"Together Talks" #82: Seven Teas and Co-Founder, Jeremy Issakharian

Some Background on Seven Teas

For today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the chance to interview Seven Teas and Co-Founder, Jeremy Issakharian. At Seven, they are much more than just a tea and lemonade company. They are committed to crafting with quality ingredients – the finest Fairtrade organic teas, hand-picked lemons – to create beverages that not only delight your taste buds but also contribute to lowering sugar in American diets. As the company continues to grow, they remain “Steeped in Tradition” and steadfast on purity throughout their adventure into the world of organic goodness, ensuring every sip also supports ethical practices.

Story

The beginning of the company was in 2018 when brothers Jeremy and Josh set out to change the way people enjoyed beverages and open them up to a world of possibilities.

Both had been in the CPG space for over 10 years and had tried a few other projects that ultimately didn't take off. Both learned a lot of lessons but as Jeremy told us the "breaking point" was realizing he needed to do something he actually cared about. Instead of chasing the dollar they chose to chase something of their passion. "We found that when things got rough, we just didn't have much staying power," Jeremy explained.

They started Seven Teas with a core line of glass bottled teas that were globally inspired. Jeremy and Josh come from an Iranian Father and a Southern belle Mother from texas. Their father's overseas culture mixed with their mother's homegrown roots helped carve and cultivate the overall idea for their company. Jeremy shared that their family was brought up with and exposed to many different cultures and world perspectives. This firsthand education and life experiences helped mold what they found incredibly interesting: so many countries they visited had tea traditions. The common thread was that from a single plant grew a sacred ritual that translated to everyday culture.

When they decided to pursue the CPG space again, this time in the tea category, they began to research the market and quickly noticed that there wasn't a lot of creativity. They felt the space lacked transparency, culture, experience, and story. They had a two goal mindset: honor real flavors with the highest quality ingredients and create authentic experiences that take customers on a global journey. Sharing cultures from across the world with their consumers was the link that they were passionate about. Ultimately the two brothers believed this passionate approach would be a recipe for successful entry into the tea category with the following messages:

We brew tea with mountain spring water and organic, Fair Trade ingredients.

We celebrate our collective diversity as a global community.

We use profits to reinvest in the health of planet Earth and all mankind.

Mission

The company starts by brewing every bottle using mountain spring water. They also real-brew every product. Jeremy likened it to actually making tea at your home on the stove, a similar process just at a massive scale. Seven Teas is all organic with more than 60% of their ingredients being Fairtrade. The teas are completely additive free. This focus and commitment to quality, Jeremy believes differentiates the product in a huge way. Consumers can understand the goal behind bringing a new and innovative product to the shelves with actual purpose behind it.

Seven Teas sets out to create experiences for their consumers with each product. They have two avenues, their glass products and their cans. Both create transportive experiences. With the Glass products it is globally exotic teas from around the world described as, "a voyage in every sip". The bottles are the "American Classics - a road trip in every sip". Jeremy said creating the brand and experience for their consumers is imperative and he believes they resonate not only with the story, but also the nostalgic feelings facilitated by the brand and their familiar flavors.

The motto of Seven Teas is "Brew Good Things. Do Good Things." As Jeremy explains, tea has entrenched their lives and they hope to provide the same for consumers as they continue to grow the brand. Their products are only part of their aspirations, so they hope their larger purpose and mission gets the same recognition.

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Meaning

While traveling around the world together and learning, experiencing, and living different cultures, the two brothers kept being brought back to one common thread: Seven. Ultimately it is a metaphor Jeremy explained, "Seven Continents, Wonders of the World, Seas, Colors of the Rainbow, Chakras...So much meaning with the number Seven. In many cultures there is a link to luck, health, wealth, prosperity. We just felt it was all-encompassing and coincided with our goal. Thus, Seven Teas was born." The better-for-you brand had a better-for-you name with a better-for-you mission. The connection to cultures across the world and utilizing the universal symbolism of Seven felt like the perfect channel to share their experiences and people they had been inspired by on their path of life. Summed up incredibly well, "Many brands on shelf have a commoditized feel, but we wanted to tell the story of tea, to highlight the origins of the leaves and their cultural ties. and be able to share that with the rest of the world.", Jeremy mentioned.

