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Origin Story
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It all started in Guatemala …
The story of EE Trading Co. wouldn’t be a story without the story of Love & Tea, one of the indigenous women owned-and-led brands we proudly source from. Rachael, who was born in Iowa (which prior to colonization and genocide were the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and Báxoje Máyaⁿ territories) and María, who is an indigenous Quich’e Mayan woman and farmer, met while working on the same team for a soil conservation project in Guatemala. Rachael and María connected immediately, over their love of cheese, love for the outdoors, love of laughter, and their outspoken natures. Even when Rachael moved to Rwanda for a new job, the two stayed in touch and began scheming of doing something new and different. They were both tired of facing discrimination in the workplace and saw that they weren’t the only onces facing discrimination - but that most Indigenous and rural women in Guatemala faced multiple types of discrimination and oppression.
Their shared love of food, biodiversity, and women’s rights motivated them to start Love&Tea. Wanting to recognize and celebrate indigenous women’s ability and generational learning, they decided to sell tea, using herbs, fruits, and spices sourced directly from neighboring Indigenous women farmers and their families, as well as cooperatives led by women and Indigeous farmers.
While their shared passion took them far, they faced a lot of challenges — from dishonest dehydrator sellers, to staying awake all night in order to make sure the dehydrating herbs didn’t burn (yes, every single blend has its own unique timing!), to create the blends themselves, and even people thinking that Mary was Rachael’s secretary, not her business partner —everything had its ups and downs. But Love & Tea—as they decided to name the biz—thrived.
After six years of working together, María and other teammates took full ownership and leadership of the company. Today, Love & Tea is owned and managed by María and other indigenous women and they function independently—the true definition of empowerment. Rachael turned to new challenges. How to support Love&Tea and other women and Indigenous-owned businesses grow, this time working through her consulting company EarthEmpower to solve a problem faced by many small businesses in Latin America - how to access larger, better paid markets for their products.
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EarthEmpower Trading Co. is born
Their shared love of food, biodiversity, and women’s rights motivated them to start Love&Tea. Wanting to recognize and celebrate indigenous women’s ability and generational learning, they decided to sell tea, using herbs, fruits, and spices sourced directly from neighboring Indigenous women farmers and their families, as well as cooperatives led by women and Indigeous farmers.
While their shared passion took them far, they faced a lot of challenges — from dishonest dehydrator sellers, to staying awake all night in order to make sure the dehydrating herbs didn’t burn (yes, every single blend has its own unique timing!), to create the blends themselves, and even people thinking that Mary was Rachael’s secretary, not her business partner —everything had its ups and downs. But Love & Tea—as they decided to name the biz—thrived.
After six years of working together, María and other teammates took full ownership and leadership of the company. Today, Love & Tea is owned and managed by María and other indigenous women and they function independently—the true definition of empowerment. Rachael turned to new challenges. How to support Love&Tea and other women and Indigenous-owned businesses grow, this time working through her consulting company EarthEmpower to solve a problem faced by many small businesses in Latin America - how to access larger, better paid markets for their products.
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And so our story continues…
Each and every product in the store is meticulously researched and chosen for impact on its communities, how they treat the environment in the creation of the product, and the high quality of the products that we hope you will love as much as we do. We are proud to say that all of our products support brands that lift up Indigenous and women’s voices, using organic, agroecological, and eco-friendly practices; and deliver products with incredible functionality and flavor.
Everyone has a story. Our dream is to honor those stories, especially those stories that were born from the need to heal marginalized peoples through sustainable, alternative economic models -- brands that make an impact on our world’s biggest issues.
Thanks for being a part of our story. We are so happy you are here.