00:00Hello, hello and welcome to another episode of Shop Essence Live. My name is Noni. I am your
00:08host and also Vice President of Video and Branded Content here at Essence. And this show is in
00:14partnership with the New Voices family. This is where we bring you week after week, and it is
00:20Black History Month, y'all, but we are on this every single week, all year round, bringing you
00:26two new Black-owned businesses to shop live with us every single week, and we are shopping today.
00:33So first, I'm going to tease who we have coming up in a little bit. We are going to have Chantel
00:39from Play Pits. Look at this. Play Pits is so incredible. We are looking at all these ingredients
00:45now. I remember we did not do this when I was a kid, but now we have to watch out for the toxins
00:50that are in the ingredients of what we put on our body on a daily basis. So Play Pits is coming up
00:56in a little bit. Up first, you know what, Shop Essence Live, if you join week by week, we are
01:01all about that soft life, all about the soft life through self-care. And when I tell you
01:07the first business is so incredible, it is Tease With Meaning. And their story is so inspiring.
01:14So I'm going to connect them. We're talking to Camilla from Tease With Meaning. And I got
01:20my tea ready with my don't let anybody disturb your curls situation. So Camilla, if you are
01:28backstage, I'm going to add, I see you already.
01:34And when you shop with Shop Essence Live, you shop directly with these Black-owned brands,
01:39okay? So you are supporting. And I'll let you... Hey, Camilla!
01:45Cheers!
01:47I love your mug. I love your mug like that.
01:51This is a Shop Essence Live mug, y'all. I will tag who it is in the comments. But you have such an
01:58incredible, inspiring story. I would love for you to share that with everyone before we get into these
02:03products.
02:04Cheers, everyone. My name is Camilla Mitchell. And I'm the owner, founder, and tea lady of Tease
02:10With Meaning. I started Tease With Meaning in 2018 after being diagnosed with cancer. And I'm just
02:16honored and grateful for this opportunity to share the magic of tea time.
02:20Oh, my goodness. And that even what you just said in that really speaks to the resilience of our
02:26entrepreneurs. A lot of people get a diagnosis like that, and it takes them out. Not only did that
02:31not take you out, but you have created this really incredible, inspiring brand that is just like
02:38helping people all over. So why don't you get into Tease With Meaning? What sets your brand apart
02:43from other teas on the market?
02:45Cheers. So Tease With Meaning, again, started in 2018 after I was diagnosed with cancer in 2017.
02:51And for me personally, I just had to learn the herbs, flowers, roots, and fruits that I need on the
03:00spiritual, the physical, and even the emotional journey of being diagnosed with cancer. Choosing to
03:06go the Western medicine route is a hard choice to make. And it's even harder for your community and
03:11family when you are diagnosed with cancer. So tea time became that magic that I needed to sit down
03:18and community to share what I needed during that time of the diagnosis, but also for me to understand
03:24what my body needed, what my mental needed, and what my spiritual needed at that time.
03:29And I'm just grateful that tea time became community time with those around me. And just having those
03:41intentional conversations and authentic experiences. And what stands Tease With Meaning apart is the magic is
03:47our main ingredient. Wow. So can you get into some of these flavors? And then also, you know, the natural
03:54ingredients you have and what properties are in those. And remember, you guys, if you're watching live,
03:59you can ask questions right here. Cheers, cheers. So I have over 20 proprietary blends,
04:07rather herbal, caffeinated, or fruit blends. Some of our popular Cheers Tea is one of our popular
04:14herbal blends. It's one of my favorites. It makes your mind, body, and spirit say cheers.
04:19And, but definitely just has the ginger and hibiscus and lapacho. And the biggest ingredient in Cheers is
04:27ginseng. And ginseng is just a natural uplifter. So with the natural uplifter, you don't need that
04:33caffeine, but it still gives you that, like I said, that little zing that says cheers to your body.
04:39Yeah. And then one of the favorite caffeinated blends is called Divinity. It's my favorite chai.
04:46Yes, I said it here first. I love chai. It's my favorite chai. So Divinity is a black tea where I sourced here
04:53in Oakland, California, where Tease With Meaning is. And I get Divinity's black tea from Oakland's
05:00Chinatown. And then I just added some cinnamon, cardamom, fresh orange slices. So yes, you can actually
05:05see in the loose leaf blends, the fresh herb. You can see the fresh fruit. You can actually see the
05:11fresh roots in the herbs. And then, and then. My thing is almost gone. So, you know.
05:19You have it in the mail. You have it in the mail, sis. Okay.
