Speaker 1: I almost can't believe that fall has finally arrived after
Speaker 1: the summer that seemingly had no end. This autumn is
Speaker 1: so very welcome. It's such a scrumptious season, isn't it.
Speaker 1: The cooler weather, the gorgeous colors, the delicious aromas, and
Speaker 1: the flavors of thankfulness. Fall is an absolute delight to
Speaker 1: our senses. I love the golden hours, and everything is
Speaker 1: bathed in soft lights, warm soft with these nice crispy edges,
Speaker 1: just like the loaves of sour dough bread cooling on
Speaker 1: my counter. And speaking of sour dough, do you know
Speaker 1: what goes best with a slice of sour dough slathered
Speaker 1: in butter, maybe maybe drizzled with honey? Why? Esteeming mug
Speaker 1: of tea? Of course, truth be told, tea goes with
Speaker 1: just about anything that goes well with a slice of
Speaker 1: sour dough. It goes well with a piece of apple pie.
Speaker 1: A cup of tea. The right cup of tea can
Speaker 1: start your day with a smile, regardless the season. I
Speaker 1: am never far away from a mug of tea. I
Speaker 1: like to begin my mornings. I like to end my
Speaker 1: evenings clutching a hot cuppa and When the weather turns
Speaker 1: like it has now, it means I get to pull
Speaker 1: out my chunky sweaters, my well worn jeans, my cutest boots,
Speaker 1: and carry my tea mug along with me wherever I go.
Speaker 1: I have loved tea forever, forever. It's been a faithful
Speaker 1: companion since we were introduced to one another by my grandmother,
Speaker 1: Grandma Mack, who also enjoyed sitting and sipping as she
Speaker 1: caught up on her darning or a good bit of gossip.
Speaker 1: Tea has kept me company through all the celebrations and
Speaker 1: all the storms of life. I wouldn't even begin to
Speaker 1: try to guess the numbers of cups of tea I
Speaker 1: have brewed to share with those that I care about now.
Speaker 1: I'm not one to look for answers in the bottom
Speaker 1: of a tea cup, but somehow, answers balance often find
Speaker 1: me when I'm enjoying one of my favorite blends of tea.
Speaker 1: I doubt there's many folks out there that can claim
Speaker 1: they love tea as much as I do, but I
Speaker 1: do know of one one person that not only loves
Speaker 1: tea as much as I do, but loves it far more.
Speaker 1: She is a third generation teamaker, and she has quite
Speaker 1: a story to tell. It starts way way back in
Speaker 1: the nineteen forties with a grand mother who was dissatisfied
Speaker 1: with the commodity tease she could get in her New
Speaker 1: York City neighborhood. So she took an old colonial recipe
Speaker 1: and started mixing a little of this, a little of that,
Speaker 1: until she came up with something that seemed just right.
Speaker 1: The results, shared with many of her family and friends,
Speaker 1: was a spectacular hit, garnering constant comments from them all.
Speaker 1: Can you guess where we're going with this episode of
Speaker 1: Love Someone? While you go make yourself a cup of tea,
Speaker 1: I've got mine right here, and get ready for today's chat.
Speaker 1: Let me give a moment to one of the sponsors
Speaker 1: that make it possible for me to serve up all
Speaker 1: these amazing conversations that you love to drink in, and
Speaker 1: then I'll introduce today's guest. If you want to go fast,
Speaker 1: go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Speaker 1: Are That's an African proverb I've always loved It's something
Speaker 1: I believe to be true because I've seen the impact
Speaker 1: that going together brings, and it's one of the reasons
Speaker 1: I love Mercy Ships so much. They don't go at
Speaker 1: it alone. They believe in the power of together. They're
Speaker 1: all volunteer crew of doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, and housekeeping
Speaker 1: staff come together to help transform the lives of suffering
Speaker 1: people in developing nations. If you've ever wanted to make
Speaker 1: your mark on the world, this could be the moment
Speaker 1: you've been waiting for, because Mercy Ships has volunteer opportunities
Speaker 1: on their ships. We've all said one day, I'll do
Speaker 1: something to help change the world. Make that one day
Speaker 1: today and make your mark. Go to Mercy ships dot
Speaker 1: org to learn more. Cindy Bigelow is third generation, the
Speaker 1: third in her family generation president and see EO of
Speaker 1: the family owned business. Bigelow t the US market leader
Speaker 1: of specialty teas that have now produced over two billion
Speaker 1: with a b billion tea bags annually. That's a lot
Speaker 1: of bags. That is a lot of tea girlfriend. That
Speaker 1: is amazing. Bigelow Teas company, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, still
Speaker 1: one family owned Like I can't buy stock in you,
Speaker 1: I should. Cindia and your family take a mince pride
Speaker 1: in their heritage and the exponential growth the company has
Speaker 1: experienced beginning as a one product, risky venture by your grandparents,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna tell us all about them. Your family
Speaker 1: has turned this into America's leading specialty tea brand. It's
Speaker 1: also one of a group of companies that has made
Speaker 1: corporate social responsibility a core business goal in the pursuit
Speaker 1: of a positive social and environmental impact. We are going
Speaker 1: to talk with Cindy today and I asked our podcast
Speaker 1: producers when we were going through a list of of
Speaker 1: dream people that I wanted to do a podcast with.
