ASLU 057: Creative Canadian Women - Product Developer and Online Retailer Debra Wong
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This week’s episode features a creative Canadian woman who truly defines the creative entrepreneurship. Meet Debra Wong, founder of Dessert by Deb, an online organic tea company and lifestyle brand where she blends her own organic teas and designs her own tea related accessories, gifts, stationery and subscription boxes.
Melissa sits down with Deb to find out how this woman who started out going to school for law and sociology (and later went on to complete a Master’s degree in sociology in magazine advertising - particularly advertising targeting women) found herself absolutely enchanted with the concept of afternoon tea while spending time with grad school friends and blogging about her dining out experiences in her city of Toronto.
While struggling with a bout of depression after losing her job and dealing with some personal challenges, Deb was wondering what was next. It was her fascination with afternoon tea inspired her to create a subscription box service known as The Sugared Tea Cup. The boxes featured teas, sweets and tea related accessories all created by local Toronto businesses. It was a love letter to the Toronto artisan scene and a taste of Toronto delivered directly to her customers - most of whom were in the US!
But it was an innocent email in her inbox that flipped things upside down and eventually led to a fateful overseas trip, the shuttering of The Sugared Tea Cup and the launch of Dessert by Deb. Now instead of selling other people’s products, Deb is making her own - from blending her own teas to designing tea related stationery and accessories. She’s even reintroduced her subscription box service - except now the teas are all her own!
This is a great episode for those who are creating (or thinking of creating) their own products or building an online retail business. We also cover the importance or doing your research and cultivating relationships, building a business that supports the life you want to live, mental health, creative resistance, building community and motivation. You won’t want to miss it!
If you just want the links to the resources mentioned in this episode, scroll down to the bottom.
Listen To the Episode
Here’s a direct link to Episode 57 . You can also listen via the player below or on your favourite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and more). Just search for And She Looked Up!
creative resistance is a message…
…sometimes the message is sit your butt down and do the work. Sometimes it’s that this isn’t the right thing for you right now. And sometimes the message is that you have some mindset work to do.
entrepreneurial challenges we cover
In this episode we talk about:
how her original blog, Ate by Ate, opened up so many doors to her and was her first step into building the critical relationships she would need when she launched her first business (it even got her her first full time job out of grad school!)
how life is not linear and being open to the different opportunities that are presented you can help you develop a rich life
why afternoon tea is so special to Deb
dealing with mental health challenges
how travel doesn’t have to take you far - you can be inspired by what’s on your doorstep if you change your perspective
how absolutely critical building and nurturing one on one relationships was to being able to launch and sustain both of her businesses.
starting small with the local Toronto market scene and selling in person was one of her biggest learning experiences and helped her work out the kinks and polish her brand and hone her marketing messages - and get comfortable with customers
it’s ok to make mistakes when you’re starting out - you’ve never been this version of yourself before! It takes time to learn the ropes.
how going live on FB Live for 365 days (The Sugared Tea Cup Diaries) helped her develop her brand and her following and paying customer base. People got to see the behind the scenes and come along for the ride as she built her business from scratch.
when to realize it’s time to let go of a business that’s no longer serving you or the life you want to live
how to build a new business that’s built around the lifestyle you want to have (be it a family, travel, education) while still being scalable, profitable and has opportunities for other growth avenues
how to get started creating your own products
experiencing creative resistance and figuring out what it means in your specific case.
you can take a job that gives you the education you need to pursue the business you want to have - that can be a step in your journey
nobody is 100% motivated every day - sometimes you have to power through and sometimes you need to rest
Mentioned In This Episode
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