I spent years as a wardrobe stylist for print ads and advertising, and it was always feast or famine. While I loved fashion, the second bedroom in my apartment was my creative outlet, where I’d make bath salts, soap, and tea. Tea just felt good. I loved the endless combinations and the art of packaging.
That side hustle grew from a farmers market booth to a shelf at a local cooperative. I still have the journal entry from August 1, 2006, the day I officially started. I wrote: "Moving Just Add Honey into The Beehive, and I'm starting a small business." I juggled styling and tea for a long time until 2014, when the city offered small businesses $500 and three months of rent to do a popup. After three months of running the shop, I was hooked.
We’ve been in retail for 12 years now, and we’ve grown into a 10,000-square-foot space for our cafe and production. We teach blending classes, host tea parties and corporate events, and do five farmers markets a week, including the place where we started out. We source our teas directly from places like Japan, India, and Kenya, where I travel and have relationships with the farmers.
My inspiration comes from my grandmothers, my mother, and my sister, who had this can-do energy, and my experiences traveling the world. I also think of my employees as inspiration; they are the quirkiest bunch of humans I’ve ever met.
All of those bits and pieces create the blend of who we are, but trying to convey that story across our emails and social media was becoming overwhelming. I have marketing experience, but I needed a way to organize the creative chaos and make sure the story I was telling was consistent across different platforms. I started using Gemini to help me clean up emails, but it quickly grew into a vital part of my marketing.
I have a brand book that defines our voice and our customers, who we call “social sippers” and “tea lovers.”
By sharing that brand book with Gemini, I’ve been able to build a full social media marketing calendar, knowing that Gemini can help us better engage with our customers. I no longer have that daunting decision paralysis of what to say on Wednesday versus Monday.
Similarly it has made a huge difference using Gemini to help draft regular newsletters. It helps me stay on topic and on brand.
I truly believe that using Gemini has increased our revenue because our marketing emails are finally consistent. Our customers feel a connection to us, and that is a value add.
Because all of our living documents are in Google Docs, Gemini can pull from our documentation to keep us consistent. This has even changed how I handle my inbox. I’m a little old-school; I used to think I had to be in front of a computer to make sure I crossed all my t's and dotted all my i's. Now, I’m comfortable sending a professional email from my phone because I use Gemini to help proofread it. I’m able to respond faster and move on.
I’m happy where we are, rooted in this community. Expanding to another location would be the chef’s kiss, but for now, I’m just grateful these tools have given me my time back to focus on my life and my relationships.