October 12, 2021 • 33 mins
Once upon a time, there was a woman who was dissatisfied with the commodity tea's that were available to her in 1940's America...
She took an old Colonial recipe and started combining; black tea, spices, orange zest.. and came up with a tea blend that took her friends and family by storm! In fact, she received "Constant Comments" on this new taste sensation - and the rest of the story is history.
Join 3rd generation president and CEO of Bigelow Teas, Cindi Bigelow, and I, as she shares the history of the family enterprise she now captains. Her focus on environmental responsibility, community service, and celebrating all those who do the heavy lifting, will inspire! Cups up! ~ Delilah
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
I almost can't believe that fall has finally arrived after
the summer that seemingly had no end. This autumn is
so very welcome. It's such a scrumptious season, isn't it.
The cooler weather, the gorgeous colors, the delicious aromas, and
(00:25):
the flavors of thankfulness. Fall is an absolute delight to
our senses. I love the golden hours, and everything is
bathed in soft lights, warm soft with these nice crispy edges,
just like the loaves of sour dough bread cooling on
(00:47):
my counter. And speaking of sour dough, do you know
what goes best with a slice of sour dough slathered
in butter, maybe maybe drizzled with honey? Why? Esteeming mug
of tea? Of course, truth be told, tea goes with
(01:07):
just about anything that goes well with a slice of
sour dough. It goes well with a piece of apple pie.
A cup of tea. The right cup of tea can
start your day with a smile, regardless the season. I
am never far away from a mug of tea. I
like to begin my mornings. I like to end my
(01:29):
evenings clutching a hot cuppa and When the weather turns
like it has now, it means I get to pull
out my chunky sweaters, my well worn jeans, my cutest boots,
and carry my tea mug along with me wherever I go.
I have loved tea forever, forever. It's been a faithful
(01:51):
companion since we were introduced to one another by my grandmother,
Grandma Mack, who also enjoyed sitting and sipping as she
caught up on her darning or a good bit of gossip.
Tea has kept me company through all the celebrations and
all the storms of life. I wouldn't even begin to
try to guess the numbers of cups of tea I
(02:13):
have brewed to share with those that I care about now.
I'm not one to look for answers in the bottom
of a tea cup, but somehow, answers balance often find
me when I'm enjoying one of my favorite blends of tea.
I doubt there's many folks out there that can claim
(02:36):
they love tea as much as I do, but I
do know of one one person that not only loves
tea as much as I do, but loves it far more.
She is a third generation teamaker, and she has quite
a story to tell. It starts way way back in
(02:57):
the nineteen forties with a grand mother who was dissatisfied
with the commodity tease she could get in her New
York City neighborhood. So she took an old colonial recipe
and started mixing a little of this, a little of that,
until she came up with something that seemed just right.
(03:19):
The results, shared with many of her family and friends,
was a spectacular hit, garnering constant comments from them all.
Can you guess where we're going with this episode of
Love Someone? While you go make yourself a cup of tea,
I've got mine right here, and get ready for today's chat.
(03:41):
Let me give a moment to one of the sponsors
that make it possible for me to serve up all
these amazing conversations that you love to drink in, and
then I'll introduce today's guest. If you want to go fast,
go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Are That's an African proverb I've always loved It's something
(04:03):
I believe to be true because I've seen the impact
that going together brings, and it's one of the reasons
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something to help change the world. Make that one day
(04:47):
today and make your mark. Go to Mercy ships dot
org to learn more. Cindy Bigelow is third generation, the
third in her family generation president and see EO of
the family owned business. Bigelow t the US market leader
of specialty teas that have now produced over two billion
(05:10):
with a b billion tea bags annually. That's a lot
of bags. That is a lot of tea girlfriend. That
is amazing. Bigelow Teas company, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, still
one family owned Like I can't buy stock in you,
I should. Cindia and your family take a mince pride
(05:34):
in their heritage and the exponential growth the company has
experienced beginning as a one product, risky venture by your grandparents,
and you're gonna tell us all about them. Your family
has turned this into America's leading specialty tea brand. It's
also one of a group of companies that has made
corporate social responsibility a core business goal in the pursuit
(05:58):
of a positive social and environmental impact. We are going
to talk with Cindy today and I asked our podcast
producers when we were going through a list of of
dream people that I wanted to do a podcast with.
I asked them if I could do a podcast with you.
And a lot of people in that meeting are thinking,
you know, music artists or authors or stuff, and they're
(06:19):
like quiet. I said, I love your energy, Cindy when
when we talk last, and your commitment to excellence and
your family story. It's so good. I want everybody to
hear your family story and to hear your story because
you blew me away. Girlfriend. You're just you're wonderful. Well,
(06:41):
you're very very sweet about that. I will say, to
sit in this seat does take a lot of energy,
and I always love to thank my parents for providing
me with a lot of energy. And it it works.
It's it's necessary for so many reasons right too. And
you know, you see what you've done in your amazing
career and what it took to get there, and you
can't allow yourself to get knocked down. When you get
(07:02):
knocked down, you got to get yourself back up and
figure out how to get to the next location. And
I just think a positive attitude of getting there and
not letting the knocks along the way, you know, make
you bitter, but just make you smarter. And so I
think your energy field team around you picks up and
they take on that same I mean, it's just about
a can do attitude. And I think, I mean, people
(07:22):
are so surprised that we're the number one specialty T
company the United States, right this female CEO, which is
already relatively rare, and other companies were competing with Delila
have so many of the products, and there's so much
bigger than we are, and yet we keep really doing
so well year after year and maintaining and growing that
number one position. And I think it's what you just said,
(07:45):
is that positive energy and we can and we do,
and we just keep on going. It's good stuff, good stuff.
Years ago I got to do a recording, some commercial
recording in a production studio that was built in a barn,
and many, many, many artists had recorded there. And for soundproofing,
they had old books. They had shelves of old books.
(08:07):
It's like you were in a library. And I asked
the guy who owned it. I said, why the old books.
He said, well, number one, they are great soundproofing material.
