We had the good fortune of connecting with Shannon Ullmann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shannon, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?

What was your thought process behind starting your own business?

Prior to launching my own business, I was working as an engineer. I enjoyed my work a great deal, helping small, local drinking water utilities grow, maintain and incorporate water conservation into their systems.

My two daughters were born in 2010 and 2014. I continued to work as an engineer, but realized the precious opportunity that I had to be more present during their young childhood.

The community in which we lived had a high cost of living. My husband and I knew that in order to live on a single income, a move would be best.

We purchased a new home in an agrarian valley. The purchase included five acres currently used as pasture.
During naptimes and after bedtimes, I began market research to determine a productive use for the five acres we had acquired.

After considering a variety of alternatives (elk ranch, hops farm, fresh produce, etc.), the alternative that rose to the top was: an herbal tea farm.

• The product is shelf-stable, eliminating the rush to deliver produce to consumer quickly.
• The product is sold in small quantities, a necessity for our small acreage to succeed on a larger scale.
• The market was growing, as Coloradoans, especially, were eliminating or reducing caffeine and seeking healthy beverage options.
• There was very little competition, as even the most “local” tea companies sold products whose ingredients were not locally sourced.

It was unique, healthy and offered lots of opportunities for creativity.
Best of all, it allowed me the flexibility to work from home, adjust my schedule to maximize my time with my daughters and gave me a beautiful and challenging way to spend my time each day.

—-
What is one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?

That “smart people” become doctors, lawyers or engineers. Honestly, while this was my upbringing, Brene Brown put it into words in a way that I had not.

She said:
“If I had a dollar for every interview I did with someone in their late-20s or early-30s who got on the engineer, lawyer, or doctor path because that was the leading escalator for smart people at the time who’s now depressed and hates what they do, never realizing they could be a shoe designer, casting director, or microphone builder… If I had a dollar for every one of those, I’d be set for life.”

The “smartest people” that I know might be doctors, lawyers or engineers. But they also might be poets, farmers, care-givers, bakers, teachers, musicians.

The “smartest people” that I know, have learned what inspires them. Then, they seek out those inspirations. They turn their inspirations into joy. And they share that with others.

—–
Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career?

I think the opposite side of the same coin of “risk” is “curiosity.”

It seems easier to embrace risk when curiosity is the underlying mindset. Failure is not negative, but positive; a step in learning and exploring.

“That didn’t work, how about this?” seems like an attitude that can lead to large changes one small step at a time.

For me, the moment when “risk” seemed to loom largest was at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. To say “something isn’t working” meant that up to that moment, all of my efforts might be better channeled towards a different life. One that I could not yet envision. The “risk” was to trust that I would be okay if I tried.

At the time, I was empowered by a quote I read by Thomas Jefferson. It said:
“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

—-
What habits do you feel helped you succeed?

One habit or mindset that I have learned to cultivate is to maintain consistency in completing small tasks to achieve large gains.

I have learned that big gains happen one small step at a time. An entire business cannot be built overnight. However, one page of a website can. One side of a product package can. One phone call. One kind word of gratitude to a new customer.

Tomorrow the next page, the next package side, the next outreach.

Over time, I look back and see what enormous gains have been made through taking consistent, daily small steps.

—-
What is the most important factor behind your success/the success of your brand?

Eleanor Roosevelt said “Do one thing, every day, that scares you.”

I think they way that an entrepreneur approaches challenges has everything to do with their success.

Challenges are inevitable.

How do you craft the right logo? Who is your target market? What is the right website platform?

The way I approach each day’s challenge is with curiosity. Not with resentment.

I am here to learn. As I do so, I will start to gain a more accurate perspective of what works for my brand and business and what doesn’t.

I “GET” to learn how to manage employees.

I “GET” to create and maintain my own website.

Lucky me!

I will have both successes and failures in my entrepreneurial journey. But BOTH are of great value if I choose to learn from both.

That didn’t work? Why not?

That business is a wonderful partnership. Why?

Setbacks or challenges are best viewed as opportunities. As we navigate each, we learn. And as we learn, we succeed.

—–
What is the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?

One facet of my business that I have learned the most from is the power of authenticity and of sharing my story.
When I launched my business, my marketing approach was to use my business, brand and logo as a shield between myself and my customers.

Very quickly, I learned: my customers want to support ME. They want to hear my story.

