I am in the learning process with this. I would say that I am a visionary; I have also completed the education to become a certified tea specialist. I have a great deal of knowledge regarding teas and the terrair where tea is grown. I am also quite detail-oriented. To make sure I sell specialty loose leaf tea, I taste it to ensure its quality and to make sure my customers are getting the finest quality. I am becoming able to discern what my customers need through my knowledge of tea and their different tastes. I am still in the learning process but I am providing good customer service to my clients. I love looking through catalogues to see what fits for my company to sell. On the downside I will say that advertising and marketing are not my forte.
Chuck: Deena are there any things that you do as it relates to running this business?
Deena: I do whatever needs to be done. That can include research on the computer, occasionally packaging teas, and checking price differentials of bags for Adam’s approval. I also work on the FaceBook site. I essentially do the things that are time consuming.
Chuck: Adam what is one bit of adversity that you have had in your life that has made you stronger today and more capable of taking on challenges?
Adam: I started in the law firm where I was employed basically at ground zero, and have progressed to the point where I am keeping the books as firm administrator, as well as doing para-legal work. I had a lot of challenges along the way and it was character building. I saw the LORD bring me to a new level that gave me the ability to start a business and know how one is run. Having run my father’s business and been on the inside of it in a challenging economy, God has mentally, physically, and spiritually prepared me for being able to stick it out during the hard things that come each day. This progression started with the previous job I had before the law firm. For our family life, it has helped me to be level headed.
Chuck: Adam what are the human costs to you at this moment from pursuing this business?
Adam: It is definitely time consuming. I have a full time job in order to earn income for my family and therefore have less time to run this business at the moment. I have to ensure I devote the time and attention I need to the betterment of my family, while at the same time, doing what needs to be done for the company. It is taking longer just because of family and other responsibilities. Another reason this is taking longer is my desire to do this debt free. I could get a loan and pursue this business fulltime, but I want to be debt free. The growth of this business has been spreading by word of mouth. We are planning to grow more through our FaceBook site, and then develop a website. When we are more established, we will consider a brick and mortar location.
Chuck: On a difficult day, do you have a favorite verse or scripture passage that gets you through? What is it?
Adam: Honestly, I just start praying. Where I go in Scripture depends upon the situation and how the Holy Spirit directs me. I just say “LORD, this is what is going on in my life.” He brings something up.
Deena: I am pretty similar. I just spend time with the LORD during these moments.
Chuck: If the two of you could change one thing about your family life at the moment what would it be?
Adam: Materialistically speaking, we need to get more space, since Deena and I both have side businesses. We need more time as well.
Deena: We definitely need more space
Adam: We are looking at houses at the moment in order to expand. At the same time we are making sure we keep our lives in balance so that the family is being taken care of. Deena home-schools our daughters and that is a big responsibility.
Chuck: Deena what are some of your hobbies?
Deena: Decorating for the church, coordinating wedding events, and volunteering for other things. I also enjoy running.
Chuck: How many men, Adam, do you have in your close circle and how do they encourage you to go beyond yourself?
Adam: There are three to four men. We don’t just talk or give Christian advice. These guys care to a deeper level and it is not about selfish gain. Each has his own way of encouraging me to go beyond. In the eye of the storm, you don’t know what is going on. The men are able to decipher what is going on and see things from a different perspective. The advice they give is right on, based upon the situation. One of these guys helped me to get out of a rut regarding the tea business. It was clear to me after I received their perspective, affirmation and care regarding it. They provide a great deal of insight and provide me with the benefit of their being on the outside looking in.
It is nice with close friends to have the objective of serving the LORD, so that they encourage you to stay on track and not go outside of the LORD’s will. I have many dreams and I need to seek counsel in order to do the right things. (A Biblical king weighs out counsel before the LORD. We should too.)
Chuck: How many women do you have in your close circle, Deena, and how do they encourage you to go beyond yourself?
Deena: There are two women. They provide me with different perspectives from how they think about things differently to me. They encourage me to just do it. They are encouraging in the gifting that they see within me and are pushing me to the LORD.