And number two, he said, I believe all the love
that was poured into those books while they were written
exists and goes into our music and our production. And
when I met you last and you were talking about
(08:29):
your grandparents and talking about the story of Bigelot, I
knew why you're number one. It's the same theory as
the old books. Every word you spoke to me when
we talked was infused with love, not just for the
tea and the process and how you have people that
go out and source things that are environmentally good and
(08:52):
good for your body. It was the love I could
see on your face. I could hear it in your
voice for what you do and what you bring to
the world. You know, I think it is important that
we all sort of have what I'd like to call
a greater purpose. And in my case, I love making
a tea bag, and I love tea and I could
(09:14):
not be more proud of every one of those two
billion bags. But it's really about recognizing that you have
an opportunity to make even a greater impact on people's
lives that work with you, on the community around you,
and on those that are enjoying your product. And I
really again just try to instill that with everyone I
work with, is that our purpose is higher. It's to
(09:35):
make a difference every day, um to everyone we touch
and see, and and how are we making the world
a little bit better every day by the things that
we do? And so I think that's how I just
try to run the company. And I'm so appreciative of
the people that work for me because I can tell you,
in my position, I'm only one person, and it doesn't
(09:57):
matter even how good you are. I hope you are
good and this position, but it's really the work is
done by all those around you, the heavy heavy lifting.
And so it's just really about making sure that I
am taking time to let them know how much I
appreciate it, how amazing I think they are, and how
it's there they're the reason why the company is doing
(10:17):
so well, yeah, it's important. I think all of us,
I know whatever, and entertainment service and consumer goods. It's
about appreciating and respecting what you're doing and why you're doing,
and again having a greater purpose. Not that a tea
bag isn't a great purpose. I love a tea bag.
They're awesome. So tell tell us the story. Share the
(10:39):
story that you shared with me about your grandma, about
her tenastity. She's like, no, I ain't drinking this inferior crap.
I'm gonna do something better. Well, she truly was the
definition of an entrepreneur. And I actually get very uncomfortable
when they have me lecture on being an entrepreneur, because
I clearly say, Delilah, Oh, my grandmother was an entrepreneur.
(11:01):
I am third generation running a business, and I'd like
to say I do it well, but she really just
had a different way of doing things. First of all,
way back when, right early nineteen hundreds, she is an
interior designer. That's already unusual, and she's got amazing clients
in the city. And the depression hits, she loses everything,
(11:22):
I mean everything. I had to move to an inn
in New York in a room. So she went from
being a successful interior designer, which I've I've never heard
of a woman doing that back at the turn of
the century. You know, after the turn of the century,
they went from probably a very comfortable lifestyle, very very
(11:43):
to nothing. And so she then decides she now wants
to get into consumer goods. And I read her notes.
She was a copious writer, and in her note she says,
I want a business for my family. Think about that,
how beautiful it is. I want something from my husband
and my son that we can maybe do together. And
I want to be in consumable because I wanted up
(12:03):
to come back over and over. I don't want to
be imperishable, because it's all that's associated with perishable. And
I don't think there's a good tea in the United States.
Everyone's drinking sort of a plain black tea. I think
we can do a lot better than that. She finds
this old colonial recipe with a friend of hers, Mrs
Neelie and Ruth, my grandmother, works on it, works on it,
works on it, and launches this specialty to the first
(12:25):
one in the United States of America. And it was
so tough in her starting days. Um it was almost
a miracle that we're here where we are because nobody
wanted her product. They didn't even know what she was
talking about. But it was through good people around her
that tenacity, never take, no positive attitude getting past those hurdles.
(12:48):
And today you know it's still one of our top ten.
How did she get past the hurdle of being a
woman in the business world. She must have busted down
some pretty big doors. Well, I will tell you, and
I'm answering a question without ever asking her, right, So
I'm telling you what I think. But I would say
a little bit in her case ignorance was bliss. And
(13:10):
I'll say the same thing for myself, was a little
bit of ignorance that it doesn't matter that you're a woman.
You're getting to the other side of this field. And
I would say in her case, she just put in
the hour, she talked to the people. She was relentless
writing notes, phone calls, visits that if there was one,
(13:32):
you know, one more weight, she just added it on
and kept going across the field another way. So I
think it was ignorance is bliss. You were not going
to be stopped. You never thought about the fact you're
a woman, you just said, I've got to get to
the other side. So she would visit stores and they
would say, no, we don't want your product, and she'd
find one customer to talk to and they would give
her a nugget what to do, and she would talk
(13:52):
to one account that was carrying it, and she just
would add these nuggets upon nuggets to eventually be able
to get a lit it a little bit further down
that pathway. This t this blend, this colonial recipe, what
do we call it today? Constant comment tee, I mean it,
there you go. It's so love her tenacity. It was
(14:14):
just it was just tenacity. It was whenever hurdle was
in front of you either had to figure out how
to get around it or get over it. And and
I would say that that's very much my attitude today
was my father's attitude. Is it okay, that's fine, that's
a new hurdle. And my team will tell you all
the time, Fine, that's a hurdle. Now what are we
gonna do to get around that? Like, we don't need
to spend a lot of time wallowing about it. Let's
(14:35):
get to the next level. And I'm sure that's the
way she was so third generation. You told me a
sweet story last time about the mixing of this particular tea.
The constant comment. I just I have the picture in
my mind as you payment that picture for me. So
my parents, which really have run the business, you know,
(14:58):
until they've turned it over to me in two thousand
in five, right, So that are amazing run expanded the line.
They put us in foil in the whole nine yards. Anyway,
they're the only ones at ninety two and ninety four
that make constant comment. The mix it's the mixes, the
secret recipe that makes constant comments so amazing. Nothing like it.
And so I took over in two thousand five, and
(15:21):
I had been in the company for twenty five years
or twenty years whatever, And I was like, don't you
think I should learn how to make the recipe? It's time, mom.
I know you're not like fifteen years old at this point.
You are an accomplished businesswoman taking over a multimillion dollar
family company. Yeah, I'm fifty years old at this point.
(15:43):
I think I proved my track. But I've beenished since
I was thirty. So she goes, Okay, let's just not
make a big deal about it. Let's have you come up.
So up we go, and they teach me what they're doing.
And when you say up, you actually go up on
a platform described the platform. Yeah, you actually go up
to our our little lab up there, our little blending room,
(16:04):
special room that says only you know, authorized personnel. I
have to go upstairs to get there. You know, you
go behind these locks. Now then mom have to give
you a pass or something to to prove that you
were authorized personnel. They had opened the door. That's how
I got in. So they bring me up. They teach
me how to do it. And this time, because I'm fifty,
(16:26):
I didn't have that mentality that I might have had
when I was thirty, like how do I save a step?
What do I need to do to make it more efficient?
Can I cut this out? At this time, at fifty,
I was like, oh my god, I want to honor
everything they're doing, how they're doing it, the timer that
they're using. I'm gonna do everything like they did. I
really just wanted to kind of understand and live the
(16:47):
world that they've been doing for so many years. So
I finished making the blend. I'm very excited me my
first batch of constant comment mix, and my mom's just
just just just keep it low, kising it though, don't
make a big deal. Well, meanwhile, this company is very close.
