A Taste of Morocco Here at Home
By Charla on Jun 7 Filed In Clayton Christopher, Sweet Consumers, Uncategorized 2 Comments
One of the best parts about being on the tea’m at Sweet Leaf HQ, is getting to hear from fans who take the time to tell us why they love a particular Sweet Leaf flavor. Sometimes it’s a simple note in our inbox, sometimes it’s a phone call to the hotline. And lately, we’ve even received some fan love via Tweets. Because these quotes make our day, we decided we ought to share a few here from time to time. Maybe it will make you smile, too.
One of the recent fan quotes we received was so on the money, I thought it would be a perfect way to kick-off our sharing the love fest.
“Ever since I went to Morocco, I have been trying to recreate the taste of their sweet mint tea. After trying your tea, I felt myself transported back to the rolling hills of the Sahara desert… You have no idea how refreshed and happy I felt, despite it being a hot Arizona day. You have done a great job with this tea. Thank you. ” — Claire, AZ
The truth is Claire, the idea for our Sweet Leaf Tea Mint & Honey WAS found while Clayton and David were on a bike tour through Morocco. I guess it’s true that inspiration can come from anywhere. Thank you for the extra reassurance that we nailed it. Yee-haw!
Dear Sweet Leaf Tea fans
By Charla on Mar 29 Filed In Clayton Christopher, Sweet Leaf Tea Company News, Uncategorized 3 Comments
We wanted to let you in on a bit of news. As of this week, we have a new CEO at Sweet Leaf Tea. This does of course mean that Clayton Christopher, one of our founders, is stepping down as CEO, but not to worry…Clayton will still be a part of the company as he takes a place on our board. He has put his heart, sweat and as we all know, Granny’s recipe, into building the Sweet Leaf Tea brand—and thank goodness for that! But, as any entrepreneur knows, there comes a time when one must take a break and catch his (in this case) breath. For all of us here in Austin, this just means we’ll be spotting Clayton a bit more on Town Lake or Barton Springs this summer. (You can still follow him on Twitter @Idea_Clayton to see where the open road takes him on his travels.)
So, who is our new CEO? Well, we didn’t have to look too far for him. Dan Costello has been a part of the tea’m for over a year. And this certainly isn’t his first rodeo. He’s bringing years of beverage experience with him. Something we all believe will come in handy.
In fact, I can officially report that we, the tea’mates and dogs of Sweet Leaf Tea, have taking a liking to Dan. He survived the muddiest of ACL’s this year with a smile, he likes to jam out in the car, and he’s even worn flip-flops to the office (at least once!). But most importantly, he’s been leading the charge to get Sweet Leaf Tea closer to you. We are very proud to have him in the Sweet Leaf Tea family and expect great things for the future.
It’s an exciting time here at Sweet Leaf Tea HQ, and we’re glad you’re a part of it! We’ve got a lot of cool things in the works. From new flavors to new packages and upcoming contests….yes, the sweetest is yet to come.
Thanks for being a fan!
Bowl for Kids’ Sake
By Charla on Feb 25 Filed In Activities, Austin, Texas, Clayton Christopher, Events, Uncategorized Add a Comment
Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of those organizations that is near and dear to our hearts at Sweet Leaf Tea. Many of us are Bigs including Clayton who has been a Big for several years. I’m just a year in myself, but I can honestly say I feel like it’s a very rewarding experience to have a Little. And truthfully, it’s a whole lot of fun.
Me and My Little
The thing about Big Brothers Big Sisters, is like many non-profits, they need help from time to time to keep helping those little people in our lives who need it most. Their big fund raising event for the year besides the Ice Ball Gala is Bowl for Kids’ Sake. Seeing that, we the tea’m-mates of Sweet Leaf Tea are always down for a rockin’ good time, we’re lacing up our shoes, shining our glittery rollers, and heading out to Highland Lanes in Austin, Texas this weekend to win some Turkeys. Now, even if we don’t bring home the trophy (I’ve been known to roll some strikes, though), I’m positive Bowl for Kids’ Sake will be a happening event—and certainly, one that Sweet Leaf Tea is proud to support. If you’re not on a team, have no fear. It’s never too late to show support by donating to the cause. The Littles appreciate it more than you can imagine!
I’ll report back on our scores….
The Sweetest Internship Ever
By Guest on Sep 14 Filed In Austin, Texas, Intern 2 Comments
-Post by Kyle Lloyd, Intern-Rock Star
Over the past several years, Sweet Leaf Tea has been my (non-alcoholic) drink of choice anywhere that I can find it. I remember reading the story on the label about how Clayton and David started the company and being amazed to see how far they’ve come. As the years have progressed, I’ve started to see Sweet Leaf Tea almost everywhere! I can buy it on campus, at gas stations, in the grocery store, at restaurants, etc. I was even able to get one while I was visiting LA! As a side note, Mango Green Tea is my favorite, YUM! What is your favorite?