Speaker 1: I asked them if I could do a podcast with you.
Speaker 1: And a lot of people in that meeting are thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, music artists or authors or stuff, and they're
Speaker 1: like quiet. I said, I love your energy, Cindy when
Speaker 1: when we talk last, and your commitment to excellence and
Speaker 1: your family story. It's so good. I want everybody to
Speaker 1: hear your family story and to hear your story because
Speaker 1: you blew me away. Girlfriend. You're just you're wonderful. Well,
Speaker 1: you're very very sweet about that. I will say, to
Speaker 1: sit in this seat does take a lot of energy,
Speaker 1: and I always love to thank my parents for providing
Speaker 1: me with a lot of energy. And it it works.
Speaker 1: It's it's necessary for so many reasons right too. And
Speaker 1: you know, you see what you've done in your amazing
Speaker 1: career and what it took to get there, and you
Speaker 1: can't allow yourself to get knocked down. When you get
Speaker 1: knocked down, you got to get yourself back up and
Speaker 1: figure out how to get to the next location. And
Speaker 1: I just think a positive attitude of getting there and
Speaker 1: not letting the knocks along the way, you know, make
Speaker 1: you bitter, but just make you smarter. And so I
Speaker 1: think your energy field team around you picks up and
Speaker 1: they take on that same I mean, it's just about
Speaker 1: a can do attitude. And I think, I mean, people
Speaker 1: are so surprised that we're the number one specialty T
Speaker 1: company the United States, right this female CEO, which is
Speaker 1: already relatively rare, and other companies were competing with Delila
Speaker 1: have so many of the products, and there's so much
Speaker 1: bigger than we are, and yet we keep really doing
Speaker 1: so well year after year and maintaining and growing that
Speaker 1: number one position. And I think it's what you just said,
Speaker 1: is that positive energy and we can and we do,
Speaker 1: and we just keep on going. It's good stuff, good stuff.
Speaker 1: Years ago I got to do a recording, some commercial
Speaker 1: recording in a production studio that was built in a barn,
Speaker 1: and many, many, many artists had recorded there. And for soundproofing,
Speaker 1: they had old books. They had shelves of old books.
Speaker 1: It's like you were in a library. And I asked
Speaker 1: the guy who owned it. I said, why the old books.
Speaker 1: He said, well, number one, they are great soundproofing material.
Speaker 1: And number two, he said, I believe all the love
Speaker 1: that was poured into those books while they were written
Speaker 1: exists and goes into our music and our production. And
Speaker 1: when I met you last and you were talking about
Speaker 1: your grandparents and talking about the story of Bigelot, I
Speaker 1: knew why you're number one. It's the same theory as
Speaker 1: the old books. Every word you spoke to me when
Speaker 1: we talked was infused with love, not just for the
Speaker 1: tea and the process and how you have people that
Speaker 1: go out and source things that are environmentally good and
Speaker 1: good for your body. It was the love I could
Speaker 1: see on your face. I could hear it in your
Speaker 1: voice for what you do and what you bring to
Speaker 1: the world. You know, I think it is important that
Speaker 1: we all sort of have what I'd like to call
Speaker 1: a greater purpose. And in my case, I love making
Speaker 1: a tea bag, and I love tea and I could
Speaker 1: not be more proud of every one of those two
Speaker 1: billion bags. But it's really about recognizing that you have
Speaker 1: an opportunity to make even a greater impact on people's
Speaker 1: lives that work with you, on the community around you,
Speaker 1: and on those that are enjoying your product. And I
Speaker 1: really again just try to instill that with everyone I
Speaker 1: work with, is that our purpose is higher. It's to
Speaker 1: make a difference every day, um to everyone we touch
Speaker 1: and see, and and how are we making the world
Speaker 1: a little bit better every day by the things that
Speaker 1: we do? And so I think that's how I just
Speaker 1: try to run the company. And I'm so appreciative of
Speaker 1: the people that work for me because I can tell you,
Speaker 1: in my position, I'm only one person, and it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter even how good you are. I hope you are
Speaker 1: good and this position, but it's really the work is
Speaker 1: done by all those around you, the heavy heavy lifting.