Everyone knew I had gone up there. Everyone see me
that I'd gone behind these closed doors. I got down
your eyed emails, messages, phone calls, everyone going, ah, she
(17:09):
finally knows how to make constant comment. So it was
very very sweet. I never told my mother. The whole
company now knew I know how to make it. So yeah,
it's a family company. I can tell you that for sure.
Now are you the constant comment person? Now do you
go in it? And and and are you the one that
does it? Now? Is that your job? Excuse me? They
are still around making constant comments and ninety two nine
(17:32):
before they put their lab coats on. One says Mrs Biggielow,
the other says Mr B. Actually, Mrs B and Mr B.
They go up behind closed doors and they still come
in twice a week and they make the mix true story. Oh,
do me a favor, Cindy before the next visit. I
know you can't go behind the well, you can go
(17:53):
behind the closed doors. Nobody else can. But while before
they go behind the closed doors, when they got the
lap coats on Mr b ms is be Will you
please take a photo for me so we can put
it on our website and our Facebook page with this
story because I love this. I mean that life goals.
Life goals at ninety two and ninety four, to still
(18:15):
be doing what I love to do. My daughter, I
have a Delilah Jr. Who's twelve. She wants to take
over the microphone. She says, Mom, think about it. They
won't even have to recut the jingles because we got
the same name. She is ready to take over the microphone.
And I'm gonna be kind of like your mom. I'm like, okay,
(18:36):
you can do you can take a few calls, but
let's keep this on the down. But yeah, she's she's
ready to put on the headphones and step in my chair. Yeah,
but you know what, what an honor. I think that's
so sweet. I mean I always say like, if you're
a doctor and then your kid they want to be
a doctor because they saw you, you know, and what
(18:56):
you do. She sees it and goes, I love what
my mom does. I want to do you that too.
I mean, how does that make you feel? I I
think that's amazing, very very proud because I have a
lot of kids before her. In fact, one of my daughter's, Lonnie,
is one of our top producers at the studio. That
is so sweet. And that's when I try to say
to so many people, we have so many gifts to give,
(19:17):
right and the gift of sharing and listening and helping
and supporting. I mean, what a great gift that is.
And that's something that she wants to really pursue. It's
that's a that's a very sweet message. Okay. So in
addition to constant comment, what is one of your other
favorite teas you guys do because you do these healthy
blends now, all this healthy good stuff. Well, I always
(19:40):
like to say in my world, my different teas are
like my children. So I have a hundred and fifty
so I can't have any favorites, but I do have
some go toos, like the one I'm having right now
is the botanical Strawberry Lemon, orange blossom. And I think it's,
like you said, it's just designing products that are just
good for you. And this the tea that I'm drinking always. Um,
(20:01):
I don't drink enough water. I just don't period hard stop.
So I created this line. We create this line of
these botanicals where you just take the tea bag, put
it in cold water, let it infuse, and it becomes
as a gentle, healthy, just water infused flavor of whatever
the six flavors are. So I drink that a lot.
I must drink sixty of water a day now because
(20:21):
I use the big o little botanicals. But you know
from the hot I I mix it up. I'm sure
you do too, right. You said you drink a lot
of different bigeltle teas. Do you go from herbal to
green to black teas? I start with black. I I
have at least two or three cups, so you're black
constant comment or um one of the blacks in the morning.
But I have to stop by three or four o'clock otherwise,
(20:44):
you know, I can't get to sleep at night, and
I've got kids in school. So here in the studio,
I've been doing the botanicals. But I love your your
ginger lemon lemon ginger leon. Oh my gosh, Delilah. That
is the number one selling specially tea in United States
of America. It has probiotic But we're one of the few,
(21:06):
if not only, that put a legitimate amount of probiotic
in that cup. So within three cups, you're trying to
really build the benefit of that probiotic. And the consumers
must know because we put it on the shelf and
it is off the shelf like that. And I kiddingly
say to my team because it is so much probiotic,
(21:26):
and probotic is so expensive, this is a tea that
we really don't make much on. And when we first launched,
it was more like a lost leader. It's okay, how
much tea can we ever sell of it? And now
every time another account takes lemon ginger, I go, no, no,
that's got our's lowest margins. But it's so good. It's
(21:47):
so good. Four or five years ago, I got into
making my own kombucha, and uh, that's when I discovered
your lemon ginger. It makes the best kob really. Yeah. Yeah,
so that is such a popular thing. So you like
your own? You do not buy a bottle? Do you
like to make your own? I do like to make
my own. I have a cupboard. Um, that's got a
(22:10):
light in the cupboard. When I rebuilt this house, the
house was built in I had to add more rooms
because it was only, like, you know, two thousand square
feet and I had like ten kids at home at
the time. So but I used all old materials and
I found this old cupboard that fit into this little nook,
so I had it built in with a light in it.
(22:31):
So it's a little bit warmer inside the cupboard with
the light on, and it's the perfect temperature to brew kombucha.
I'm very impressed in general, right, because that's a lot
of work to do. That you do the work, you
stay on top of it, and you enjoy it. I
am so and like I have no imagination that area.
I don't spend any time. That's why, like for me
even to drink water, all I gotta do is I
(22:51):
gotta stick a tea bag in there you go, there
you go. Now I can get my sixty ounces of water.
Not a lot of creativity and a lot of energy
from that perspective on my I'm gonna have to remind
my girlfriend Kim, because she will not drink plain water.
She'll drink corn water, she'll drink tea. But I'm just
gonna have to gift her because I got a bunch
of your botanicals. I'm gonna gift her that you give
me her address, I'll happily send you some to her
(23:12):
as well. And I'll tell it's unbelievable how much water
you will drink. I don't I actually don't understand it.
It's a little freaky. So let's have a meeting. If
you put a glass of water in front of me.
At the end of that meeting to or three r meeting,
not a sip has been taken out of that glass
of water. If you put a botanical in it, I
will fill that glass up three times in that same
time frame. Well, it's because the botanicals there. They taste good.
(23:34):
It's not a sweet product. It's not a heavily flavored product.
