As two self-made business founders, Sharon & Jordynn, are all too familiar with the struggles of starting a new business.
For many women, having transversal skills and an entrepreneurial mind can help keep them employed, and further increase the number of women in leadership roles. That’s why during Women’s History Month, INSERT NAME HERE launched its first Mentorship Program to encourage, uplift & support BIPOC women in business.
Our mentees will be provided with career development tools & resources, and be able to learn from the INH team to help increase their knowledge, and build skills to reach their future goals & milestones.
Meet the Mentees:
Allow us to welcome Cindy Li & Kylie Long to our INSERT NAME HERE community.
In the Chair with Cindy Li, Founder of Uproot Teas (@uproot.teas)
After years of working in management consulting, Cindy quit her job and moved to Boulder, Colorado to start Uproot Teas — a farm-direct, zero-waste artisan tea company.
Q+ A with INH
What’s your zodiac?
My Chinese zodiac is a rat... LOL
What do you sell?
Farm-to-cup single origin teas & botanicals
Where is your business based?
Boulder, CO
What gave you the idea to start your business?
For me, tea has always been about comfort and connection: as the first in my family to be born outside of China, I always sought out ways to bond with my relatives and bridge cultures - tea was my vehicle for that.
The idea for Uproot Teas first came to me in college at Dartmouth, when I wrote my senior economics paper about the commodity tea trade and learned of the inefficiencies and inequities of the industry - with centuries-old structures rooted in colonialism.
After working in management consulting at Bain & Co for years, I finally decided to pursue my dream of building a transparent & ethical tea company. I started by working on a tea farm in Hawai'i for a month to get an inside look at what it was like to be a smallholder tea farmer.
So excited to share that in December 2021, I launched Uproot Teas! I partner directly with small family farms to handcraft single-origin, artisan tea leaves & botanicals to elevate tea culture in the US.
What inspires you?
Being in nature, the resilience of women, & TikTok drink recipes
What’s your favorite product that you sell?
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite child, but if I HAD to… the Hawai’i-grown Makai Black Tea. Grown by a woman farmer on the Big Island, on top of volcanic ash & shaded by the natural rainforest. You can read more about it & see photos of the farm here.
Describe your business’s aesthetic in 3 words.
Earthy, spunky, fun
What do you do to wind down?
DRINK TEA
Anything else you’d like to share with INH Babes?
Soooo excited to be hereeeeee
In the Chair with Kylie Long, Founder of Kahenmei (@kahenmei)
During the pandemic, Kylie got inspired to found this healthy Asian American baking mix company. Growing up as a “third-culture, Asian kid in America,” Kylie struggled with never feeling Asian enough or American enough. Founding Kahenmei was her way of rediscovering herself and embracing her identity as an Asian American.
Q+A with INH
What’s your zodiac?
Scorpio
What do you sell?
Baking Mixes
Where is your business based?
NJ
What gave you the idea to start your business?
COVID and wanting to do something for my AAPI community
[During the pandemic], I couldn't help but reflect on what I wanted out of the rest of my life. As with many folks in my generation, I looked at the work I was doing at my job and really didn't feel fulfilled. More importantly, I looked at the world and saw how fear and hate could really tear us apart. It was especially devastating to me how my community was suffering with the rise of Asian hate crimes. I went through a really dark period where I questioned my own identity as an Asian American and what it really meant to be an Asian living in America. Kahenmei was born out of these reflections.
Why did you decide to start selling baking mixes specifically?
Growing up, food, especially dessert, was always the love language in our house. That being said, my talent was only really in eating, and not baking! I'm incredibly clumsy and impatient in the kitchen. It also didn't help that Asian desserts are notoriously difficult to make and ingredients are often hard to find in the US.
But when the pandemic hit, I grew tired of always making the same old brownies and cookies and was craving something that reminded me of home. So I went online looking. Yet, to my honest surprise, when I googled 'Asian American baking mixes', nothing came up. You can probably say it was a combination of my frustration and desperation that I finally threw in the towel and started experimenting with my own versions of Asian flavored treats in the kitchen. And that was the start of building Kahenmei.
What inspires you?
The AAPI Community, love, entrepreneurship, and supportive strong women
What’s your favorite product that you sell?
Matcha cookie mix!
Describe your business’s aesthetic in 3 words.
Colorful, lovable, quirky
What do you do to wind down?
A glass of wine or bourbon on the rocks and watching netflix!
Anything else you’d like to share with INH Babes?
Appreciate you all!
We’re so excited to work with Cindy Li & Kylie Long, and support them on their entrepreneurial journey. Please join us: Follows, likes, comments, sharing & if you feel so inclined, purchasing…
A little bit of love goes a long way for a small business.
Browse Kylie’s yummy baking mixes here and Cindy’s comforting teas here.
