by Evan Draper » Jun 21st, '13, 12:04
Old joke about viticulture:
Q: How do you make a small fortune growing wine?
A: Start with a large one.
IMHO, not much you can do as an Anglo American. Being a true believer in tea will help you to sell tea, but if you don't have a sales temperament it won't be enough, and people may not be interested in buying the tea you believe in selling. Nowadays the big players in retail, wholesale, and foodservice don't leave much space; the general market is way behind you in its tastes, and the margins would be slim in any case. You can join up with some of the big players, but know that they are looking for people with real expertise (marketing, hard sciences, IT) and they are constantly turning away rafts of untrained tea enthusiasts. It seems necessary to have some unrelated income stream, so you can subsidize trips to tea producing regions. One gambit that has led to success for some people is teaching English in China (or some other tea producing region). This is not as foolproof as it was, as these countries' supply of English teachers and cost/standard of living is increasing all the time, and while you still have to learn the language and the business culture, it is increasingly easy for their native businesses to connect with American markets.
I recommend cultivating any area of expertise that's in general demand, and trying later to parlay that into the tea world. Really, I think a doctor has a better chance to start a viable career in tea (if they want one) than an unskilled tea enthusiast like myself. And remember that our culture's outsized emphasis on career fulfillment obscures the fact that a life with tea will always be accesible to you, no matter what you do for a living.
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