It's just a light, gentle botanical infusion. And I don't
know why I drink so much of it. I can't
tell you because your tongue says, this tastes good, And
when you drink water, it's like this is blam, this
is boring, this is water. Totally agree. Yeah, this cup
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(23:57):
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That's Annie's Kit Clubs dot com slash Radio. So so
what's what's next? Um? You know, for me, it's just
really recognizing that we need to stay where the consumer
is going. UM, I will tell you that this. You know,
(25:09):
COVID obviously has had a tremendous impact globally nationally and uh,
I always say to my team, we need to look
for what are the positive lessons that we have learned
from COVID, and t has been what I would call
the COVID positive and that is because people have recognized,
as you have known for a long time, it's so
good for me. I need to do that. I need
(25:30):
to put more good things to my body. I need
to help prevent viruses naturally. So from a good news perspective,
our product is very much in demand right now. So
if you're feeling like, you know, maybe folks shouldn't be
getting the lemon gender so much, you know, like you said, um,
that's not going to help, because probiotics are the best
things for your gut health, so you can fight off diseases.
(25:54):
You know, the best thing you can do for yourself
is make sure your body is as healthy as it
can be in probiotics. People don't get this, you know,
when you say I got a feeling in the pit
of my gut, that's because gut health is so important.
It is. Actually, we had a natural path and nutritionist
here talking to the team and they talked about like
it really starts with the gut and if you keep
(26:16):
your gut healthy, how healthy your body is overall. So
that's what you know, where what our future looks like
is making sure we're staying with what's real, not just
what sounds good on paper and staying with what's available,
how can we get it to consumers and in a
tea bag. At this point, we do look for things
that are outside the tea bag and just staying on
(26:36):
trend and also staying aligned with how consumers want to
get their product right, Like a lot of people now
are sitting at home and doing a lot of shopping
from home, right, so we need to make sure our
our systems. We have three manufacturing facilities Idaho, Kentucky, and Connecticut,
and just make sure those facilities are also geared towards
(26:57):
the new way that people want to get their products.
So I think our future looks pretty good. We're actually
building a brand new facility in Louisville, two hundred thousand
square foot facility down there. WHOA, yeah, yeah, it's big.
We just about twenties something acres. Same thing here in Connecticut.
So we're blessed. It's it's it's a business that's focused
on tea, but it's a product that is so healthy.
(27:18):
People see that, and it's just got the wonderful fingerprints
of being a family company, which I don't know, it
means we're not really greedy. We're happy, growing three four
or five six percent a year. That's a great number
for us year after year, and I just think we're
poised to continue our success for the next hopefully many
many years to come. Amen to that, because I want
to be enjoying their team for many many years to come. Yeah,
(27:41):
I have to say, you know, like when I look
at the people, they trust me, right. They know as
a family business, so many companies are selling out and uh,
and for many reasons. I'm not blaming that. I'm just
saying that's a fact. And for us. You know, my
team looks at me and they say, she's not gonna
do that, right, because it's the first thing you said.
It's about the love of the business. It's about the
love of what I do. It's about the love of
(28:03):
who I work with. And they look at me, No,
I can commit to this company. I can make my
career here because I know this is a family company
that's going to continue and continue. And she's not going
to sell out because she offered X number of dollars. Uh.
It's it's it's not about the dollars. It's really about
making a difference. Cindy, thank you, thank you so much
(28:24):
for spending this time with us. I'm gonna go fix
myself another cup of Biggielot. You know something that thrills
my heart. I have a t drawer in my kitchen
that has little dividers and is filled with tea. And
then on top of the tea drawer, I have a
tea box that you gifted me that has your tease
(28:44):
in it. So we've got like every imaginable blend of
tea available in our tea drawer and in the tea
box that sets on, you know, on top of the counter,
taking up counterspace above the tea drawer because I can't
cram enough teas in the tea drawer. But you know,
I got a big family, and not a single one
of my children who live at home right now ever
(29:05):
go to the coffee pot and make coffee wow all day.
Every day. They go to the tea drawer and they
pull out the tea drawer and they're like mom, Mom, Mom,
and there's like a panic because they can't find whatever
it is, you know, that they're looking for. At the time,
I have to say I have a tea drawer as well.
And in addition to sending you a photo and you
(29:28):
can imagine my tea drawer only has Bigelow te in
it in addition to the picture of Mrs B and
Mr Be in their lab coats. I'm definitely send you
a picture of my tea drawer. Send me a picture
of your tea drawer, sending Bigielow. Thank you for being
with me. I love someone, and uh, I just I
appreciate you so much, and I think that you are.
I think young women today have such crazy, unhealthy role models,
(29:53):
you know, social media, all that nonsense that gives them
such a skew perspective of what a powerful woman looks like.
And you are, in my mind, what a strong, powerful
woman looks like. You're not going to sell out, You're
not going to compromise. You operate from a place of love.
(30:15):
You operate from a place of social responsibility. You operate
from a place of a history of goodness. And I
just wanted to say thank you for that. Thank you.
That's very sweet to hear. It's nice. You know, you
run as fast as you can, and every once in
a while you're got to sit back from it and
hear the words you just said. And I mean a lot,
trust me, I mean a lot. Thank you all right,
God bless you. I'm gonna definitely try to come busy
(30:38):
you okay, I'm gonna hold you to it. Have a
lovely day. Thanks again. I Cindy was born into the
business of tea, the growing, the curing, blending, packaging, marketing
of this product. Of her product, She's passionate about creating
and delivering tea blends the folks like you and I
(30:58):
just take for granted. We know the perfect blend for
every occasion is simply waiting for us. Producing two billion
tea bags annually. The Bigelow Team line includes more than
a hundred and fifty varieties of tea flavored, traditional, green, herbal, decaffeoated,
Bigelow Benefits, wellness teas, and the Bigelow Botanical cold water
(31:21):
infusions that she was talking about. You can check out
their website Triple W dot Bigelow t dot com for
more of the Bigelow family story for lots of information
on their business and their products, and if you ever
find yourself in Fairfield, Connecticut, don't be surprised if you
run into Cindy elbow deep in one of her many
(31:42):
community service projects. When she's not making sure you're getting
the best cup of tea of your life. For out
trying to make her community in world a better place.
She's skiing or playing tennis, or spending time with her kids,
her family, her friends, her parents, and like me, rarely
without a mug of tea nearby. Today's conversation reminds me
(32:05):
how fortunate we are that Ruth Bigelow had a yearning
one day. That first blend of hers received constant comments
like so many more that would come crafted by her
children and now her grandchildren. Tea warms our tummies, and
its magical properties warm our hearts as well. It brings
(32:26):
people together, and it's an unsung hero, helping words and
emotions escape from places they've been stuffed or stifled, opening
doors to communication, creating opportunities for bonding, bringing comfort and
a sense of belonging to those sharing special moments over
a steaming brew of tea. I hope you've enjoyed today's
(32:50):
episode and getting to know Cindy as much as I have.
