Season 1, Episode 08 : Deirdre McNally

What is your business superpower?

I would say our business superpower is giving people good tea, being able to give people quality tea around the world. Our tea leaves do not go through the CTC process that means they are not cut, teared and curled like other tea. Instead they are hand rolled and that is how it is presented to our customers. We look out for the tea drinkers that anywhere they go they will be able to find good tea.

How does Brew Tea Company engage its stuff, suppliers, and customers with your mission and purpose?

We ensure that all of us understand the basics of what we do and why we do it. This year for example, everyone took a couple of days off and attended tea training. That is, we had people come and teach us the different types of tea, how it is farmed and which part of the world it comes from. Our main goal is to ensure that our staff have all of the available information and this has in turn enabled us to answer any questioned posed to us by our customers. We also send newsletters to our customers and we ask them what they would like and in return, we get feedback from them enabling us to serve them better.

What has been your biggest struggle so far when running a suitable business and how you've overcome it?

We have two major issues. The first one is that we are a fast moving consumer goods company hence a lot of our business development is based on our consumer buying trends. People nowadays have become more conscious about what goes into their bodies. This is a challenge to us as it is hard to find balance between finding what is good for us and what works for our drinkers.

The other issue we have is getting people to know what a BCorp is. We have had some difficult times pitching to our buyers since they do not know what a BCorp is.Getting people to understand that there is more to just having a great product and that is having a great company as well. People don’t know that BCorp is the stamp of approval they need to go above and beyond.

If you could offer one piece of advice to our listeners which could help them with their purpose, what would that be?

My advice would be to do what you believe in. Being in a BCorp was something I always wanted to do, so I did. I believed in myself and what I was doing and hence wasn’t put off by it. Believe in the mission and purpose that you have for your business. Have faith in your business journey and it will be worth it in the end.