When someone’s asking you business advice or asking for help with starting a business similar to yours, should you give away your secrets? Are you expected to share specific information on suppliers, manufacturers, costs etc…
When does the philosophy of “there’s room for everyone at the table”, turn into looking at your business through a profitability lens and understanding that they are your competition in a consumer market?
My Name is Angela Gilmore, creator and founder of Angel Teas, a woman owned loose-leaf herbal tea business that started off as just a personal experiment and ultimately proved to be a divine purpose. Months prior to introducing myself to the use of herbs and herbal teas, I fell into the habit of binge watching a variety of different herbalists and holistic nutritionists on YouTube and saw firsthand how beautiful the practice and lifestyle truly was. It was quite instantaneous that I found myself gaining a personal interest in herbal and holistic health. Before I knew it, I gained just the right amount of confidence in the little knowledge I’d acquired from the YouTube videos and different herbal books. At that time, I knew of only a few varieties of herbs to create Angel Teas.
One day, on my way to my local Walgreens (as I felt the symptoms of a common cold lingering within my body), I vividly remember having an impulse to choose to experiment with a holistic approach to rid my body of the sickness I felt, rather than relying on what I like to call your typical over the counter “quick fixes”. I my sudden determinacy to transition from my typical drug store run to my local natural foods and herbs store, was a sort of epiphany. This was that day I created my all-time favorite loose-leaf herbal tea blend Get Well. It not only consists of herbs specific to fighting against the symptoms of the common cold and flu, but to my surprise (being a first time loose-leaf herbal tea drinker), it worked wonders and tasted amazing when combined with lime and Agave nectar. It was at that moment I fell in love and became obsessed with herbs in general.
Going forward, I refused to rely on expensive pharmaceutical medicines as I typically had in the past, to rid my body of pain and/ or sickness. My intake of, and reliance upon pharmaceuticals made me feel guilty at times, and I found myself apologizing to my body after taking them. I was fully aware of my dependence on different common cold/flu medicines and NSAID’s (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), you know, the Advils, Tylenols, NyQuils, and Dayquils. That intense guilty, gut feeling came from a suppressed conscience I always had, knowing that most behind-the-counter drugs typically just masked illnesses (rather than completely rid the body of it), and they also often come with unwanted and scary side effects. Medicines also often contribute to many additional underlying/long-term health issues.
After witnessing how effective the Get Well herbal tea blend was for me, I developed an interest in the science behind herbs and the biological connection they had within the body when consumed. I continued to further my knowledge of herbs, create more tea blends for symptom relief and sickness aid, and began making the blends for some of my close friends and family members. Seeing how my blends of herbal teas helped them so much, the idea of creating Angel Teas was born…
The birth of Angel Teas goes far beyond just being able to experience the amazing aroma and therapeutic factors of teas. It’s the amazing aromas, therapeutic factors and the benefits that blending herbs and sipping tea to relax naturally bring me and others. Seeing and experiencing firsthand the long-term benefits of drinking my herbs, cultivated a true passion and aspiration to bring that same experience of health, healing, and overall wellness to many other individuals. I wanted to impact and reach many people, family homes, and ultimately entire communities.
Recently, the majority of individuals, specifically those in middle- and lower-class communities, have been more and more exposed to extreme and increasing health issues and complications. These issues are primarily due to the lack of decent health care, lack of decent climate and air control, and a lack of access to healthier dietary options. This void is causing an array of unnecessary health issues for younger and older individuals within our communities. It’s one of my main missions to get others to understand that these health issues are not as normal as we are led to think. Although a painful and dreadful menstrual cycle, low virility in young men, and/ or constant fatigue and sluggishness seem common in this modern-day world, none of these things should be considered natural! Increasing health issues make natural healing/ practices, proper self-care and basic knowledge look more and more impossible and less convenient. Just as it was for me at one point, our communities have become dependent on highly available pharmaceuticals and NSAID’s to rid us of (or mask) any pain and sickness we feel.
Angel Teas was founded with the vision of redirecting the mindsets of uninformed individuals and communities, by allowing them to see that we do have access to natural and holistic ways of healing. The type of healing I’m referring to isn’t a “temporary quick fix”, we’re talking long-term health for the mind, body, and soul. With the variety of tea blends I offer, I hope to have a huge impact on our community by delivering a wholesome alternative to FDA approved medicines completely. Many products in stores and available to consumers everywhere you turn, claim to cure a sickness or ailment, “help you grow your hair and nails”, “give you clearer and brighter skin”, or even “fix hormonal imbalances”… the raw truth is that most of these cure-all medicines are loaded with unnatural substances and chemicals that almost never target/fix the advertised area but instead, cause issues far beyond our knowledge. As cliché as it may sound, the earth does provide all the medicine you need.
When I say The Healing Earth Restores the Body, I absolutely mean that!