I love that woman, I truly do. Keep the water
kettle on and join me on the airwaves tonight and
every night, where we'll share more stories from the heart
and share a cup of teeth,
I almost can't believe that fall has finally arrived after
the summer that seemingly had no end. This autumn is
so very welcome. It's such a scrumptious season, isn't it.
The cooler weather, the gorgeous colors, the delicious aromas, and
(00:25):
the flavors of thankfulness. Fall is an absolute delight to
our senses. I love the golden hours, and everything is
bathed in soft lights, warm soft with these nice crispy edges,
just like the loaves of sour dough bread cooling on
(00:47):
my counter. And speaking of sour dough, do you know
what goes best with a slice of sour dough slathered
in butter, maybe maybe drizzled with honey? Why? Esteeming mug
of tea? Of course, truth be told, tea goes with
(01:07):
just about anything that goes well with a slice of
sour dough. It goes well with a piece of apple pie.
A cup of tea. The right cup of tea can
start your day with a smile, regardless the season. I
am never far away from a mug of tea. I
like to begin my mornings. I like to end my
(01:29):
evenings clutching a hot cuppa and When the weather turns
like it has now, it means I get to pull
out my chunky sweaters, my well worn jeans, my cutest boots,
and carry my tea mug along with me wherever I go.
I have loved tea forever, forever. It's been a faithful
(01:51):
companion since we were introduced to one another by my grandmother,
Grandma Mack, who also enjoyed sitting and sipping as she
caught up on her darning or a good bit of gossip.
Tea has kept me company through all the celebrations and
all the storms of life. I wouldn't even begin to
try to guess the numbers of cups of tea I
(02:13):
have brewed to share with those that I care about now.
I'm not one to look for answers in the bottom
of a tea cup, but somehow, answers balance often find
me when I'm enjoying one of my favorite blends of tea.
I doubt there's many folks out there that can claim
(02:36):
they love tea as much as I do, but I
do know of one one person that not only loves
tea as much as I do, but loves it far more.
She is a third generation teamaker, and she has quite
a story to tell. It starts way way back in
(02:57):
the nineteen forties with a grand mother who was dissatisfied
with the commodity tease she could get in her New
York City neighborhood. So she took an old colonial recipe
and started mixing a little of this, a little of that,
until she came up with something that seemed just right.
(03:19):
The results, shared with many of her family and friends,
was a spectacular hit, garnering constant comments from them all.
Can you guess where we're going with this episode of
Love Someone? While you go make yourself a cup of tea,
I've got mine right here, and get ready for today's chat.
(03:41):
Let me give a moment to one of the sponsors
that make it possible for me to serve up all
these amazing conversations that you love to drink in, and
then I'll introduce today's guest. If you want to go fast,
go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Are That's an African proverb I've always loved It's something
(04:03):
I believe to be true because I've seen the impact
that going together brings, and it's one of the reasons
I love Mercy Ships so much. They don't go at
it alone. They believe in the power of together. They're
all volunteer crew of doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, and housekeeping
(04:24):
staff come together to help transform the lives of suffering
people in developing nations. If you've ever wanted to make
your mark on the world, this could be the moment
you've been waiting for, because Mercy Ships has volunteer opportunities
on their ships. We've all said one day, I'll do
something to help change the world. Make that one day
(04:47):
today and make your mark. Go to Mercy ships dot
org to learn more. Cindy Bigelow is third generation, the
third in her family generation president and see EO of
the family owned business. Bigelow t the US market leader
of specialty teas that have now produced over two billion
(05:10):
with a b billion tea bags annually. That's a lot
of bags. That is a lot of tea girlfriend. That
is amazing. Bigelow Teas company, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, still
one family owned Like I can't buy stock in you,
I should. Cindia and your family take a mince pride
(05:34):
in their heritage and the exponential growth the company has
experienced beginning as a one product, risky venture by your grandparents,
and you're gonna tell us all about them. Your family
has turned this into America's leading specialty tea brand. It's
also one of a group of companies that has made
corporate social responsibility a core business goal in the pursuit
(05:58):
of a positive social and environmental impact. We are going
to talk with Cindy today and I asked our podcast
producers when we were going through a list of of
dream people that I wanted to do a podcast with.
I asked them if I could do a podcast with you.
And a lot of people in that meeting are thinking,
you know, music artists or authors or stuff, and they're
(06:19):
like quiet. I said, I love your energy, Cindy when
when we talk last, and your commitment to excellence and
your family story. It's so good. I want everybody to
hear your family story and to hear your story because
you blew me away. Girlfriend. You're just you're wonderful. Well,
(06:41):
you're very very sweet about that. I will say, to
sit in this seat does take a lot of energy,
and I always love to thank my parents for providing
me with a lot of energy. And it it works.
It's it's necessary for so many reasons right too. And
you know, you see what you've done in your amazing
career and what it took to get there, and you
can't allow yourself to get knocked down. When you get
(07:02):
knocked down, you got to get yourself back up and
figure out how to get to the next location. And
I just think a positive attitude of getting there and
not letting the knocks along the way, you know, make
you bitter, but just make you smarter. And so I
think your energy field team around you picks up and
they take on that same I mean, it's just about
a can do attitude. And I think, I mean, people
(07:22):
are so surprised that we're the number one specialty T
company the United States, right this female CEO, which is
already relatively rare, and other companies were competing with Delila
have so many of the products, and there's so much
bigger than we are, and yet we keep really doing
so well year after year and maintaining and growing that
number one position. And I think it's what you just said,
(07:45):
is that positive energy and we can and we do,
and we just keep on going. It's good stuff, good stuff.
Years ago I got to do a recording, some commercial
recording in a production studio that was built in a barn,
and many, many, many artists had recorded there. And for soundproofing,
they had old books. They had shelves of old books.
(08:07):
It's like you were in a library. And I asked
the guy who owned it. I said, why the old books.
He said, well, number one, they are great soundproofing material.
And number two, he said, I believe all the love
that was poured into those books while they were written
exists and goes into our music and our production. And
when I met you last and you were talking about
(08:29):
your grandparents and talking about the story of Bigelot, I
knew why you're number one. It's the same theory as
the old books. Every word you spoke to me when
we talked was infused with love, not just for the
tea and the process and how you have people that
go out and source things that are environmentally good and
(08:52):
good for your body. It was the love I could
see on your face. I could hear it in your
voice for what you do and what you bring to
the world. You know, I think it is important that
we all sort of have what I'd like to call
a greater purpose. And in my case, I love making
a tea bag, and I love tea and I could
(09:14):
not be more proud of every one of those two
billion bags. But it's really about recognizing that you have
an opportunity to make even a greater impact on people's
lives that work with you, on the community around you,
and on those that are enjoying your product. And I
really again just try to instill that with everyone I
work with, is that our purpose is higher. It's to
(09:35):
make a difference every day, um to everyone we touch
and see, and and how are we making the world
a little bit better every day by the things that
we do? And so I think that's how I just
try to run the company. And I'm so appreciative of
the people that work for me because I can tell you,
in my position, I'm only one person, and it doesn't
(09:57):
matter even how good you are. I hope you are
good and this position, but it's really the work is
done by all those around you, the heavy heavy lifting.
