Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Shannon Ullmann, Owner of Elevation Mountain Grown Herbal Tea, LLC, located in Hotchkiss, CO, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My company is called Elevation Mountain Grown Herbal Tea. It is a farm-based business where I grow, harvest & process all of the ingredients for blended herbal teas. I grow 17 ingredients, including hibiscus, chamomile, lavender, echinacea, a variety of mints, etc. In addition to cultivation & harvesting, I also operate a certified food manufacturing facility where those ingredients are turned into blended herbal teas. My customers, ultimately, the people who share and drink my teas, are each a unique story that has come to a place where they value and are inspired by my own story. As such, I feel a deep connection with each of my customers.
First, my customers are my wholesale retailer partners. These are the many forward-leaning, supportive small businesses across the country that have brought my teas into their brick-and-mortar operations as a merchandise offering to their (our) customers. Second, my customers include direct-to-consumer purchasers. These are the wonderful tea drinkers or generous gift-givers who purchase tea from me directly. These customers purchase my teas through my online shop on my website. Or, we offer in-person, direct-to-consumer sales during farm tours and various events and festivals throughout the summer.
Tell us about yourself
Prior to launching my own business, I was working as an engineer. I enjoyed my work a great deal, helping small, local drinking water utilities grow, maintain, and incorporate water conservation into their systems. My two daughters were born in 2010 and 2014. I continued to work as an engineer but realized the precious opportunity that I had to be more present during their young childhood. The community in which we lived had a high cost of living. My husband and I knew that in order to live on a single income, a move would be best. We purchased a new home in an agrarian valley. The purchase included five acres currently used as pasture. During naptimes and after bedtimes, I began market research to determine a productive use for the five acres we had acquired. After considering a variety of alternatives (elk ranch, hops farm, fresh produce, etc.), the alternative that rose to the top was: an herbal tea farm.
- The product is shelf-stable, eliminating the rush to deliver produce to the consumer quickly.
- The product is sold in small quantities, a necessity for our small acreage to succeed on a larger scale.
- The market was growing, as Coloradoans, especially, were eliminating or reducing caffeine and seeking healthy beverage options.
- There was very little competition, as even the most “local” tea companies sold products whose ingredients were not locally sourced.
It was unique, healthy, and offered lots of opportunities for creativity. Best of all, it allowed me the flexibility to work from home, adjust my schedule to maximize my time with my daughters, and gave me a beautiful and challenging way to spend my time each day.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I think that one can often overlook the moment one decides to make a change. Inherent in that decision are perceived risk, uncertainty, and self-doubt. My biggest accomplishment as a small business owner is starting. It is that I said “Yes” to that risk, uncertainty and let go of that self-doubt. For me, the moment when “risk” seemed to loom the largest was at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. To say “something isn’t working” meant that up to that moment, all of my efforts might be better channeled toward a different life. One that I could not yet envision to trust that I would be okay if I tried. At the time, I was empowered by a quote I read by Thomas Jefferson. It said: “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
As a business owner, my success depends entirely on me. As a result, it has been a fun and empowering process to identify those disciplines within myself that create continuous motivation. Then, to turn those disciplines into habits. For example, honing my mindset towards challenges. Challenges are inevitable. How do you craft the right logo? Who is your target market? What is the right website platform? The way I approach each day’s challenge is with curiosity. Not with resentment.
I am here to learn. As I do so, I will start to gain a more accurate perspective of what works for my brand and business and what doesn’t. I “GET” to learn how to manage employees. I “GET” to create and maintain my own website. Lucky me! I will have both successes and failures in my entrepreneurial journey. But BOTH are of great value if I choose to learn from both. That didn’t work? Why not? That business is a wonderful partnership. Why? Setbacks or challenges are best viewed as opportunities. As we navigate each, we learn. And as we learn, we succeed.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Start. It can be daunting to look at an entrepreneur and understand the amount of time and energy that person has invested to reach the place that you now see. However, no business starts on the top floor. There is always a step 1… 2… 3… A very manageable way to understand a startup is to peek behind “launch day.”
Day 1: Make an appointment with your local small business incubator.
Day 2: Go to the appointment. Each small step starts with “a start.” Best, to take a deep breath and simply take the first step. Then, watch what happens. - Make Small but Consistent Progress. One habit or mindset that I have learned to cultivate is to maintain consistency in completing small tasks to achieve large gains. I have learned that big gains happen one small step at a time. An entire business cannot be built overnight. However, one page of a website can. One side of a product package can. One phone call. One kind word of gratitude to a new customer. Tomorrow is the next page, the next package side, and the next outreach. Over time, I look back and see what enormous gains have been made through taking consistent, daily small steps.
- Cultivate Curiosity. I think the opposite side of the same coin of “risk” is “curiosity.” It seems easier to embrace risk when curiosity is the underlying mindset. Failure is not negative but positive, a step in learning and exploring. “That didn’t work, how about this?” seems like an attitude that can lead to large changes one small step at a time.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.elevationherbaltea.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountaingrownherbaltea
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevationherbaltea/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-ullmann-86644b196/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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