05:24One of our favorite fruit blends is winter solstice. Again, we do blends based on the season,
05:32because as we know, whatever nature provides, we want to honor that in each season. So winter
05:37solstice is like a hug and a mug for real. It's definitely like that cinnamon, that plum,
05:43that apple makes you think of the cobblers in the days with your grandparents or those that you love.
05:48So winter solstice is a popular one as well. The wellness benefits and the, they vary. And I always
05:56tell people because every body is different. So my body's different from yours and what I need
06:00different. All the wellness properties vary based off of what you need. So of course I can go into
06:07detail and let you know what ginger and lavender and chamomile and all these ingredients, what they
06:13have in regards to wellness properties. However, it all depends on what your body needs. So we have
06:19a tea for all of that. You name it, we got a tea for it.
06:23I love it. And listen, your community is live in the comments right now. Somebody said prototype
06:30is amazing. Did you talk about prototype?
06:34Prototype. Yes. So that had to be my best friend who said it. Shout out to the best friend.
06:38It is her favorite, but it sells out so fast. And in the back area, you can find it in a lot of the
06:44different restaurants and stuff here in Oakland. But prototype is rose buds, fresh saffron, ginger.
06:52So prototype is something that I made. It's one of my first teas that I made. Yes, with Andre 3000
06:58singing in the background, prototype while blending. But prototype is also huge. And one of our candles
07:06that we created with bright black candles. So we do a lot of collaboration. So prototype,
07:10you can actually see the herbs and stuff inside the candles that we have with bright black candle.
07:17And then prototype is also one of those teas that after I personally sip the tea, I'll put the tea
07:23back in my bath water. It's rose buds, it's saffron. So the multi-use of the loose leaf of the herbs,
07:30it's just, so yes, prototype. But it sells fast. Prototype sells fast. So it is a favorite,
07:36but it sells fast. Listen, so what you guys have to do right now, make sure you follow
07:41at teas with meaning. You can go to their website and shop all of their incredible teas you want to
07:47have. There's something for every mood that you're in every time of the day. I am actually drinking
07:52cool down. It's been a long week. So that is what I'm drinking. And this is just a really,
08:00really great practice of just having a moment and self care. And I feel like when I got to interview
08:06you before, something so, um, so magical about making yourself tea and preparing it and taking
08:15a moment where you have to really take some time to yourself. There's no rush in it. There's no,
08:21it's just like so intentional and making sure that you are, um, kind of taking care of your peace in
08:27that moment. Cheers. Definitely need that. So you are a member of a new voices family. I know a lot
08:37of people are asking in the comments, how can I be featured? How can I be featured? This is in
08:41partnership with this incredible organization. Can you tell them what that experience has been like
08:47for you being a part of new voices? Yeah, it's been such a, um, honor and, um, going back to the
08:54word community again. Um, teeth with meaning again, started in 2018. And since day one, I have been a
09:00part of new voice family. Um, and every one thing about being a small business owner or entrepreneur or
09:07brand owner or whatever category, um, we are now being put in new voice family honors. Everyone has
09:15their own lane. Everyone has their own goals. Um, you know, some people's goals are to be in retail
09:21stores and so on and so forth, but new voice family took the time to see what my needs were, um, who I am
09:27as, as an owner, as Camila Mitchell, um, and then what my product is. And not only have they supported
09:34it on the levels of, you know, word of mouth, but they've supported me checking in on me because again, I'm
09:41a person first. Um, and then also they challenged me to continue to push my business and spaces that I would
09:49never dream or think that I could. Um, and then third and the most is that, um, new voice family
09:57really, really provides the resources to make sure that even if your lane is different from others,
10:04that you're still growing and being, becoming sustainable. So new voice family is, it is,
10:10it's a family. Um, and I think the biggest thing for me is just honoring that every business has their
10:16own lane. Um, you know, because for me, I'm an educator first, I work in schools. And for me,
10:22I wasn't planning on being diagnosed with cancer. I wasn't planning on starting a business. And for
10:27this, um, for, for the business to grow organically from this diagnosis, um, to have support and love
10:34from day one from such, um, organization has just been a blessing.
10:38Oh, well, you are so inspiring. Um, just the fact that you were able to spin something
10:44to something that benefits us all with this incredible brand in line. And I want to thank
10:50you so much for being on here. Once again, you guys follow tees with meaning, go and shop their
10:55full line. This is a great gift for someone or a great gift for yourself. You trying to work on the
11:03soft line. You're trying to work on some self-care, get yourself some tea and slow down. Okay.
11:11Thank you. Keep shining. Thank you. Yes. Thank you so much. We will be right back with play pits coming
11:19up. Thank you.
Comments