( ENSPIRE Feature ) Aspiring Entrepreneur Brings Health-Boosting Tea Blends To Santa Fe
ENSPIRE Contributor: Brandon Wood
Everyone has a drink of choice that helps them get through the day. For many, that drink is tea. Entrepreneur April Sherris is one such person, and she has taken it upon herself to spread the reach of high-quality tea to others around her. To do this, she founded Upland Tea House to share her appreciation for tea with others.
Sherris’s Upland Tea House, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, launched in April 2021. Despite being founded amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Sherris pushed for her business to use carefully curated blends for every variety of tea offered by her business. Every blend is sourced from South African tea estates, along with including a good deal of health-assisting ingredients such as the herb rooibos.
ENSPIRE reached out to April Sherris for more information about her goals and aspirations.
What inspired you to focus on tea?
I used to rely on coffee to get me through my long days or when I felt moody at the day’s end. Coffee felt like a great option until I experienced adrenal fatigue. I have often heard about tea’s benefits and consumed it in the past. It wasn’t until I ran across rooibos and discovered how healing it was to my body that I fell in love with my daily ritual and shared it with the world. I look at tea as “the great balancer” in my life. I consciously slow down and have moments of stillness because of this. Upland Tea House was born shortly after.
What would you consider the most helpful benefit of your tea and why?
We believe that rooibos makes its impact from its soothing capabilities. With so many distractions in our lives and many conflicts around the world, as a society, we are easily overstimulated. Having a healthy, non-caffeinated, and naturally soothing cup of rooibos goes a long way in possibly lowering cortisol levels and mental strength.
How many people currently work with Upland Tea House?
We currently have a small but mighty team of six. We are all family and generations of tea drinkers. With that being said, we will grow within the next twelve months as our plans roll out.
Would you recommend others follow in your footsteps and open tea shops as well?
I believe the industry is growing in recognition of tea but I also believe in entrepreneurship. We need more shops to open, more classes that educate from a wellness standpoint, and more social events such as tea blending. There are countless coffee shops across the country and many on the same street. We can definitely benefit from seeing more growth in tea shops.
Do you have a particular message you would like to present to others?
Yes, we spend the most time with ourselves than any other person. Make sure you pour into the joys and necessities of self before anyone else. When we are joyous inside, it spills into the lives of others.
April Sherris founded Upland Tea House in the wake of a nine year long career as an author that, while successful, left her feeling thoroughly overtaxed. She looked at both the world’s condition under the pandemic and her health, then did something positive about both simultaneously with her new business venture. While not everyone may have a way to import and mix high-quality tea blends, Sherris’s actions have shown that there is always a way for someone to spread a little more positivity in their community. Sometimes, all it takes is a look at one’s own circumstances to realize what they can do.
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