Second Avenue

While the company launched with their core line of glass products, Jeremy told us that they did always envision there would be an opportunity for a second product line in cans. The Pandemic did slightly accelerate their timeline to debut their new product line, but Jeremy said that for over two years they were watching the market and studying it extensively so they would be prepared when the opportunity arose. Jeremy spoke to that moment, describing it as when they had the opportunity to pitch to Whole Foods and ultimately got in. He said that was the company’s first big win and felt like the holy grail at that point. It brought a level of exuberance to the company.

While Jeremy acknowledged the 10 years of experience he and his brother had before starting Seven Teas, it proved to be only a taste of what was to come. He explained it more in depth for us, "Our first couple of start-ups we had to deal with rejection, failure, being told no. We realized how difficult this would be and how you had to be prepared. We also learned that if you aren't passionate about your product, company, and mission, it is very hard to pick yourself back up after facing adversity. We knew when we came back into this space we had to check off those 3 boxes. Seven Teas was that for us."

Having spent some time in the CPG space provided Jeremy and Josh with firsthand guidance on how to navigate founding Seven Teas, but Jeremy elaborated more, "There is still a learning curve and there is so much complexity in this space. It’s like having a set of tools available to you and skills that you can utilize, but only to get to a certain level. Once you reach the summit, those same tools are not necessarily suitable for the next stage so you have to learn and adapt and discover the next set of tools to continue on your path. Our prior experience only helped so much." He highlighted the importance of constant growth and they both try to achieve this by learning and networking.

Challenge and Outlets

Jeremy sees Seven as both a challenge and an opportunity to tap into multiple outlets. He equates running the business to having a child, noting how has to be very attentive and hardworking to help it develop and having the incredibly rewarding opportunity to watch it grow. "Starting a company you almost need an oblivious optimism initially. If we all knew what it took to be successful on day one we might not even start. But once you're running your business you have to transition to being adaptable and have the humbleness to constantly learn.”

The ability to remain steadfast and stay the course is crucial in Jeremy's estimation. It is a constant evolution and knowing which skills, resources, and connections to apply is part of understanding each chapter of the journey. He also said that it can be a challenge, not only for himself but for many entrepreneurs, to have the time and mindset to celebrate the wins. Going back to that first big win with Whole Foods, Jeremy described it as similar to a first kiss, a first big sports victory, or an achievement at school. Now, he says, the company makes an effort to build the celebration of victories into a common practice on their journey.

The complexities of running a business in the CPG space means that every day there is a new challenge. That constant quest to find a solution, develop, and achieve results is an aspect that Jeremy enjoys the most. "I have all this energy and so many ideas. Having this professional outlet is an incredible opportunity to channel it somewhere meaningful and create something with real impact. It’s so fulfilling for me." He believes it’s important to see a process all the way through, being able to watch his decisions come to

Pieces of Advice

Our conversation with Jeremy ended with him sharing three pieces of advice.

1 – Aligning with passion:

I think the key for us was aligning with our passion. Of course, passion doesn't in any way guarantee success, but without passion it's almost inevitable that it's not going to work. There are just too many challenges founders have to face on their journeys. If they don't truly feel some sort of connection to what they're doing, I believe it’s more likely that one would give up.

2 – Yin and Yang:

Be like bamboo, strong but flexible – bend but don’t break. Be open to compromise but never compromise on your values or convictions. It’s often said that you're either learning or you're winning. If something works out for you, excellent. If it doesn't work out, it's a learning opportunity. I think it's also important to know yourself. We live in such a fast-paced world with so much noise, it’s easy to get lost in all of that, to lose sight of yourself and who you are. It’s important to spend time with yourself, to really learn yourself, what interests you, what’s important to you.

3 – Consistency:

There's no limits as an entrepreneur, so you have to remember or sometimes find ways to remind yourself to take breaks. Work-life balance builds resilience. Think about it… If you were to try climbing Mount Everest, along the way there are little stop off points and base camps to ensure you take the breaks you need to be successful. Without them you won't make it, right? Without them you can’t make it, and in business it’s the same thing. So create your own stop points to make sure you take the necessary brakes, to give your mind and body a rest, and to channel your energy into something else. Giving yourself those breaks builds a lot of resilience, helps you stay fresh, and gives you more of that staying power to really stick with it.

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In Closing

KLS wants to thank Jeremy Issakharian, Co-Founder, of Seven Teas? for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for the Seven Teas journey with their social handles below!

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