Today we’d like to introduce you to Paula Hershman. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Storehouse Tea, Delicious teas ethically produced to heal, connect, and transform communities
When Paula Hershman decided to quit drinking coffee for health reasons, it set her on the path to discovering the joys and health benefits of fresh, organic loose-leaf tea. Then in 2007, when she was looking to transition from her graphic design business, Paula saw the need for a Cleveland-based loose-leaf tea business. Wanting her company to create excellent, hand-crafted healthy products while having a positive social and environmental impact, she pursued Organic and Fair-Trade certifications for their teas and moved the business to an area where she could employ the refugees and immigrants in the neighborhood. Paula’s motivation for growth is to not only have more people enjoy their fresh, delicious, and healthy teas but to hire marginalized people and give them dignified employment. Tea became the vehicle of accomplishing her mission. As Paula would say, “we don’t hire people to blend tea; we blend tea to hire people.”
From its inception, Storehouse Tea has been an ethical and socially responsible company locally and internationally. Their dedication to sourcing, blending and packing organic and Fair-Trade teas supports the fragile ecosystem of the tea gardens and farmers. In dedication to giving back to these communities, Storehouse Tea purchases as much Fair-Trade teas as possible.
Additionally, Storehouse Tea has become a staple in Cleveland’s growing refugee population. With nearly 5,000 refugees arriving in Cuyahoga County, where Storehouse Tea is located, there was a clear need for dignified and safe work within this community. Today, employees can walk or ride public transportation to get to work, where they are met with opportunities for mentorship, practicing English, gaining job experience, earning an income to support their families, and being instilled with confidence and hope in their future.
Each week, Storehouse tea receives testimonials on how their fresh, Organic Teas have significantly improved customers’ health, from helping to shorten a cold to improving digestion; from lowering blood pressure and cholesterol to improving sleep, energy, and focus. Additionally, their international employees, who have come from Rwanda, the Congo, Iran, Russia, Thailand, and Puerto Rico, are supported through those purchases. Each employee has seen improvement in speaking and writing in English; experienced new social interactions like celebrating a birthday and eating at one of the locations where Storehouse Teas are served.
As a for-profit social enterprise, Storehouse Tea views their impact as integral to who they are as people and as a business. They believe you can “do good” and grow a business at the same time – it not only makes sense for their vision and their souls, but also the bottom line! The days of making money at any cost are over, and social enterprises like Storehouse Tea will continue to prosper while making the world a better place.
Today, Storehouse Tea Company, LLC, is Northeast Ohio’s premier handcrafter of 60 + high-quality, fresh, organic, and fair-trade loose-leaf teas and a beautiful line of organic, whole leaf Tea Sachets. These Teas can be found at many healthy grocery stores, coffee/tea houses, restaurants and cafes, special events and can be purchased directly online at www.storehousetea.com.
Storehouse Tea employees are as diverse and lively as their teas. Their all-female team works together to strengthen and empower our community. It is an honor to be connected to the livelihood of others that’s what makes Storehouse Tea so much more meaningful to us and to our customers.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In the 15 years that Storehouse Tea had been around it has been a constant learning curve and adventure. I started the business at the beginning of the last recession with an initial investment of $300.00. Our family was struggling financially but I was determined to make a business that I felt was recession-proof, profitable, healthy, and meaningful. Many people thought I was crazy. But we were able to acquire small loans along the way, many things were challenging, but our numbers were always increasing. As we approach our 15th year, with another possible recession, I know we will be able to stand strong. We were able to provide fresh organic healthy tea for our customers during the pandemic and encouraged them to be much more aware of their health. Tea is an outstanding beverage for keeping our immune system strong. Today we are bankable, we have many loyal customers, and are growing. We are looking to expand into our own building to keep up with our tea production needs. We are so grateful!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My career in graphic design and teaching art was a wonderful start for me to create a tea business, but I had zero classes in business, accounting, sales, etc. These are skills that I had to learn along the way. I had a vision for what my tea products would look like including logo, packaging, design of website, promotional materials, etc. People are drawn to beautiful and meaningful design. But the product inside must taste great and have a purpose. The tea blending was an area that I grew into as well. All our teas have been designed and blended through a trial and error. We start with fresh organic ingredients, do some market research, listen to what our customers are asking for, compare our blend to other similar products in the marketplace and create something even better, more creative, and much more flavorful. Our teas are our own recipes, that’s what sets us apart; the “freshly handcrafted” statement is 100% true; we really do the work, unlike most tea companies out there, who just slap their name on an already blended tea. What sets us apart is that we source over 100 ingredients, look at current harvest dates, and only buy organic, and when it is available, we buy Fair Trade, which means the grower, tea picker (mostly women) is paid fairly for their work. Our teas are beautiful to look at and taste even better with a fresh good till date on the bottom of the box. Our staff loving works together with us to create a really good product that we are all truly proud of.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My husband, Daniel Hershman, has recently joined the business full-time. Though for the past 15 years, he has been in the background helping me with my numbers, my proofreading, events, he has been my confidant, coach, and now the number one salesman! He has always been my biggest cheerleader, even when others thought I was crazy. My sister Jill O’Donnell has been doing my books for the past 10 years and has been such a big help in many areas; I am so grateful to her too. Our customers have always cheered us on and have given us wonderful reviews. Our staff works hard and helps us create an amazing product; we could not do this without them!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://storehousetea.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storehouse_tea/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storehousetea/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=storehouse+tea
Image Credits
Beth Segal
Water Creative