I originally moved to Austin from the small exurb town of Marble Falls in January of 2004. I thought I knew what to expect, but I was completely wrong! This city is one of the most amazing places in this country. It’s a blue dot in a sea of red – without being too extreme. It’s full of vegetarians that eat meat, runners that smoke cigarettes, Prius owners that also own SUVs, a homeless transsexual that ran for mayor, hipsters that listen to country music, and original hippies that now work for the state. It’s a very “weird” and unique city and everyone here is welcomed to be the person that they truly are. What more could I possibly ask for?
I was never interested in following the traditional path of dorm-apartment-house-graduate. In fact, I have never been interested in doing anything traditional. I moved into my own apartment and began taking my basic courses. I started business school at Texas State in 2008. I’ve always known that I wanted to go to business school, because I’ve inherited the entrepreneurial spirit from generations on both sides of my family. I took my first marketing class with Prof. Murdoch at the beginning of 2008 and I was hooked!
>>FLASH FORWARD<<
I was sitting in a meeting this summer (2009) for my organization, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), and Prof. Vicki West presented us with an opportunity for a marketing internship at Sweet Leaf in Austin. This was too good to be true! I sped home, typed up a cover letter expressing my incalculable interest in the internship, and sent it away to Happy Mercado. Before I knew it, he offered me an interview and I nearly flipped my weave! The interview went extremely well and the three days I had to wait for a response seemed like an eternity!
I GOT IT!!! The first day, Happy introduced me to all the wonderful people that work in the office, and I knew that I was going to fit right in. They are all so warm and welcoming, including the CEO, Clayton and David the Co-Founder. I am on the 4th day of the semester long internship and it’s everything that I expected, plus some!
Last Saturday was my first event, the Lone Star Karate open (pictures below, I’m in the tan polo). Since I truly believe in the product, I naturally had no problem with teaching people about all the flavors, product attributes, Sweet Leaf’s history, and places for them to purchase the product. I even had one woman tell me, “You honestly just made my day! I am diabetic and I love sweet tea, but I have been unable to drink it. I was not aware of your product until now, but I can assure you I will be purchasing the Diet Original from now on – it tastes exactly like the real thing! Thanks you guys!”
I know that this internship is going to change my views about what working for a genuine company is all about. Every time I come in to work, there is always something new and different for me to work on. In fact, last Friday I helped out doing some demos at store grand openings and on Labor Day, I was at the Austin Triathlon promoting our products. Did I see you there? Keep checking back in to hear about all the exciting things that will be going on here at Sweet Leaf!
Coolest Party in Town: Ice Ball Gala for Big Brothers Big Sisters
By Emily on Aug 28 Filed In Austin, Texas, Events 2 Comments
It was just another hot night in Austin last Saturday, but the coolest party in Austin was taking place at the Austin Music Hall– Helping Austin’s Ice Ball Gala benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters. Big Brothers Big Sisters, the largest youth mentoring program, is a cause that is near and dear to the hearts of Sweet Leaf Tea and its employees because several of us are “Bigs.”
Clayton Christopher, our Founder/CEO who is a veteran “big” himself, was in charge of rounding up sponsorships and finding us a great venue. I am a novice “big” and was in charge of the finances/budgeting for the event. Ashley Montgomery, our art director and “Big”, showed her support by lending us her expertise with some of our marketing materials. Several other Sweet Leaf employees came to the event dressed to impressed, which is a rare occasion since we all just wear jeans and t-shirts around the office.
Sweet Leaf Tea was a bronze sponsor of the gala and also provided one of the auction items – a lifetime supply of Sweet Leaf Tea, which along with some other “local” products, sold for over $2000! The auction raised over $100,000, and Clayton even bid and won a swimming pool and a trip to Sante Fe. I’m sure we’re all invited, ya right.
The party had all the elements and some that might remind you of college: we had ice luges, an ice podium, a wine toss, an 80s band – the Space Rockers, and some incredible food vendors including Cru, Kona Grill, Moonshine, Z Tejas, Good Seed, Fion, and Hey Cupcake. (If Sweet Leaf had thrown the party, the wine toss would have been our branded beer pong table). Above all, everyone had a good time and left with a warm fuzzy feeling (not just from the alcohol) for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
I was lucky to have been able to work with such a great group of people within the Helping Austin organization and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Austin, and we will make next year’s Ice Ball Gala even cooler!!! Ice Ice Baby…