Speaker 1: And so it's just really about making sure that I
Speaker 1: am taking time to let them know how much I
Speaker 1: appreciate it, how amazing I think they are, and how
Speaker 1: it's there they're the reason why the company is doing
Speaker 1: so well, yeah, it's important. I think all of us,
Speaker 1: I know whatever, and entertainment service and consumer goods. It's
Speaker 1: about appreciating and respecting what you're doing and why you're doing,
Speaker 1: and again having a greater purpose. Not that a tea
Speaker 1: bag isn't a great purpose. I love a tea bag.
Speaker 1: They're awesome. So tell tell us the story. Share the
Speaker 1: story that you shared with me about your grandma, about
Speaker 1: her tenastity. She's like, no, I ain't drinking this inferior crap.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do something better. Well, she truly was the
Speaker 1: definition of an entrepreneur. And I actually get very uncomfortable
Speaker 1: when they have me lecture on being an entrepreneur, because
Speaker 1: I clearly say, Delilah, Oh, my grandmother was an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1: I am third generation running a business, and I'd like
Speaker 1: to say I do it well, but she really just
Speaker 1: had a different way of doing things. First of all,
Speaker 1: way back when, right early nineteen hundreds, she is an
Speaker 1: interior designer. That's already unusual, and she's got amazing clients
Speaker 1: in the city. And the depression hits, she loses everything,
Speaker 1: I mean everything. I had to move to an inn
Speaker 1: in New York in a room. So she went from
Speaker 1: being a successful interior designer, which I've I've never heard
Speaker 1: of a woman doing that back at the turn of
Speaker 1: the century. You know, after the turn of the century,
Speaker 1: they went from probably a very comfortable lifestyle, very very
Speaker 1: to nothing. And so she then decides she now wants
Speaker 1: to get into consumer goods. And I read her notes.
Speaker 1: She was a copious writer, and in her note she says,
Speaker 1: I want a business for my family. Think about that,
Speaker 1: how beautiful it is. I want something from my husband
Speaker 1: and my son that we can maybe do together. And
Speaker 1: I want to be in consumable because I wanted up
Speaker 1: to come back over and over. I don't want to
Speaker 1: be imperishable, because it's all that's associated with perishable. And
Speaker 1: I don't think there's a good tea in the United States.
Speaker 1: Everyone's drinking sort of a plain black tea. I think
Speaker 1: we can do a lot better than that. She finds
Speaker 1: this old colonial recipe with a friend of hers, Mrs
Speaker 1: Neelie and Ruth, my grandmother, works on it, works on it,
Speaker 1: works on it, and launches this specialty to the first
Speaker 1: one in the United States of America. And it was
Speaker 1: so tough in her starting days. Um it was almost
Speaker 1: a miracle that we're here where we are because nobody
Speaker 1: wanted her product. They didn't even know what she was
Speaker 1: talking about. But it was through good people around her
Speaker 1: that tenacity, never take, no positive attitude getting past those hurdles.
Speaker 1: And today you know it's still one of our top ten.
Speaker 1: How did she get past the hurdle of being a
Speaker 1: woman in the business world. She must have busted down
Speaker 1: some pretty big doors. Well, I will tell you, and
Speaker 1: I'm answering a question without ever asking her, right, So
Speaker 1: I'm telling you what I think. But I would say
Speaker 1: a little bit in her case ignorance was bliss. And
Speaker 1: I'll say the same thing for myself, was a little
Speaker 1: bit of ignorance that it doesn't matter that you're a woman.
