Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
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who both seem simultaneously energetic and laid back, share a home in addition to the business. But their compatibility makes the situation work. "Sean and I get along well, and I guess we're a little crazy," says Bowler. She came to the business with a pas- sion for tea, having taken up the habit in college, and Smith had always wanted to be an entrepreneur. "We both have careers we love, but we wanted another project," Bowler says. She is an actress and singer, working in local theater and filming commer- cials. Smith is a bar manager at Biltmore Cabaret, a popular live music venue in Vancouver. "Insane" is what juggling careers sometimes feels like, accord- ing to Bowler. "We are constantly looking for that balance. I don't know if it'll ever be there 100 percent, since my other career is in an inconsistent industry. When I'm in rehearsals, I can't put in a lot of time at the shop, so I have to train the staff well to pick up the slack. And my sister is one of our full-timers; I can completely trust her with my tea baby." With the tea baby come all of the favorites: blacks, oolongs, greens, whites, herbals, fruit tisanes and flavored teas. After opening in 2010, Bowler and Smith quickly learned what their best sellers would be. Great Wall's number-one request is Cream Earl Grey (flavored with vanilla), which is stored in an easily accessed tin on the wall. The hundreds of teas are alphabetized with labels on the bottom, but "you get to know them and recog- nize the lids," says Bowler. And to sell their finds, Great Wall takes to Facebook and Twitter. The shop's social media feeds feature a daily free- drink promotion called the Name of the Day. A recent Saturday awarded anyone named Derrick a free drink, and on another it was "Biscuit"—anyone who brought in a biscuit was given a free tea in which to dunk it. "We have someone who helps us with social media, and he really gets into it," says Bowler. "I love the idea, but I don't actually want to tweet. I feel like an old lady." But she doesn't look a day over 24, and she's humble. Great Wall is doing well, but Bowler insists, "We've been fortunate to open a business in an industry that is in a period of growth. Every time [TV personality] Dr. Oz talks about a certain tea, people come in and ask for it. It's not my desire to take advan- tage of that trend, but it's an opportunity to educate people about tea." And part of that education is letting customers know about the ritual role tea plays in cultures worldwide. "We've met a lot of interesting people over the course of two years, and we've shared a lot of great conversations all over a cup of tea," says Smith. As for the future, "We're constantly finding ways to better our offerings, whether it be the tea we are sourcing or how we can improve our guests' experience," Smith says. "The future of our shop is really being dictated by the customers we serve. We are getting a lot more requests to cater private functions, hold tea seminars and to custom blend." Listening to customers? Sounds like a smart way to grow. Fresh Cup Magazine 59