Tea with Claudia | #GreatIdeas Series

"Always surround yourself with people smarter than yourself," is one of the best pieces of advice that I've heard [and taken]. 


And my friend, Claudia Zhang, is no exception. As long as I've known her - about 16 years now - she's been full of wisdom, advice and #greatideas. And she's always up for taking risks, "just going for it". Her dedication to her budding tea business, Michi Tea, is no exception to this rule.  

Claud moved to Germany [much to my dismay] with her husband a year and a half ago -  knowing virtually no German or people besides her husband and a few of his friends. This experience alone is worth writing about [Claud, someday you'll have to document your stories]. For some this could be incredibly daunting, but for Claudia it was an opportunity to experience something new. 

Over time, she noticed that Germans are "very particular" about their beverages, often drinking anything but "flat" water. In fact, on Sundays when other shops and supermarkets were closed, she noticed the beverage shops or "Getraenkemarkt" were open because it's so much ingrained in the culture. When she got pregnant, she started looking for non-alcoholic beverages and most of the options were sweet. And she realized what was missing - ready-to-drink teas, right out of the bottle, that tasted freshly brewed and were without a lot of added sugars. 

So she started thinking, what if I developed a product that could fill this gap? Claudia started experimenting with brewing and bottling at home, but soon realized that wasn't realistic to produce large quantities doing that. What's really great about this story, is that as Claudia finds a roadblock or a potential dead-end, she just tries a different route [or turns over a new leaf, if you will]. 

"The further I got into the project," she said. "The more I understand about all the bits and pieces that needed to be done. I think it's probably the case with any startup, you just have to start and then figure out the rest as you go along. It's impossible to plan for every little thing ahead of time because you just won't know what you will need." 

See I told you she was smart. 

So while she's not 100% up & running with Michi, she is finalizing her brand and business plan and next step is to do sales pitches to retailers and distributors. And sell the tea! 

I wish the best for one of my best friends in moving forward with Michi and all her other #greatideas [although her next one better involve coming back to the states...]

 #30before31