They want to visit my farm. They want to know that there is a person, a family, a face behind the product they are purchasing from me.

The want to see the plants growing, touch, feel, smell the live lavender, chamomile, mint.

They want to see that if she can do it, so can I.

I love that my story, my adventure, is as much a part of the tea that they drink as the box, the brand and the business.

I love that I can inspire and connect in a very personal way with any customer that reaches out to me.

As such, my monthly e-love letters, social media, mission & values tell my customers what I’m learning, what I am inspired by, what beauty is around them in simple moments and what gratitude I feel towards each one of them.

—–
Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?

Prior to starting my own business, as a consulting engineer one of my biggest challenges was navigating rigidity of a standard schedule.

My firm was very generous in many ways. Employees were given freedom to shift hours to accommodate family needs, adjustments to days per week, etc. However, as with most employers, employee regulations and benefits delineation required the firm to insist on fixed hours per week. And, rightly so, a clear understanding of employees’ schedule.

While the structure of this lifestyle is in the best interest of both the employees and their employer, it lends unnecessary complication to what “life” truly is: daily navigation of unanticipated circumstances.
Sick children, school closures, volunteer opportunities, social altruism can be accomplished, but not without some degree of complication.

Always the question was: Do I have enough sick leave or vacation time to do this? If the answer was “no,” then the opportunity to participate in that aspect of life was simply unavailable.

As a business owner, among the most rewarding perks is that I can complete tasks on my timeline, step out to deliver comfort to a child who had an accident on the playground, volunteer, respond to the unexpected (pandemic, for example) easily, efficiently and completely.

This may mean tasks are completed after 5:00 pm or before 8:00 am.

This may mean I am pulled away from one important task to address another, more imperative situation.
This may mean I say “yes” to hosting a 3rd grade workshop about bees and pollinators, unpaid.

But all can be done with a great deal of ease. Where the patchwork of life (work, family, generosity, sharing) can unfold easily and beautifully. As, I believe, it should be.

____
How did you come up with the idea for your business?

We purchased a new home in an agrarian valley. The purchase included five acres currently used as pasture.
During naptimes and after bedtimes, I began market research to determine a productive use for the five acres we had acquired.

After considering a variety of alternatives (elk ranch, hops farm, fresh produce, etc.), the alternative that rose to the top was: an herbal tea farm.

• The product is shelf-stable, eliminating the rush to deliver produce to consumer quickly.
• The product is sold in small quantities, a necessity for our small acreage to succeed on a larger scale.
• The market was growing, as Coloradoans, especially, were eliminating or reducing caffeine and seeking healthy beverage options.
• There was very little competition, as even the most “local” tea companies sold products whose ingredients were not locally sourced.

It was unique, healthy and offered lots of opportunities for creativity.

____
Why did you pursue and artistic or creative career?

Like me, many may come to look at their circumstances and ask themselves:

Is what I do all day, every day, satisfying?

I began to understand that the amount of overlap between our daily professional activities and our inspired giftings will define the amount of joy, satisfaction and fulfillment we inhabit.

I began to understand that I am most fulfilled as a creator. And while there was some opportunity for creativity as a professional engineer, the overlap would always be limited.

A I moved into the foundation phase of my business, designing a logo, developing blend recipes, laying out my farm, creating a website, building a brand, I was moved by how fulfilled it felt.

The overlap between my everyday activities and my inspired giftings had grown immensely.

Why do I continue to pursue a creative career, because I am inspired, moved, to do so.

___
What are you inspired by?

I am inspired by words, writers and poets.

Truth coupled with simple authenticity that put words to ideas to guide us to our better selves.

As a farmer, I get to audio-read a lot. Most recently, a book called “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall-Kimmerer has taken up my “learning time.”

The author inspires me because she sees and shares simple, universal moments in nature that teach her how to be a better human.

I am inspired by scientists, and researchers.

I am so grateful that are brave enough to ask hard questions and share what they are learning through the trials and successes of their life.

I am inspired by nature.

Even before I became a farmer, I knew deeply what benefits come from spending time in nature. I have lived the margins of life as a climber, skier, trail runner, paddler, hiker. And understand the healing and calm that comes from appreciating natures beauty.

I am lucky to have created a career that lets me keep my hands in the soil and my whole being surrounded by growing plants. Their humble, intricate, connective beauty never ceases to make me feel that I have so much to learn.