And so it's just really about making sure that I
am taking time to let them know how much I
appreciate it, how amazing I think they are, and how
it's there they're the reason why the company is doing
(10:17):
so well, yeah, it's important. I think all of us,
I know whatever, and entertainment service and consumer goods. It's
about appreciating and respecting what you're doing and why you're doing,
and again having a greater purpose. Not that a tea
bag isn't a great purpose. I love a tea bag.
They're awesome. So tell tell us the story. Share the
(10:39):
story that you shared with me about your grandma, about
her tenastity. She's like, no, I ain't drinking this inferior crap.
I'm gonna do something better. Well, she truly was the
definition of an entrepreneur. And I actually get very uncomfortable
when they have me lecture on being an entrepreneur, because
I clearly say, Delilah, Oh, my grandmother was an entrepreneur.
(11:01):
I am third generation running a business, and I'd like
to say I do it well, but she really just
had a different way of doing things. First of all,
way back when, right early nineteen hundreds, she is an
interior designer. That's already unusual, and she's got amazing clients
in the city. And the depression hits, she loses everything,
(11:22):
I mean everything. I had to move to an inn
in New York in a room. So she went from
being a successful interior designer, which I've I've never heard
of a woman doing that back at the turn of
the century. You know, after the turn of the century,
they went from probably a very comfortable lifestyle, very very
(11:43):
to nothing. And so she then decides she now wants
to get into consumer goods. And I read her notes.
She was a copious writer, and in her note she says,
I want a business for my family. Think about that,
how beautiful it is. I want something from my husband
and my son that we can maybe do together. And
I want to be in consumable because I wanted up
(12:03):
to come back over and over. I don't want to
be imperishable, because it's all that's associated with perishable. And
I don't think there's a good tea in the United States.
Everyone's drinking sort of a plain black tea. I think
we can do a lot better than that. She finds
this old colonial recipe with a friend of hers, Mrs
Neelie and Ruth, my grandmother, works on it, works on it,
works on it, and launches this specialty to the first
(12:25):
one in the United States of America. And it was
so tough in her starting days. Um it was almost
a miracle that we're here where we are because nobody
wanted her product. They didn't even know what she was
talking about. But it was through good people around her
that tenacity, never take, no positive attitude getting past those hurdles.
(12:48):
And today you know it's still one of our top ten.
How did she get past the hurdle of being a
woman in the business world. She must have busted down
some pretty big doors. Well, I will tell you, and
I'm answering a question without ever asking her, right, So
I'm telling you what I think. But I would say
a little bit in her case ignorance was bliss. And
(13:10):
I'll say the same thing for myself, was a little
bit of ignorance that it doesn't matter that you're a woman.
You're getting to the other side of this field. And
I would say in her case, she just put in
the hour, she talked to the people. She was relentless
writing notes, phone calls, visits that if there was one,
(13:32):
you know, one more weight, she just added it on
and kept going across the field another way. So I
think it was ignorance is bliss. You were not going
to be stopped. You never thought about the fact you're
a woman, you just said, I've got to get to
the other side. So she would visit stores and they
would say, no, we don't want your product, and she'd
find one customer to talk to and they would give
her a nugget what to do, and she would talk
(13:52):
to one account that was carrying it, and she just
would add these nuggets upon nuggets to eventually be able
to get a lit it a little bit further down
that pathway. This t this blend, this colonial recipe, what
do we call it today? Constant comment tee, I mean it,
there you go. It's so love her tenacity. It was
(14:14):
just it was just tenacity. It was whenever hurdle was
in front of you either had to figure out how
to get around it or get over it. And and
I would say that that's very much my attitude today
was my father's attitude. Is it okay, that's fine, that's
a new hurdle. And my team will tell you all
the time, Fine, that's a hurdle. Now what are we
gonna do to get around that? Like, we don't need
to spend a lot of time wallowing about it. Let's
(14:35):
get to the next level. And I'm sure that's the
way she was so third generation. You told me a
sweet story last time about the mixing of this particular tea.
The constant comment. I just I have the picture in
my mind as you payment that picture for me. So
my parents, which really have run the business, you know,
(14:58):
until they've turned it over to me in two thousand
in five, right, So that are amazing run expanded the line.
They put us in foil in the whole nine yards. Anyway,
they're the only ones at ninety two and ninety four
that make constant comment. The mix it's the mixes, the
secret recipe that makes constant comments so amazing. Nothing like it.
And so I took over in two thousand five, and
(15:21):
I had been in the company for twenty five years
or twenty years whatever, And I was like, don't you
think I should learn how to make the recipe? It's time, mom.
I know you're not like fifteen years old at this point.
You are an accomplished businesswoman taking over a multimillion dollar
family company. Yeah, I'm fifty years old at this point.
(15:43):
I think I proved my track. But I've beenished since
I was thirty. So she goes, Okay, let's just not
make a big deal about it. Let's have you come up.
So up we go, and they teach me what they're doing.
And when you say up, you actually go up on
a platform described the platform. Yeah, you actually go up
to our our little lab up there, our little blending room,
(16:04):
special room that says only you know, authorized personnel. I
have to go upstairs to get there. You know, you
go behind these locks. Now then mom have to give
you a pass or something to to prove that you
were authorized personnel. They had opened the door. That's how
I got in. So they bring me up. They teach
me how to do it. And this time, because I'm fifty,
(16:26):
I didn't have that mentality that I might have had
when I was thirty, like how do I save a step?
What do I need to do to make it more efficient?
Can I cut this out? At this time, at fifty,
I was like, oh my god, I want to honor
everything they're doing, how they're doing it, the timer that
they're using. I'm gonna do everything like they did. I
really just wanted to kind of understand and live the
(16:47):
world that they've been doing for so many years. So
I finished making the blend. I'm very excited me my
first batch of constant comment mix, and my mom's just
just just just keep it low, kising it though, don't
make a big deal. Well, meanwhile, this company is very close.