Speaker 1: You're getting to the other side of this field. And
Speaker 1: I would say in her case, she just put in
Speaker 1: the hour, she talked to the people. She was relentless
Speaker 1: writing notes, phone calls, visits that if there was one,
Speaker 1: you know, one more weight, she just added it on
Speaker 1: and kept going across the field another way. So I
Speaker 1: think it was ignorance is bliss. You were not going
Speaker 1: to be stopped. You never thought about the fact you're
Speaker 1: a woman, you just said, I've got to get to
Speaker 1: the other side. So she would visit stores and they
Speaker 1: would say, no, we don't want your product, and she'd
Speaker 1: find one customer to talk to and they would give
Speaker 1: her a nugget what to do, and she would talk
Speaker 1: to one account that was carrying it, and she just
Speaker 1: would add these nuggets upon nuggets to eventually be able
Speaker 1: to get a lit it a little bit further down
Speaker 1: that pathway. This t this blend, this colonial recipe, what
Speaker 1: do we call it today? Constant comment tee, I mean it,
Speaker 1: there you go. It's so love her tenacity. It was
Speaker 1: just it was just tenacity. It was whenever hurdle was
Speaker 1: in front of you either had to figure out how
Speaker 1: to get around it or get over it. And and
Speaker 1: I would say that that's very much my attitude today
Speaker 1: was my father's attitude. Is it okay, that's fine, that's
Speaker 1: a new hurdle. And my team will tell you all
Speaker 1: the time, Fine, that's a hurdle. Now what are we
Speaker 1: gonna do to get around that? Like, we don't need
Speaker 1: to spend a lot of time wallowing about it. Let's
Speaker 1: get to the next level. And I'm sure that's the
Speaker 1: way she was so third generation. You told me a
Speaker 1: sweet story last time about the mixing of this particular tea.
Speaker 1: The constant comment. I just I have the picture in
Speaker 1: my mind as you payment that picture for me. So
Speaker 1: my parents, which really have run the business, you know,
Speaker 1: until they've turned it over to me in two thousand
Speaker 1: in five, right, So that are amazing run expanded the line.
Speaker 1: They put us in foil in the whole nine yards. Anyway,
Speaker 1: they're the only ones at ninety two and ninety four
Speaker 1: that make constant comment. The mix it's the mixes, the
Speaker 1: secret recipe that makes constant comments so amazing. Nothing like it.
Speaker 1: And so I took over in two thousand five, and
Speaker 1: I had been in the company for twenty five years
Speaker 1: or twenty years whatever, And I was like, don't you
Speaker 1: think I should learn how to make the recipe? It's time, mom.
Speaker 1: I know you're not like fifteen years old at this point.
Speaker 1: You are an accomplished businesswoman taking over a multimillion dollar
Speaker 1: family company. Yeah, I'm fifty years old at this point.
Speaker 1: I think I proved my track. But I've beenished since
Speaker 1: I was thirty. So she goes, Okay, let's just not
Speaker 1: make a big deal about it. Let's have you come up.
Speaker 1: So up we go, and they teach me what they're doing.
Speaker 1: And when you say up, you actually go up on
Speaker 1: a platform described the platform. Yeah, you actually go up
Speaker 1: to our our little lab up there, our little blending room,
Speaker 1: special room that says only you know, authorized personnel. I
Speaker 1: have to go upstairs to get there. You know, you
Speaker 1: go behind these locks. Now then mom have to give
Speaker 1: you a pass or something to to prove that you
Speaker 1: were authorized personnel. They had opened the door. That's how
Speaker 1: I got in. So they bring me up. They teach
Speaker 1: me how to do it. And this time, because I'm fifty,
Speaker 1: I didn't have that mentality that I might have had
Speaker 1: when I was thirty, like how do I save a step?
Speaker 1: What do I need to do to make it more efficient?
Speaker 1: Can I cut this out? At this time, at fifty,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, I want to honor
Speaker 1: everything they're doing, how they're doing it, the timer that
Speaker 1: they're using. I'm gonna do everything like they did. I
Speaker 1: really just wanted to kind of understand and live the
Speaker 1: world that they've been doing for so many years. So
Speaker 1: I finished making the blend. I'm very excited me my
Speaker 1: first batch of constant comment mix, and my mom's just
Speaker 1: just just just keep it low, kising it though, don't
Speaker 1: make a big deal. Well, meanwhile, this company is very close.