I am inspired by music.

I am amazed to experience regularly how our emotions can be calmed, modified or healed through creating and sharing music. I began playing the harp in 2020 and now offer music to hospice patients and their care-givers each week. To share music with strangers is much like sharing my entrepreneurial story, my tea and my thoughts. What great connections are achieved when we simply share the things we create with a stranger.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What makes my products unique? What am I most proud of? Elevation Mountain-Grown Herbal Teas are a celebration of local farmers, great taste, positive health and the inspiring state from which they come.

We grow, harvest, process, blend and package all of our ingredients on our farm.

How did I get to where you are today?
Prior to launching my own business, I was working as an engineer. I enjoyed my work a great deal, helping small, local drinking water utilities grow, maintain and incorporate water conservation into their systems.
My two daughters were born in 2010 and 2014. I continued to work as an engineer, but realized the precious opportunity that I had to be more present during their young childhood.
The community in which we lived had a high cost of living. My husband and I knew that in order to live on a single income, a move would be best.
We purchased a new home in an agrarian valley. The purchase included five acres currently used as pasture.
During naptimes and after bedtimes, I began market research to determine a productive use for the five acres we had acquired.
After considering a variety of alternatives (elk ranch, hops farm, fresh produce, etc.), the alternative that rose to the top was: an herbal tea farm.
• The product is shelf-stable, eliminating the rush to deliver produce to consumer quickly.
• The product is sold in small quantities, a necessity for our small acreage to succeed on a larger scale.
• The market was growing, as Coloradoans, especially, were eliminating or reducing caffeine and seeking healthy beverage options.
• There was very little competition, as even the most “local” tea companies sold products whose ingredients were not locally sourced.
It was unique, healthy and offered lots of opportunities for creativity.
Best of all, it allowed me the flexibility to work from home, adjust my schedule to maximize my time with my daughters and gave me a beautiful and challenging way to spend my time each day.

Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?
It was and is a lot of work.
One habit or mindset that I have learned to cultivate is to maintain consistency in completing small tasks to achieve large gains.
I have learned that big gains happen one small step at a time. An entire business cannot be built overnight. However, one page of a website can. One side of a product package can. One phone call. One kind word of gratitude to a new customer.
Tomorrow the next page, the next package side, the next outreach.
Over time, I look back and see what enormous gains have been made through taking consistent, daily small steps.

What are lessons you’ve learned along the way?
One facet of my business that I have learned the most from is the power of authenticity and of sharing my story.
When I launched my business, my marketing approach was to use my business, brand and logo as a shield between myself and my customers.
Very quickly, I learned: my customers want to support ME. They want to hear my story.
They want to visit my farm. They want to know that there is a person, a family, a face behind the product they are purchasing from me.
The want to see the plants growing, touch, feel, smell the live lavender, chamomile, mint.
They want to see that if she can do it, so can I.
I love that my story, my adventure, is as much a part of the tea that they drink as the box, the brand and the business.
I love that I can inspire and connect in a very personal way with any customer that reaches out to me.
As such, my monthly e-love letters, social media, mission & values tell my customers what I’m learning, what I am inspired by, what beauty is around them in simple moments and what gratitude I feel towards each one of them.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
What I love sharing most about my brand and story is that there is a person just like them behind it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
In addition to taking a tour of our farm, of course, our valley is known for its beautiful and productive orchards and vineyards.

Many opportunities are available for u-pick, farm-to-table feasts, and wine tastings.

We are also surrounding by the beautiful West Elk mountains filled with awe-inspiring trails.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is in our backyard, and a hike along the rim or down into the canyon is a wonderful way to connect with nature.

The same Gunnison River is renowned for fishing and paddling.

Our valley has an amazing artistic thread, musicians and artists that share their crafts and inspire me to look and listen long.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family.

Each member contributed to who I have become in my entrepreneurial journey.

My daughters were the motivation for such creativity that I never thought I had. Their arrival launched my mindset to seek unique ways to live life that are richer and more fulfilling than I had thought possible.

My husband is the selfless problem solver and cheerleader that I needed to turn a quiet “maybe” into reality. He saw my vision and its potential and gave so much time and energy to launch the vision.

Website: https://www.elevationherbaltea.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevationherbaltea/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountaingrownherbaltea

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.