Everyone knew I had gone up there. Everyone see me
that I'd gone behind these closed doors. I got down
your eyed emails, messages, phone calls, everyone going, ah, she
(17:09):
finally knows how to make constant comment. So it was
very very sweet. I never told my mother. The whole
company now knew I know how to make it. So yeah,
it's a family company. I can tell you that for sure.
Now are you the constant comment person? Now do you
go in it? And and and are you the one that
does it? Now? Is that your job? Excuse me? They
are still around making constant comments and ninety two nine
(17:32):
before they put their lab coats on. One says Mrs Biggielow,
the other says Mr B. Actually, Mrs B and Mr B.
They go up behind closed doors and they still come
in twice a week and they make the mix true story. Oh,
do me a favor, Cindy before the next visit. I
know you can't go behind the well, you can go
(17:53):
behind the closed doors. Nobody else can. But while before
they go behind the closed doors, when they got the
lap coats on Mr b ms is be Will you
please take a photo for me so we can put
it on our website and our Facebook page with this
story because I love this. I mean that life goals.
Life goals at ninety two and ninety four, to still
(18:15):
be doing what I love to do. My daughter, I
have a Delilah Jr. Who's twelve. She wants to take
over the microphone. She says, Mom, think about it. They
won't even have to recut the jingles because we got
the same name. She is ready to take over the microphone.
And I'm gonna be kind of like your mom. I'm like, okay,
(18:36):
you can do you can take a few calls, but
let's keep this on the down. But yeah, she's she's
ready to put on the headphones and step in my chair. Yeah,
but you know what, what an honor. I think that's
so sweet. I mean I always say like, if you're
a doctor and then your kid they want to be
a doctor because they saw you, you know, and what
(18:56):
you do. She sees it and goes, I love what
my mom does. I want to do you that too.
I mean, how does that make you feel? I I
think that's amazing, very very proud because I have a
lot of kids before her. In fact, one of my daughter's, Lonnie,
is one of our top producers at the studio. That
is so sweet. And that's when I try to say
to so many people, we have so many gifts to give,
(19:17):
right and the gift of sharing and listening and helping
and supporting. I mean, what a great gift that is.
And that's something that she wants to really pursue. It's
that's a that's a very sweet message. Okay. So in
addition to constant comment, what is one of your other
favorite teas you guys do because you do these healthy
blends now, all this healthy good stuff. Well, I always
(19:40):
like to say in my world, my different teas are
like my children. So I have a hundred and fifty
so I can't have any favorites, but I do have
some go toos, like the one I'm having right now
is the botanical Strawberry Lemon, orange blossom. And I think it's,
like you said, it's just designing products that are just
good for you. And this the tea that I'm drinking always. Um,
(20:01):
I don't drink enough water. I just don't period hard stop.
So I created this line. We create this line of
these botanicals where you just take the tea bag, put
it in cold water, let it infuse, and it becomes
as a gentle, healthy, just water infused flavor of whatever
the six flavors are. So I drink that a lot.
I must drink sixty of water a day now because
(20:21):
I use the big o little botanicals. But you know
from the hot I I mix it up. I'm sure
you do too, right. You said you drink a lot
of different bigeltle teas. Do you go from herbal to
green to black teas? I start with black. I I
have at least two or three cups, so you're black
constant comment or um one of the blacks in the morning.
But I have to stop by three or four o'clock otherwise,
(20:44):
you know, I can't get to sleep at night, and
I've got kids in school. So here in the studio,
I've been doing the botanicals. But I love your your
ginger lemon lemon ginger leon. Oh my gosh, Delilah. That
is the number one selling specially tea in United States
of America. It has probiotic But we're one of the few,
(21:06):
if not only, that put a legitimate amount of probiotic
in that cup. So within three cups, you're trying to
really build the benefit of that probiotic. And the consumers
must know because we put it on the shelf and
it is off the shelf like that. And I kiddingly
say to my team because it is so much probiotic,
(21:26):
and probotic is so expensive, this is a tea that
we really don't make much on. And when we first launched,
it was more like a lost leader. It's okay, how
much tea can we ever sell of it? And now
every time another account takes lemon ginger, I go, no, no,
that's got our's lowest margins. But it's so good. It's
(21:47):
so good. Four or five years ago, I got into
making my own kombucha, and uh, that's when I discovered
your lemon ginger. It makes the best kob really. Yeah. Yeah,
so that is such a popular thing. So you like
your own? You do not buy a bottle? Do you
like to make your own? I do like to make
my own. I have a cupboard. Um, that's got a
(22:10):
light in the cupboard. When I rebuilt this house, the
house was built in I had to add more rooms
because it was only, like, you know, two thousand square
feet and I had like ten kids at home at
the time. So but I used all old materials and
I found this old cupboard that fit into this little nook,
so I had it built in with a light in it.
(22:31):
So it's a little bit warmer inside the cupboard with
the light on, and it's the perfect temperature to brew kombucha.
I'm very impressed in general, right, because that's a lot
of work to do. That you do the work, you
stay on top of it, and you enjoy it. I
am so and like I have no imagination that area.
I don't spend any time. That's why, like for me
even to drink water, all I gotta do is I
(22:51):
gotta stick a tea bag in there you go, there
you go. Now I can get my sixty ounces of water.
Not a lot of creativity and a lot of energy
from that perspective on my I'm gonna have to remind
my girlfriend Kim, because she will not drink plain water.
She'll drink corn water, she'll drink tea. But I'm just
gonna have to gift her because I got a bunch
of your botanicals. I'm gonna gift her that you give
me her address, I'll happily send you some to her
(23:12):
as well. And I'll tell it's unbelievable how much water
you will drink. I don't I actually don't understand it.
It's a little freaky. So let's have a meeting. If
you put a glass of water in front of me.
At the end of that meeting to or three r meeting,
not a sip has been taken out of that glass
of water. If you put a botanical in it, I
will fill that glass up three times in that same
time frame. Well, it's because the botanicals there. They taste good.
(23:34):
It's not a sweet product. It's not a heavily flavored product.
It's just a light, gentle botanical infusion. And I don't
know why I drink so much of it. I can't
tell you because your tongue says, this tastes good, And
when you drink water, it's like this is blam, this
is boring, this is water. Totally agree. Yeah, this cup
of tea is brought to you by a special blend
(23:57):
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slash radio now for seventy five percent off your first kit.
