Honouring my father’s legacy –
The Birth of Bohemian Tea Zone Ltd. Coming to North America 22 years ago, I never imaged myself opening an entrepreneur tea business that would honour my father’s legacy. My father was a Chinese medicine doctor as well as a tea master. He drank tea as a daily beverage for his entire life. He stated that tea was not only best for cleansing the human body, but also ha
s many holistic properties. Growing up in Taiwan, I used to travel with my father back and forth between Taiwan and China. Like many of the young generation, I myself ignored the Chinese tradition of drinking tea, and kept telling my father the world is changing, and there is no room for this tradition to be carried on. My father passed away when I was 21 years old. It was the hardest time in my life. As you know the story of “Dragon Dad and Tiger Mom”, I remember the day before he died, he said to me that he loved me and cried in front of me for the first time, and handed me a small box containing hand-written Chinese herbal and tea recipes. One of my regrets is that I did not thank him, instead I said “Why are you giving me these, they are garbage, I will never use them” and his last words to me were “Son, you will see”. After talking with my mom, I decided to leave Taiwan at the age of 27 and come to Boston to study Architecture. When I left, I didn’t bring the recipes with me. After graduating, I practiced architecture for 5 ½ years. In 2001, I met my first partner and 2003 relocated to Canada. After relocating, I completed my MBA from the University of Herefordshire (UK), then practiced architecture 3 ½ years, after that I went to work for the Government of Alberta for 8 years as the Manager/Acting Director of Quality, Transfusion and Transplantation. Throughout this period of time, I had also obtained several professional certifications such as ISO QMS Auditor and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt among others. During this period of 22 years, my mother passed away in Taiwan. As her executor, I returned to Taiwan to finalize her estate and upon returning to Canada, I brought back the small box of recipes that my father had given to me. As well as, my first partner and I went through a divorce. A year and half later, I met and married my current partner – Brian Pokornik, who is a US Citizen and encouraged me to pursue my dream of opening a business. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, but have had so many road blocks by so many people (i.e. my mom, first partner and friends). As you know being an entrepreneur and opening a business can be a risky endeavour, after many long, long discussions and telling Brian my past story, he suggested to me why not open a business to honour my Chinese heritage and culture as well as reflect my father’s legacy by using the Chou family recipes that my father had left me. Fast forward to 2014, Brian and I were sitting in a local coffee chain in Florida, enjoying a cup of tea. We realized most major coffee chains across the US and Canada, serve tea as a secondary choice. Most tea drinkers deal with the limited options available at a coffee shop, or they buy their teas from grocery stores or wholesale tea retailers to quench their thirst. After some research, we discovered that the perception of tea is changing and growing. According to teaUSA.org, tea consumption per capita in North America has forecasted the dollar value of tea sales, which will move from over 7 billion in 2008 to nearly 15 billion by the end of 2012, and tea sales are forecasted to double over the next 5-10 years. Moreover, the perception on tea is changing and the growing number of scientific studies suggests tea plays a role in the inhibition of many chronic human diseases. The inspiration for the company name – “Bohemian Tea Zone” struck us, one evening, when we were reading an article called "Bohemian Manifesto: A Field Guide to Living on the Edge." It inspired us to draft the first outline of a business plan for "Bohemian Tea Zone." We decided to take on an unconventional risk to open a one-of-kind tea house chain tapping into the fast growing tea industry segment in North America and around the world. Our goal is to provide the tea and non-tea drinkers with the highest quality traditional and specialty tea beverages, along with an in-house tea advisory service and entertainment, as my father always enjoyed hosting tea ceremonies in his clinic and conversing with people about different teas and brewing techniques as well as making people feel welcomed. Therefore, the store will provide a warm, upbeat, bohemian, Zen atmosphere as well as offering specialty and traditional tea beverages along with exclusive retail products and extraordinary customer service. You may be wondering why instead of calling the store a tea house, we refer to the store as a "zone" that allows the people who reside in the community a sense of belonging and creativity while allowing them the freedom to engage, involve and interact with each other, where "East meets West" just like my father’s clinic. Bohemian Tea Zone (BTeaZ) Ltd., was established in 2015, as an international tea company based in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Our vision is to make BTeaZ a socially responsible company that respects the local customs, where the store resides by making contributions to the welfare of the local community and by supporting local businesses along with charitable and civic events. This belief is built around one of company's core concepts "Globalization within Locality”, our belief is a company with a global vision takes on social responsibility by embedding and respecting local customs and by creating social space for a sense of belonging to the community where the store resides. The store design fully incorporates Chinese Feng Shui with 7 or 8 different sub-zones, as well as incorporating a traditional tea menu that changes with the seasons, and also offers an array of globally inspired tea lattes and coolers based on the Chou family recipes that my father gave to me at the Tea Bar Zone, as well as traditional tea ceremonies from around the world featuring my father’s unique brewing techniques at the Tea Expo Zone. High quality loose leaf tea can be purchased from the Retail Zone. In memory of my father’s office, the design includes a Social Network Zone (Community Zone) where the people can gather, socialize, enjoy a great cup of tea. Another zone in the store is Artist Zone, which allows local/international artists to present their art work. I might not have been able to become a doctor as my father wanted, but through our motto "Simplicity, High Quality and Best Value" I want to honour my father’s legacy by ensuring that our customers experience the best tea house enchantments and receive the best service possible around the world.