Speaker 1: Everyone knew I had gone up there. Everyone see me
Speaker 1: that I'd gone behind these closed doors. I got down
Speaker 1: your eyed emails, messages, phone calls, everyone going, ah, she
Speaker 1: finally knows how to make constant comment. So it was
Speaker 1: very very sweet. I never told my mother. The whole
Speaker 1: company now knew I know how to make it. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a family company. I can tell you that for sure.
Speaker 1: Now are you the constant comment person? Now do you
Speaker 1: go in it? And and and are you the one that
Speaker 1: does it? Now? Is that your job? Excuse me? They
Speaker 1: are still around making constant comments and ninety two nine
Speaker 1: before they put their lab coats on. One says Mrs Biggielow,
Speaker 1: the other says Mr B. Actually, Mrs B and Mr B.
Speaker 1: They go up behind closed doors and they still come
Speaker 1: in twice a week and they make the mix true story. Oh,
Speaker 1: do me a favor, Cindy before the next visit. I
Speaker 1: know you can't go behind the well, you can go
Speaker 1: behind the closed doors. Nobody else can. But while before
Speaker 1: they go behind the closed doors, when they got the
Speaker 1: lap coats on Mr b ms is be Will you
Speaker 1: please take a photo for me so we can put
Speaker 1: it on our website and our Facebook page with this
Speaker 1: story because I love this. I mean that life goals.
Speaker 1: Life goals at ninety two and ninety four, to still
Speaker 1: be doing what I love to do. My daughter, I
Speaker 1: have a Delilah Jr. Who's twelve. She wants to take
Speaker 1: over the microphone. She says, Mom, think about it. They
Speaker 1: won't even have to recut the jingles because we got
Speaker 1: the same name. She is ready to take over the microphone.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna be kind of like your mom. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: you can do you can take a few calls, but
Speaker 1: let's keep this on the down. But yeah, she's she's
Speaker 1: ready to put on the headphones and step in my chair. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but you know what, what an honor. I think that's
Speaker 1: so sweet. I mean I always say like, if you're
Speaker 1: a doctor and then your kid they want to be
Speaker 1: a doctor because they saw you, you know, and what
Speaker 1: you do. She sees it and goes, I love what
Speaker 1: my mom does. I want to do you that too.
Speaker 1: I mean, how does that make you feel? I I
Speaker 1: think that's amazing, very very proud because I have a
Speaker 1: lot of kids before her. In fact, one of my daughter's, Lonnie,
Speaker 1: is one of our top producers at the studio. That
Speaker 1: is so sweet. And that's when I try to say
Speaker 1: to so many people, we have so many gifts to give,
Speaker 1: right and the gift of sharing and listening and helping
Speaker 1: and supporting. I mean, what a great gift that is.
Speaker 1: And that's something that she wants to really pursue. It's
Speaker 1: that's a that's a very sweet message. Okay. So in
Speaker 1: addition to constant comment, what is one of your other
Speaker 1: favorite teas you guys do because you do these healthy
Speaker 1: blends now, all this healthy good stuff. Well, I always
Speaker 1: like to say in my world, my different teas are
Speaker 1: like my children. So I have a hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: so I can't have any favorites, but I do have
Speaker 1: some go toos, like the one I'm having right now
Speaker 1: is the botanical Strawberry Lemon, orange blossom. And I think it's,
Speaker 1: like you said, it's just designing products that are just
Speaker 1: good for you. And this the tea that I'm drinking always. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't drink enough water. I just don't period hard stop.
Speaker 1: So I created this line. We create this line of
Speaker 1: these botanicals where you just take the tea bag, put
Speaker 1: it in cold water, let it infuse, and it becomes
Speaker 1: as a gentle, healthy, just water infused flavor of whatever
Speaker 1: the six flavors are. So I drink that a lot.
Speaker 1: I must drink sixty of water a day now because
Speaker 1: I use the big o little botanicals. But you know
Speaker 1: from the hot I I mix it up. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you do too, right. You said you drink a lot
Speaker 1: of different bigeltle teas. Do you go from herbal to
Speaker 1: green to black teas? I start with black. I I
Speaker 1: have at least two or three cups, so you're black
Speaker 1: constant comment or um one of the blacks in the morning.
