What’s Brewing with Lisa Hammonds of Full Leaf Tea Company

With fall fast approaching and cooler temperatures in SoCal, I find myself reaching for tea to drink. One tea brand that I recently discovered is Full Leaf Tea Company, a family-owned business based in Southern Oregon. Their loose-leaf teas are made with organic products and are non-GMO certified.

I recently received samples of their teas, as well as a fantastic vacuum flask infuser bottle that allows you to steep your tea and keep it piping hot for all-day enjoyment.

The teas that I received are:

• Organic Pink Tea: A refreshing green tea mixed with lavender and hibiscus
• Organic Beauty Me Tea: Contains organic herbs like dandelion root, ginger root, rooibos, and peppermint
• Organic Immunity Blend: Peppermint tea combined with the sweet flavors of rooibos, elderberries, and hibiscus
• Organic Throat Clarity: Cloves, ginger, and chamomile mixed with a peppermint tea

Because I’ve been running around these past two weeks attending pop-ups, a musical and reviewing restaurants, I decided to brew up some Organic Immunity Blend tea and sip that first.

I added 2 teaspoons of loose-leaf tea, added 8-10 ounces of hot water, and then let it steep for the recommended amount of time. Here’s a short video that shows how to use the infuser bottle – there’s two ways to choose from!

Matt and Lisa Hammonds are co-founders of Full Leaf Tea Company. I love how passionate they are about wellness and educating their community about the benefits of tea.

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Lisa. I wanted to learn what she liked best about having a business in the beverage and wellness space. Check out her story below!

How/why did you begin your business?

Lisa: Our story is one with a very humble beginning. My husband Matt and I were married in 2008. His family owned a construction company. As most remember, we were in the middle of the “Great Recession.” Matt worked with his family to keep the family business alive. I worked as a retail manager at a local boutique. We were barely making it. Somedays, we didn’t have money for groceries or gas. Our cell phones had been turned off; our garbage can was taken away. We were living about as thin as possible.

In 2013, our miracle baby was born. We wanted a better life for her. Living paycheck to paycheck was feasible for us, but we wanted more for our daughter. Matt and I had always dreamed up different business ideas, but without capital or financial help, none of them seemed possible.

During this time, Matt was struggling with coffee. It was making his stomach upset, he was having caffeine highs, then big crashes mid-day. While looking into alternatives, we stumbled across matcha green tea. This was the real turning point for us. He loved the way he felt. There were no crashes or jitters, and he had more energy than ever before.

We started researching herbs and natural approaches to wellness. We found most tea companies only offered artificial flavored tea or teas filled with additives, candy pieces, and ingredients we couldn’t pronounce.

September 2014, with only $100 and a $2500 credit card, FullLeafTeaCompany.com was born. Neither Matt nor I had any background in e-commerce, but we were driven. We had no other option than to succeed. All our money was put into this dream, and we knew it was “sink or swim.” Our first photos were taken with an old digital camera. I held our side lamp for lighting and Matt took photos. We designed our logo, website, and packaging. We began creating one-of-a-kind blends, all with wellness in the forefront.

We are proud to be in our 12th year. We are still innovating, crafting and focusing on bringing a natural approach to wellness with our organic teas. Each blend is created to help aid ailments. From sleep aid to blood sugar regulation, “we have a tea for that.”

As a working mother, what is one tip or piece of advice that you would give to other female entrepreneurs?

Lisa: As a working mother, one piece of advice I would give to other female entrepreneurs is, “be confident.” I feel like as a woman there are expectations of being a homemaker or being the “perfect Mom,” you can do both! There is no cookie cutter way to live. If you have been given the gift of innovation, creation, and entrepreneurship, hold you head up high and crush your goals. Use your skills as teachable moments for your child/children. My daughter has seen what it looks like to hustle, to work countless hours, and to achieve dreams bigger than I could have ever imagined.

What do you like best about having a business in the beverage and wellness space?

Lisa: What I love about having a business in the beverage and wellness space is that I know what we are doing is making a difference in people’s lives. Our reviews bring our team so much joy when we get to read about the impact we are having on others. We are creating accessible alternatives to the mainstream beverage industry while delivering natural approaches to healing.

If there was one thing you wish you knew before you began your business, what would that be?

Lisa: This question was hard for me. I went back and forth trying to think of something I wish I had known prior to starting Full Leaf. In the end, my conclusion is, I am thankful I didn’t know anything ahead of time. Had I known where we would be eleven years later, I may not have had the same approaches to how I did things along the way. Struggles are a part of growth and knowing them ahead of time may have crippled me in ways that may have been detrimental. Had I known about economic changes coming, I may have made rash decisions out of anticipation. There’s really no way of telling what may have happened, but I feel blessed and fortunate to have had the journey Full Leaf has taken me on. I am looking forward to the many years ahead as we continue to grow and experience new challenges and triumphs.

For more information on Full Leaf Tea Company, visit their website here. Also, don’t forget to check their Facebook page and Instagram account so that you can get the latest updates!

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. I received complimentary samples which helped facilitate this review. All images are my own unless otherwise noted. As always, my opinions are 100% my own.