On today's show, we chat with Steve Schwartz, founder of the Art of Tea, a bespoke tea company crafting custom blended tea for the biggest names in hospitality.

If you're going to create a product, logic would dictate that you'd want the masses to have access to it. But that's not the route Steve Schwartz went. He wanted his tea company to serve those that serve others. It's one of the foundational values that guides The Art of Tea. In today's tough economy, the companies that thrive will be culture first companies. Here, Steve walks us through the core values and culture-first perspective that has made The Art of Tea a huge success.

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SHOW NOTES

The importance of mentors
Find yourself a teacher, acquire yourself a friend
Mentors can share lessons
Friends can challenge you and learn with you
Mentors and friends in Steve’s life
3 daughters - all under 15yo
Coach - in his mid-70s and helps to separate belief from reality
Group of peers in similar businesses - sharing best practices and meaningful lessons
Lessons from childhood
Had a very perfect, comfortable upbringing until parents’ divorce at 14
Sent to live with 19yo brother with no financial support
Learned to be scrappy and creative to make money
Knew it was a phase and would be able to teach lessons to children one day
Entering entrepreneurship
Started digital gatherings in Arizona at 19
Minimal resources but events were profitable
Introduction to tea
Mom became very ill with brain cancer - she passed within 10months
Steve realized there could be other schools of medicine and treatments
Found Ayurvedic Institute and learned about botanicals
Began traveling the world for the best botanicals to create tea
Tea as a business
Ethos of not creating mass-produced low-quality tea
Began selling in hotels and creating custom blends
Creating a movement against big tea companies
Aligning with core values
Leadership team reviews the company’s core values every week
Impact. Culture. Accountability. Results. Excellence (ICARE)
This is much more important during Covid
Projections for hospitality
3rd of businesses won’t survive
3rd will barely survive
3rd will thrive
Pivoting during Covid crisis
Becoming a conduit of ideas between businesses
Learning how some clients are surviving and relaying that advice to other struggling businesses
Changing marketing plans
Government is unlikely to stop marketing efforts so there is an opportunity to be more creative with marketing
Creating ice tea for sale to consumers or restaurants
How to manage fear
If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans
Ideas that make Steve fearful and excited confirm he should pursue it
He thanks the fear for protecting him
Create a backup plan in case things do go wrong
Coping with being back at zero