Chuck: What is the best piece of advice you have been given as it relates to life success?
Adam: I was in my car listening to a random radio message. The speaker was sharing the story about a friend who was a businessman. I remembered the phrase “Being in partnership with God.” It was an epiphany for me. I want my personal life and company to be in partnership with God. I want to bounce things off God.
Chuck: What advice would you give to others who are thinking about entrepreneurship?
Adam: There are a number of things I would say here:
a.
If you are a believer, seek the LORD and make sure it is Him and what He wants you to do. Hear from Him. Seek counsel. Don’t allow money and other things to woo you. You will not become a millionaire overnight.
If you are a believer, seek the LORD and make sure it is Him and what He wants you to do. Hear from Him. Seek counsel. Don’t allow money and other things to woo you. You will not become a millionaire overnight.b.When you do feel confirmation, have one by your side who is selflessly giving you good advice and helping you see from the outside in as you take this road.
When you do feel confirmation, have one by your side who is selflessly giving you good advice and helping you see from the outside in as you take this road.c.As you go down this road, continue to be open to the LORD, and don’t lose sight of Him as He knows all and can give you wisdom.
As you go down this road, continue to be open to the LORD, and don’t lose sight of Him as He knows all and can give you wisdom.d.Have core people for accountability and direction.
Have core people for accountability and direction. All of this will help keep you squared away. When it gets hard and hazy, go to the LORD, and then keep on doing what you need to do. If you lose sight of Him and rely on yourself, you lose energy, or you are in danger of pursuing selfish gain and wickedness
Chuck: Do you have a business man or entrepreneur who inspires you as a role model?
Adam: I love Christian men and women in business and the ministry they provide. Deena’s brother Josh Brannon is an example from seeing his background and what he has come out of. He had the goal of being a millionaire by age 30 and was halfway there by 25. He was an atheist and God stopped his plans and changed his heart. He shut down his business and is now doing ministry through a business.
I would also say Dan Weir, who operated a successful business. He has quite a strong testimony and it is a blessing to see his sons and the fruits of that business, and how it has given and created jobs and opportunities to those without.
I also want to honor my father as a businessman, seeing his heart for his clients, having compassion for them, and their situation, counseling them in a Godly way and praying for them.
That has been very impactful to me. I have seen the mercy and grace that God gives, and I desire that. I have also seen my dad not surrender to circumstances. He has tremendous integrity and honesty which says much in the legal profession. I am amazed at his consistency with that.
Chuck: How does your neighborhood dynamic impact your perspective as an entrepreneur?
Adam: I love to create jobs, I love seeing jobs bring opportunity and second chances to those who don’t think they have that. I have mixed-feelings coming from ground zero. People have to want to work and hold jobs. Often they create the state that they are in. If you have people who care and have businesses to help empower others, that is incredible. It happened that way for me.
Chuck: Where do you see yourselves in this business and as a family five years from now?
Adam: I see us progressing into a different stage from where we are, furthering the tea business to the point where it is our main income, and still having Deena’s business.
I have also been asked to take instructor classes in Krav Maga (Israeli Defense Classes) so I may be more involved in that area..
I want to see Deena and I in the tea business come more together. I want to have the tea company being a common thing between the two of us. I want this to be a more joint effort. Emma, my daughter, could be in the business. I also have a desire to have a non-profit organization to take inner city kids out mountain biking and integrate life’s principles through God’s word.
Chuck: If you were to receive a significant amount of money in a business transaction that went beyond what you would need for the promotion of your business what are some ways you would like to spend that money?
Adam: Depending on if we were in debt, I would pay off the debt. I would use some of it toward the college education of our two daughters, and a lot toward my non-profit organization to help kids, etc…It will depend upon where we are in life and the circumstances that we are in. I like finding an actual need in an individual or organization that is making an impact on lives.
A Drink for
all
Moods
Posted: April 1, 2012 by Chuck DeShazo