Speaker 1: But I have to stop by three or four o'clock otherwise,
Speaker 1: you know, I can't get to sleep at night, and
Speaker 1: I've got kids in school. So here in the studio,
Speaker 1: I've been doing the botanicals. But I love your your
Speaker 1: ginger lemon lemon ginger leon. Oh my gosh, Delilah. That
Speaker 1: is the number one selling specially tea in United States
Speaker 1: of America. It has probiotic But we're one of the few,
Speaker 1: if not only, that put a legitimate amount of probiotic
Speaker 1: in that cup. So within three cups, you're trying to
Speaker 1: really build the benefit of that probiotic. And the consumers
Speaker 1: must know because we put it on the shelf and
Speaker 1: it is off the shelf like that. And I kiddingly
Speaker 1: say to my team because it is so much probiotic,
Speaker 1: and probotic is so expensive, this is a tea that
Speaker 1: we really don't make much on. And when we first launched,
Speaker 1: it was more like a lost leader. It's okay, how
Speaker 1: much tea can we ever sell of it? And now
Speaker 1: every time another account takes lemon ginger, I go, no, no,
Speaker 1: that's got our's lowest margins. But it's so good. It's
Speaker 1: so good. Four or five years ago, I got into
Speaker 1: making my own kombucha, and uh, that's when I discovered
Speaker 1: your lemon ginger. It makes the best kob really. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that is such a popular thing. So you like
Speaker 1: your own? You do not buy a bottle? Do you
Speaker 1: like to make your own? I do like to make
Speaker 1: my own. I have a cupboard. Um, that's got a
Speaker 1: light in the cupboard. When I rebuilt this house, the
Speaker 1: house was built in I had to add more rooms
Speaker 1: because it was only, like, you know, two thousand square
Speaker 1: feet and I had like ten kids at home at
Speaker 1: the time. So but I used all old materials and
Speaker 1: I found this old cupboard that fit into this little nook,
Speaker 1: so I had it built in with a light in it.
Speaker 1: So it's a little bit warmer inside the cupboard with
Speaker 1: the light on, and it's the perfect temperature to brew kombucha.
Speaker 1: I'm very impressed in general, right, because that's a lot
Speaker 1: of work to do. That you do the work, you
Speaker 1: stay on top of it, and you enjoy it. I
Speaker 1: am so and like I have no imagination that area.
Speaker 1: I don't spend any time. That's why, like for me
Speaker 1: even to drink water, all I gotta do is I
Speaker 1: gotta stick a tea bag in there you go, there
Speaker 1: you go. Now I can get my sixty ounces of water.
Speaker 1: Not a lot of creativity and a lot of energy
Speaker 1: from that perspective on my I'm gonna have to remind
Speaker 1: my girlfriend Kim, because she will not drink plain water.
Speaker 1: She'll drink corn water, she'll drink tea. But I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna have to gift her because I got a bunch
Speaker 1: of your botanicals. I'm gonna gift her that you give
Speaker 1: me her address, I'll happily send you some to her
Speaker 1: as well. And I'll tell it's unbelievable how much water
Speaker 1: you will drink. I don't I actually don't understand it.
Speaker 1: It's a little freaky. So let's have a meeting. If
Speaker 1: you put a glass of water in front of me.
Speaker 1: At the end of that meeting to or three r meeting,
Speaker 1: not a sip has been taken out of that glass
Speaker 1: of water. If you put a botanical in it, I
Speaker 1: will fill that glass up three times in that same
Speaker 1: time frame. Well, it's because the botanicals there. They taste good.
Speaker 1: It's not a sweet product. It's not a heavily flavored product.
Speaker 1: It's just a light, gentle botanical infusion. And I don't
Speaker 1: know why I drink so much of it. I can't
Speaker 1: tell you because your tongue says, this tastes good, And
Speaker 1: when you drink water, it's like this is blam, this
Speaker 1: is boring, this is water. Totally agree. Yeah, this cup
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Speaker 1: what's what's next? Um? You know, for me, it's just
Speaker 1: really recognizing that we need to stay where the consumer
Speaker 1: is going. UM, I will tell you that this. You know,
Speaker 1: COVID obviously has had a tremendous impact globally nationally and uh,
Speaker 1: I always say to my team, we need to look
Speaker 1: for what are the positive lessons that we have learned
Speaker 1: from COVID, and t has been what I would call
Speaker 1: the COVID positive and that is because people have recognized,
Speaker 1: as you have known for a long time, it's so
Speaker 1: good for me. I need to do that. I need
Speaker 1: to put more good things to my body. I need
Speaker 1: to help prevent viruses naturally. So from a good news perspective,
Speaker 1: our product is very much in demand right now. So
Speaker 1: if you're feeling like, you know, maybe folks shouldn't be
Speaker 1: getting the lemon gender so much, you know, like you said, um,
Speaker 1: that's not going to help, because probiotics are the best
Speaker 1: things for your gut health, so you can fight off diseases.
