Dominican entrepreneur Nadja Odi Thomas officially started her small business ‘Draw Teas’ in 2020.

Nadja wanted to create a ‘taste of home’ with a drink that would bring back memories of childhood comforts using fresh, local ‘bush’ ingredients with proven medicinal properties.

Nadja’s inspiration for her business was her mother, who had sadly died of cancer just a few years before, but had passed on to her daughter a love for nature and harvesting from the land.

Yello spoke to Nadja about her plans for ‘Draw Teas’.

Describe yourselves using three words.

Eclectic. Adventurous. Curious. 

Please tell us a bit about your background.

I was born in the capital Roseau but grew up in the countryside. I’m from a family of professionals but their background is agriculture. My mum was a dentist, but she grew up on a farm, so I have an appreciation for both types of careers. 

I have always maintained my ties with the land and nature. It is very special to me. I went to secondary school in the city but would go back to the countryside all the time, then I went off to further study in the US. 

What were your initial career plans?

I have tried my hand at a few things. My first love is writing but it can be quite hard to make a living from that, so I also tried civil engineering and at one point I even thought I wanted to be a physical therapist.

Eventually, my academic journey took me back to storytelling and I became a journalist in the US. I worked as an on-camera reporter for the BBC and CNN. I also worked for small documentary companies as the Internet came in. 

When / why / how did you start your business ‘Draw Teas’?

I am a creative person and I particularly love to cook and experiment in the kitchen. Unfortunately, my mum got cancer, and I remember she used to ask for ginger tea, but she needed to know where the ginger came from because she grew up close to the land and had high standards. 

One day I was making her ginger tea before one of her chemo (chemotherapy) sessions and I said to myself ‘I wonder if there is a way to take local ginger from Dominica and make it more convenient and instant’. That’s really where the idea came from. 

After my mum died in 2016 from her second bout of cancer, I made it my mission to bring this product to the shelf. Her death really fuelled me to try to make a difference because life is so short. 

I also decided to move back to the Caribbean in 2017 because I wanted to be somewhere familiar. At that time, I had been working on a few social justice documentaries, and I realised no-one was really doing that in the Caribbean, so I wanted to tell our stories. But, knowing how difficult it is to make documentaries here because there really is no industry set up for it, I decided to also launch the business and share a product that is close to my heart. 

So, I worked as a journalist and documentary filmmaker, but I also got to spend time on my farm and experiment in the kitchen creating tea samples for family and friends to try. We officially launched the business in 2020 under a parent manufacturing company called Frying Pan Productions.

Of course, a short time later the pandemic happened, which stalled our growth and plans, but we’re still here and it did give us an opportunity to get more feedback from customers and work on perfecting the brand so that it will last and become a household name. So, we developed business wise, and that time really strengthened us in terms of understanding the market and working out how we can bring products that are farmed sustainably but are also affordable.

Where did the name ‘Draw Teas’ come from?

In Dominica, when we were sick, our grandparents would go into the yard and get some bush, add hot water, cover it, and call it draw. Like drawing tea. So, it’s a very affectionate Dominican term. 

For me, it’s about having a cup of tea from home, that tastes like home, and you can also feel comfortable about how it is grown because it is 90% chemical free.

What was the biggest challenge getting the business started?

We have limited financial resources so it was deciding what parts of the dream we had to let go so the business could survive, and how to invest our limited capital effectively. I think most small business owners find money to be the biggest challenge. 

We also struggled with finding a steady workforce especially on the farm side. Dominica used to be so different, with farm labourers easier to come by, but for reasons I haven’t really explored yet it’s harder now to find farm workers and partner with farms which meet our standards. 

Tell us more about what how you created the teas.

I figured out a basic recipe and then I worked on the texture. Once that was set, I would tweak it with different herbs that I grew up with, concentrating on the flavour and health benefits. Then I asked friends and family to score the product in terms of taste and effectiveness and give me honest feedback which helped me to whittle down the ingredients.

Where can people find ‘Draw Teas’?

In Dominica, I am on every major supermarket shelf including Whitchurch, ACS, and Jolly’s Pharmacy. We’re also in Nature’s Discount.

We’ve also started to expand regionally into St Martin and Anguilla, and we have our online store www.drawteas.com.

Right now, I have two versions of instant tea on the market – original ginger and ginger, turmeric, and bush tea.

What are your plans for the business over the next 12-18 months?

I am really focusing on regional expansion. I would love to add more retailers in more countries, so we get to a wider audience.

I also want to create more flavours because I think there is plenty of scope to add other traditional, bush medicines that our ancestors used for certain ailments. I don’t claim to cure anything, I just want to create a convenient version of the bush tea we grew up with. 

In terms of Frying Pan Productions, we are deep in research and development to produce more local food products. We also want to shore up the business and make our company more attractive for investment and create a formidable brand.

What do you love about Dominica?

Dominica always makes me feel good. 

When I come back to Dominica, I always recognise it because we’ve figured out how to maintain our lush, nature alongside our development. It still feels like the Dominica I grew up in. There are some traditions we hold onto no matter how much life changes and that soothes my soul. 

It just feels like home.

What do you do / where do you go on your days off?

I always head to the mountains and the river when I want to relax.

What is your motto / philosophy in life?

I think I just try to put my best foot forward all the time and remember to be fair. 

Life is so competitive, and you can become ruthless, so I remind myself to be fair and that has been my guiding star when I’m dealing with customers, people I am buying from, or people who are working for me. 

If you could go back in time and talk to your teenage self – what would you say?

I would say relax. Take the anxiety down a notch. When I was 13, I was ashamed of my eclectic interests. I felt very all over the place because I loved science and writing and this and that, and I thought that I should focus on just one thing. 

So, I would say relax and don’t be ashamed of all your interests. In fact, my varied interests turned out to be my strengths and informed my best decisions.

—

Follow Draw Teas on Instagram and order online.