That's Annie's Kit Clubs dot com slash Radio. So so
what's what's next? Um? You know, for me, it's just
really recognizing that we need to stay where the consumer
is going. UM, I will tell you that this. You know,
(25:09):
COVID obviously has had a tremendous impact globally nationally and uh,
I always say to my team, we need to look
for what are the positive lessons that we have learned
from COVID, and t has been what I would call
the COVID positive and that is because people have recognized,
as you have known for a long time, it's so
good for me. I need to do that. I need
(25:30):
to put more good things to my body. I need
to help prevent viruses naturally. So from a good news perspective,
our product is very much in demand right now. So
if you're feeling like, you know, maybe folks shouldn't be
getting the lemon gender so much, you know, like you said, um,
that's not going to help, because probiotics are the best
things for your gut health, so you can fight off diseases.
(25:54):
You know, the best thing you can do for yourself
is make sure your body is as healthy as it
can be in probiotics. People don't get this, you know,
when you say I got a feeling in the pit
of my gut, that's because gut health is so important.
It is. Actually, we had a natural path and nutritionist
here talking to the team and they talked about like
it really starts with the gut and if you keep
(26:16):
your gut healthy, how healthy your body is overall. So
that's what you know, where what our future looks like
is making sure we're staying with what's real, not just
what sounds good on paper and staying with what's available,
how can we get it to consumers and in a
tea bag. At this point, we do look for things
that are outside the tea bag and just staying on
(26:36):
trend and also staying aligned with how consumers want to
get their product right, Like a lot of people now
are sitting at home and doing a lot of shopping
from home, right, so we need to make sure our
our systems. We have three manufacturing facilities Idaho, Kentucky, and Connecticut,
and just make sure those facilities are also geared towards
(26:57):
the new way that people want to get their products.
So I think our future looks pretty good. We're actually
building a brand new facility in Louisville, two hundred thousand
square foot facility down there. WHOA, yeah, yeah, it's big.
We just about twenties something acres. Same thing here in Connecticut.
So we're blessed. It's it's it's a business that's focused
on tea, but it's a product that is so healthy.
(27:18):
People see that, and it's just got the wonderful fingerprints
of being a family company, which I don't know, it
means we're not really greedy. We're happy, growing three four
or five six percent a year. That's a great number
for us year after year, and I just think we're
poised to continue our success for the next hopefully many
many years to come. Amen to that, because I want
to be enjoying their team for many many years to come. Yeah,
(27:41):
I have to say, you know, like when I look
at the people, they trust me, right. They know as
a family business, so many companies are selling out and uh,
and for many reasons. I'm not blaming that. I'm just
saying that's a fact. And for us. You know, my
team looks at me and they say, she's not gonna
do that, right, because it's the first thing you said.
It's about the love of the business. It's about the
love of what I do. It's about the love of
(28:03):
who I work with. And they look at me, No,
I can commit to this company. I can make my
career here because I know this is a family company
that's going to continue and continue. And she's not going
to sell out because she offered X number of dollars. Uh.
It's it's it's not about the dollars. It's really about
making a difference. Cindy, thank you, thank you so much
(28:24):
for spending this time with us. I'm gonna go fix
myself another cup of Biggielot. You know something that thrills
my heart. I have a t drawer in my kitchen
that has little dividers and is filled with tea. And
then on top of the tea drawer, I have a
tea box that you gifted me that has your tease
(28:44):
in it. So we've got like every imaginable blend of
tea available in our tea drawer and in the tea
box that sets on, you know, on top of the counter,
taking up counterspace above the tea drawer because I can't
cram enough teas in the tea drawer. But you know,
I got a big family, and not a single one
of my children who live at home right now ever
(29:05):
go to the coffee pot and make coffee wow all day.
Every day. They go to the tea drawer and they
pull out the tea drawer and they're like mom, Mom, Mom,
and there's like a panic because they can't find whatever
it is, you know, that they're looking for. At the time,
I have to say I have a tea drawer as well.
And in addition to sending you a photo and you
(29:28):
can imagine my tea drawer only has Bigelow te in
it in addition to the picture of Mrs B and
Mr Be in their lab coats. I'm definitely send you
a picture of my tea drawer. Send me a picture
of your tea drawer, sending Bigielow. Thank you for being
with me. I love someone, and uh, I just I
appreciate you so much, and I think that you are.
I think young women today have such crazy, unhealthy role models,
(29:53):
you know, social media, all that nonsense that gives them
such a skew perspective of what a powerful woman looks like.
And you are, in my mind, what a strong, powerful
woman looks like. You're not going to sell out, You're
not going to compromise. You operate from a place of love.
(30:15):
You operate from a place of social responsibility. You operate
from a place of a history of goodness. And I
just wanted to say thank you for that. Thank you.
That's very sweet to hear. It's nice. You know, you
run as fast as you can, and every once in
a while you're got to sit back from it and
hear the words you just said. And I mean a lot,
trust me, I mean a lot. Thank you all right,
God bless you. I'm gonna definitely try to come busy
(30:38):
you okay, I'm gonna hold you to it. Have a
lovely day. Thanks again. I Cindy was born into the
business of tea, the growing, the curing, blending, packaging, marketing
of this product. Of her product, She's passionate about creating
and delivering tea blends the folks like you and I
(30:58):
just take for granted. We know the perfect blend for
every occasion is simply waiting for us. Producing two billion
tea bags annually. The Bigelow Team line includes more than
a hundred and fifty varieties of tea flavored, traditional, green, herbal, decaffeoated,
Bigelow Benefits, wellness teas, and the Bigelow Botanical cold water
(31:21):
infusions that she was talking about. You can check out
their website Triple W dot Bigelow t dot com for
more of the Bigelow family story for lots of information
on their business and their products, and if you ever
find yourself in Fairfield, Connecticut, don't be surprised if you
run into Cindy elbow deep in one of her many
(31:42):
community service projects. When she's not making sure you're getting
the best cup of tea of your life. For out
trying to make her community in world a better place.
She's skiing or playing tennis, or spending time with her kids,
her family, her friends, her parents, and like me, rarely
without a mug of tea nearby. Today's conversation reminds me
(32:05):
how fortunate we are that Ruth Bigelow had a yearning
one day. That first blend of hers received constant comments
like so many more that would come crafted by her
children and now her grandchildren. Tea warms our tummies, and
its magical properties warm our hearts as well. It brings
(32:26):
people together, and it's an unsung hero, helping words and
emotions escape from places they've been stuffed or stifled, opening
doors to communication, creating opportunities for bonding, bringing comfort and
a sense of belonging to those sharing special moments over
a steaming brew of tea. I hope you've enjoyed today's
(32:50):
episode and getting to know Cindy as much as I have.
I love that woman, I truly do. Keep the water
kettle on and join me on the airwaves tonight and
every night, where we'll share more stories from the heart
and share a cup of teeth,
Host
Delilah
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