Your Founders

Recently we had the opportunity to spend some time with a wonderful photographer Morgan Whitney who took beautiful pictures of us. After spending time with us in our home-based kitchen, E&E Tea headquarters, She was excited to hear our story and thought others would want more too! So here I am writing to our valued customers about who we are and why we love tea so much. 

Who we are 

Allow me to start from the beginning. My name is Essence Unique (you can call me Unique) and pictured next to me is my husband Shane. Shane and I met in December of 2012. We met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend. This friend knew we both needed good people in our lives and thought we’d hit it off. Boy, was she right! What she didn't know was that Shane and I had been flirting and messaging on Facebook for a year already. We didn't know who we were meeting but I was so glad it was him. Since that night, with the exclusion of my time at Bowling Green State University we have been inseparable. We’ve gone through so much together. From car accidents, being jobless, Family losses, financial issues, brain surgeries, and chronic illnesses but we’ve stayed in love and dedicated to each other, our dreams, and our goals. In addition to Tea Shane works in a local hospital and I run a non-profit organization, Enduring Minds from home. We have a crazy dog Romeo and love fishing, sitting by a fire, and listening to all types of music. 

Why Tea? 

So remember I said we've dealt with brain surgeries and chronic illnesses, well that's because I endure a chronic neurological condition called Pseudotumor Cerebri. No matter what through countless surgeries Shane was always there for me. We’ve had to endure a lot with this illness and caring for myself naturally was a part of that. During that process, we discovered our enjoyment of tea together. When we first met I drank tea but was highly addicted to coffee/caffeine. I would be on the phone with him and he would be drinking tea or sharing a cup with his grandmother and I thought it was so special. Now Shane and I drink tea together every day. While looking for the best teas for my illness and that would help us stay healthy (especially with him working in health care) we discovered loose-leaf tea. I couldn’t believe the difference in taste. My mom used to make me tea when I was sick or upset but it never tasted this good.

I became tea-obsessed. Shane came home from the hospital one day and I had enrolled in a tea sommelier and herbal studies course. Since he knows me so well, he wasn’t surprised because if I like something I want to know everything about it. Anyway, we kept buying different teas & herbs to try for ourselves, enjoying every cup, seemingly more than the last. Then I started experimenting with blends and to our surprise our family and friends enjoyed them so much. Even people who weren't huge tea drinkers liked what we created

How E&E Tea came to be

Over our daily cup of tea, after sharing our personal blends with family & friends, Shane says we should package this up and sell it. I was shocked. I laughed and said no but slept on it. When he came home the next day I already had packaging ideas and had started a business plan. I don’t know why I said no because this was a great idea!  Every culture enjoys tea in some form and that entices me. I mean tea is so versatile but still can bring people together.  Why not sell something you love, are educating yourself on, and enjoy daily? They say if you work with things you’re passionate about, you'll never work a day in your life. That’s how E&E Tea Co feels to us. It took months to get everything together, to plan and create what you enjoy. We even had to stop for a while because I had my 13th & 14th brain surgeries. But, like everything else, we didn’t let that stop us.  

The E&E name

E&E was a nickname between Shane & I that we’d use if we were being silly or had done something good. Shane made it up one day after we created a goofy freestyle song in the car. The name hangs in our kitchen. We are team E (Essence)and E(Easley) so rightfully that became the name of our company. I’m grateful we were able to start something where people can learn about tea and taste all the amazing things it has to offer. I’m grateful we’ve been able to explore and work with all the things that we’re passionate about and I'm grateful you chose us to handle your tea drinking needs. 

E&E Tea Co is more than a business, When you support our business, you’re supporting our dreams. Our dream of owning a business together, working for ourselves, and creating generational wealth for our future children. We had a dream of breaking generational curses and having something that we and our families could be proud of. With E&E Tea Co. we get to do that. We get to help people heal themselves naturally, we get to serve you and we are loving every moment of it. So enjoy your cup of tea from us, because we enjoyed making it for you. Everything we do is filled with love, love from us, between us, and a love for tea. Thank you for allowing us to provide exceptionally simple, extraordinarily delicious tea, especially for you!! 

Available on Etsy at www.eeteaco.com 

Enduring Minds The Foundation www.enduringminds.com