Today we’d like to introduce you to Azael Martindale-Hernandez.
Azael, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The human body has so many stories to tell and mysteries we still haven’t uncovered. It’s fascinating how certain diets can affect us, how your mood can physically impact your behavior and how spiritual attacks can take a toll on your body. I didn’t start to pay attention to these things until my father was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. That was a difficult year, and when he passed the following year, it was almost unbearable. I was entering my freshman year of college and what was supposed to be an exciting time for me, starting a new chapter. It was difficult to enjoy life during that time and I started to see how my mood and lack of healing was taking a toll on my well-being and ability to function in school. I didn’t like how I felt so I started to do some research and I discovered how your spirit, your moods and your diet all tie in with your overall health. Once I learned how to change my attitude and my lifestyle with what I was putting in my body I took a different approach and started eating healthier, being more spiritually aware and cutting out the junk.
(At the time I wasn’t thinking on a bigger scale of my current business Sweet Flights Tea, that came much later).
Fast forward four years later, I’m working the corporate job that you’re taught you’re supposed to get after college. I’m pursuing my masters degree in International Business because my mom always said education is one thing that can’t be taken from you so go as far as you can; and I’m still doing the “healthy” thing and I’ve got the whole family involved, my dad is gone so I needed my mom and little brother to be healthy 24/7. I was doing everything right, at least that’s what I thought, until one day my mom asked: “why aren’t you determining your own success”? She and I had been having a conversation about what I would do after grad school and the real question was why wait until after when you can start something now. I knew I wanted to have something of my own and to build a legacy for my family, I also knew that was risky and had the potential to fail. I was allowing fear to get in the way of what I believe God had given to me as the vision for my life. Everything I had experienced, the people in my life with wisdom and the things I was exposed to was preparing me to be faithful and pursue what I had been praying on for years.
I created Sweet Flights Tea, with my very first product launched in October 2018. The basis of all the tea blends came from my belief that the little things you do to heal your body from common sickness and ailments can help to fortify you from being susceptive to major diseases and poor health. Tea naturally has its own healing properties, with the right blends it can also taste pretty sweet! I have vision for my business, favor, and purpose from God so I will not fail. I am excited to see where this path takes me as it’s constantly a learning process and I can’t wait to see how my tea can help people and make them feel good from the inside. Looking back at how frightening the idea was of starting something that was mine makes me proud at the growth I’ve been able to experience in the last few years. I know my dad is looking down, proud of me too.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has been everything but smooth but I like to think of it as growing pains. The art of tea is thousands of years old and is a difficult market to break into if you don’t have the right resources in place. I was lucky enough to have someone to help mentor me and guide on the essentials like finding a good blender, packaging, marketing, distribution, etc. Learning that side of the business has been the most challenging because there is always something new to learn. My biggest challenge right now is finding my market, my sweet spot for marketing my product to. Thankfully marketing was my concentration in undergrad so it’s been helpful to lay the groundwork for my business now.
Support has never been a challenge for me, I have a great group of family, mentors, and friends who support me and are always willing to lend advice, give feedback and help how they can. I was blessed to have that kind of support around me because when I get overwhelmed with everything and I just want to quit they’re there to remind me why I started in the first place and why it’s important I keep going. The challenges are worth it when you get the little victories that lead to the big ones.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Sweet Flights Tea – what should we know?
Sweet Flights Tea is tea blends made with simple ingredients for simple solutions with your prosperity in mind. My main goal for the business is to have products with ingredients that people could pronounce. When I was doing my research, I would go to the grocery store and see a lot of teas with things in it I couldn’t pronounce and that just didn’t make sense to me because tea is supposed to be a natural medicine. Keeping to that standard makes my tea quality with natural herbs. I specialize in signature teas, every tea blend we have is designed and made to solve a problem.
Our detox blend is a gentle cleanse that helps to break up the icky stuff that stays stuck to your digestive system. It’s a gentle detox because it won’t interrupt your day and have you running to the bathroom every 10 minutes. With proper water intake and exercise, it will help to clear your digestive system, boost your energy and helps with immune support. The latest blend which is a dessert tea, Champagne and Berries tea is modeled after your favorite strawberry bellini. It has organic berry pieces in it which not only make the tea taste great but are a great source of antioxidants, vitamin C, immune support and increased concentration.
I’m most proud of my determination to ensure truly natural ingredients in my teas, I wouldn’t want to offer people something that has ingredients in it I wouldn’t drink so I make sure that I treat my customers how I would want to be treated and test all the blends myself. I believe that sets me apart from others as well because a lot of tea companies are focused on selling as much as possible for less cost to make the tea. That has never been my focus because the main goal is to make people feel good and heal from the inside when they drink my tea, the rest will come when I put others first.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My mother is my biggest supporter, she always has been. She has encouraged me to start, helped me understand the business and financial side of things and constantly reminds me that if it were easy everyone would be doing it. My drive for success and legacy building for my family comes from watching how she managed to build a life for us where we had the tools to be successful and the knowledge to start early. She taught me early on that things don’t just come to you so there’s no use in waiting for something to happen. The example she’s set and the values she’s instilled in me make me passionate about my business and wanting to leave a legacy for our family.
Pricing:
- Sweet Flights 14 Day Gentle Cleanse – $17
- Sweet Flights Gentle Cleanse and Deep Detox -14 Day Supply – $32
- Sweet Flights 28 Day Gentle Cleanse – $34
- Sweet Flights Champagne and Berries Tea (20 Sachets) – $18
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sweetflightstea.com
- Phone: 4707292542
- Email: support@sweetflights.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetflightstea/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SweetFlightsTeas/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/azaelcierra/?hl=en
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