.png)
Some of the varieties offered at Tavalon Tea (Courtesy of Tavalon Tea)
“That’s how we showcase a new life, and a new direction for tea and that’s why our slogan is ‘the future of tea.’”
In addition to having a wide range of products, Tavalon incorporates music in its appeal. “I love music,” says Lee. “There’s over 3,000 varieties of tea so what we try to say is for every genre of music out there, there is a type of tea out there. We draw that correlation.”
“What the rest of the world calls blends and infusions, we call mixes, remixes and uncut, and that’s how we create a normal understanding for tea. It’s a relatable and accessible component for tea because music is a common ground that people can appreciate and understand.”
Lee notes that what really gave him the inspiration of starting his own company was a combination of wanting to get out of the corporate rat race and having the right messages around him.
“My family comes from a long history of entrepreneurship. They wanted me to be stable, climb up the corporate ladder, and have a steady income,” said Lee. “That’s exactly what I didn’t want.”
“Everybody said you’re absolutely out of your mind, you’re crazy. When I heard that, it was almost like a challenge.
“I drive off of challenge,” says Lee. “Watching this baby grow has been inspirational to me, it’s amazing. That feeling you cannot match with anything, it’s a great project and tea is a great place to be.”
In the beginning Lee says that two of the biggest challenges were funding and his age.
Not your staid, pinkie-in-the-air establishment, Tavalon Tea features a DJ mixing music to sip by. (Courtesy of Tavalon Tea)
“Being underfunded, that causes a trickle effect of problems. If I were to change anything, it would be to fund ourselves for a bigger expansion plan because for us, we scraped everything we had, I was so stubborn that I didn’t take anybody else’s money.”
“I was also very young,” said Lee, “and being Asian I actually looked younger than I was so I would go into landlord meetings trying to get leases and they would look at me saying: ‘I’ve been in business longer than you’ve been alive,’ what are you going to do here. So it was impossible. I got shut down almost fifty plus times by landlords.”
Lee says he took these hardships as lessons and opportunities to grow. Along the way, he also realized that he couldn’t do everything himself. “The more you surround yourself with smarter people than you, the better off you’re going to be. Teamwork, absolutely, I didn’t believe in that before but I do now, 100 percent.”
To Lee, his experience in growing Tavalon has been highly rewarding. “I used to work long hours consulting and it doesn’t even compare to having your own business. You never stop thinking. I dream about tea, I wake up thinking about tea,” he said.
Tavalon offers a range of tea a nd tea-drinking accessories. (Courtesy of Tavalon Tea)
“When I was working nine to five I couldn’t get enough sleep,” continued Lee. “I couldn’t wake up in the mornings and now I can’t go to bed late enough, and I can’t wake up early enough. It’s amazing how much it changes your lifestyle.”
Lee says the company is constantly growing and expanding on the international as well as the U.S. market. “It’s never boring,” says Lee.