Speaker 1: You know, the best thing you can do for yourself
Speaker 1: is make sure your body is as healthy as it
Speaker 1: can be in probiotics. People don't get this, you know,
Speaker 1: when you say I got a feeling in the pit
Speaker 1: of my gut, that's because gut health is so important.
Speaker 1: It is. Actually, we had a natural path and nutritionist
Speaker 1: here talking to the team and they talked about like
Speaker 1: it really starts with the gut and if you keep
Speaker 1: your gut healthy, how healthy your body is overall. So
Speaker 1: that's what you know, where what our future looks like
Speaker 1: is making sure we're staying with what's real, not just
Speaker 1: what sounds good on paper and staying with what's available,
Speaker 1: how can we get it to consumers and in a
Speaker 1: tea bag. At this point, we do look for things
Speaker 1: that are outside the tea bag and just staying on
Speaker 1: trend and also staying aligned with how consumers want to
Speaker 1: get their product right, Like a lot of people now
Speaker 1: are sitting at home and doing a lot of shopping
Speaker 1: from home, right, so we need to make sure our
Speaker 1: our systems. We have three manufacturing facilities Idaho, Kentucky, and Connecticut,
Speaker 1: and just make sure those facilities are also geared towards
Speaker 1: the new way that people want to get their products.
Speaker 1: So I think our future looks pretty good. We're actually
Speaker 1: building a brand new facility in Louisville, two hundred thousand
Speaker 1: square foot facility down there. WHOA, yeah, yeah, it's big.
Speaker 1: We just about twenties something acres. Same thing here in Connecticut.
Speaker 1: So we're blessed. It's it's it's a business that's focused
Speaker 1: on tea, but it's a product that is so healthy.
Speaker 1: People see that, and it's just got the wonderful fingerprints
Speaker 1: of being a family company, which I don't know, it
Speaker 1: means we're not really greedy. We're happy, growing three four
Speaker 1: or five six percent a year. That's a great number
Speaker 1: for us year after year, and I just think we're
Speaker 1: poised to continue our success for the next hopefully many
Speaker 1: many years to come. Amen to that, because I want
Speaker 1: to be enjoying their team for many many years to come. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have to say, you know, like when I look
Speaker 1: at the people, they trust me, right. They know as
Speaker 1: a family business, so many companies are selling out and uh,
Speaker 1: and for many reasons. I'm not blaming that. I'm just
Speaker 1: saying that's a fact. And for us. You know, my
Speaker 1: team looks at me and they say, she's not gonna
Speaker 1: do that, right, because it's the first thing you said.
Speaker 1: It's about the love of the business. It's about the
Speaker 1: love of what I do. It's about the love of
Speaker 1: who I work with. And they look at me, No,
Speaker 1: I can commit to this company. I can make my
Speaker 1: career here because I know this is a family company
Speaker 1: that's going to continue and continue. And she's not going
Speaker 1: to sell out because she offered X number of dollars. Uh.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's not about the dollars. It's really about
Speaker 1: making a difference. Cindy, thank you, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for spending this time with us. I'm gonna go fix
Speaker 1: myself another cup of Biggielot. You know something that thrills
Speaker 1: my heart. I have a t drawer in my kitchen
Speaker 1: that has little dividers and is filled with tea. And
Speaker 1: then on top of the tea drawer, I have a
Speaker 1: tea box that you gifted me that has your tease
Speaker 1: in it. So we've got like every imaginable blend of
Speaker 1: tea available in our tea drawer and in the tea
Speaker 1: box that sets on, you know, on top of the counter,
Speaker 1: taking up counterspace above the tea drawer because I can't
Speaker 1: cram enough teas in the tea drawer. But you know,
Speaker 1: I got a big family, and not a single one
Speaker 1: of my children who live at home right now ever
Speaker 1: go to the coffee pot and make coffee wow all day.
Speaker 1: Every day. They go to the tea drawer and they
Speaker 1: pull out the tea drawer and they're like mom, Mom, Mom,
Speaker 1: and there's like a panic because they can't find whatever
Speaker 1: it is, you know, that they're looking for. At the time,
Speaker 1: I have to say I have a tea drawer as well.
Speaker 1: And in addition to sending you a photo and you
Speaker 1: can imagine my tea drawer only has Bigelow te in
Speaker 1: it in addition to the picture of Mrs B and
Speaker 1: Mr Be in their lab coats. I'm definitely send you
Speaker 1: a picture of my tea drawer. Send me a picture
Speaker 1: of your tea drawer, sending Bigielow. Thank you for being
Speaker 1: with me. I love someone, and uh, I just I
Speaker 1: appreciate you so much, and I think that you are.
Speaker 1: I think young women today have such crazy, unhealthy role models,
Speaker 1: you know, social media, all that nonsense that gives them
Speaker 1: such a skew perspective of what a powerful woman looks like.
Speaker 1: And you are, in my mind, what a strong, powerful
Speaker 1: woman looks like. You're not going to sell out, You're
Speaker 1: not going to compromise. You operate from a place of love.
Speaker 1: You operate from a place of social responsibility. You operate
Speaker 1: from a place of a history of goodness. And I
Speaker 1: just wanted to say thank you for that. Thank you.
Speaker 1: That's very sweet to hear. It's nice. You know, you
Speaker 1: run as fast as you can, and every once in
Speaker 1: a while you're got to sit back from it and
Speaker 1: hear the words you just said. And I mean a lot,
Speaker 1: trust me, I mean a lot. Thank you all right,
Speaker 1: God bless you. I'm gonna definitely try to come busy
Speaker 1: you okay, I'm gonna hold you to it. Have a
Speaker 1: lovely day. Thanks again. I Cindy was born into the
Speaker 1: business of tea, the growing, the curing, blending, packaging, marketing
Speaker 1: of this product. Of her product, She's passionate about creating
Speaker 1: and delivering tea blends the folks like you and I
Speaker 1: just take for granted. We know the perfect blend for
Speaker 1: every occasion is simply waiting for us. Producing two billion
Speaker 1: tea bags annually. The Bigelow Team line includes more than
Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty varieties of tea flavored, traditional, green, herbal, decaffeoated,
Speaker 1: Bigelow Benefits, wellness teas, and the Bigelow Botanical cold water
Speaker 1: infusions that she was talking about. You can check out
Speaker 1: their website Triple W dot Bigelow t dot com for
Speaker 1: more of the Bigelow family story for lots of information
Speaker 1: on their business and their products, and if you ever
Speaker 1: find yourself in Fairfield, Connecticut, don't be surprised if you
Speaker 1: run into Cindy elbow deep in one of her many
Speaker 1: community service projects. When she's not making sure you're getting
Speaker 1: the best cup of tea of your life. For out
Speaker 1: trying to make her community in world a better place.
Speaker 1: She's skiing or playing tennis, or spending time with her kids,
Speaker 1: her family, her friends, her parents, and like me, rarely
Speaker 1: without a mug of tea nearby. Today's conversation reminds me
Speaker 1: how fortunate we are that Ruth Bigelow had a yearning
Speaker 1: one day. That first blend of hers received constant comments
Speaker 1: like so many more that would come crafted by her
Speaker 1: children and now her grandchildren. Tea warms our tummies, and
Speaker 1: its magical properties warm our hearts as well. It brings
Speaker 1: people together, and it's an unsung hero, helping words and
Speaker 1: emotions escape from places they've been stuffed or stifled, opening
Speaker 1: doors to communication, creating opportunities for bonding, bringing comfort and
Speaker 1: a sense of belonging to those sharing special moments over
Speaker 1: a steaming brew of tea. I hope you've enjoyed today's
Speaker 1: episode and getting to know Cindy as much as I have.
Speaker 1: I love that woman, I truly do. Keep the water
Speaker 1: kettle on and join me on the airwaves tonight and
Speaker 1: every night, where we'll share more stories from the heart
Speaker 1: and share a cup of teeth,