We sat down with William Otero to understand the benefits of tea during this flu outbreak. Wil developed four inaugural blends for his Vitae Tea drink line: Immuni-Tea, a great tea blend with Vitamin C and Zinc designed to boost immunity; Sereni-Tea, a chamomile and rose tea blend that relieves stress and anxiety; Vitali-Tea, a black tea blend with Vitamins B6 and B12 to give energy and increased concentration; and Integri-Tea, a rooibos chai blend with anti-oxidants and Vitamin C. By combining vitamins with full-flavored, complex tea blends, Wil created a beverage that satisfies the tastes of the most demanding tea drinkers while also contributing directly to their well-being.
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Tea is healthy and that’s undeniable, the thought of combining tea and vitamin supplements was crazy to many I ran the idea by, “Are you insane” bottling your tea and adding vitamins will definitely take you and your company to the poor house.
-What greater challenge to make a difference was the only thing I heard, and here we are.
Can you share your story of Grit and Success? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
Being a migrant farm worker, poverty, social neglect, and prejudice have played an important role in my upbringing. From early on, I have always worked to better myself and my surroundings. The more negativity I encountered as a youth the more I was driven not to follow that path.
We all have people in our lives that make us feel like we can do anything, its when we realize that we need to become what they see, our journey starts.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Knowing I created a product that can make a difference in the world, is my drive.
So, how are things going today? 🙂
Lovely, sitting here with Vitae staff, drinking Vitae.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Never ever celebrate prematurely, At the last minute I took the vitae staff to the World Tea Expo in Vegas because we had a few weeks before our first run and while there, the Co-packers moved up the first production run. Prompting us to jump on a red eye flight, straight San Jose, and had to function for another 12 hours with absolutely no rest. We were dumb walking into equipment and stumbling over waterlines.
What do you think makes your company stand out?
Aside from the no dairy, no sugar, no calorie real tea beverage, our bottle is absolutely nothing short of stunning. The label incorporates earth elements in its graphics, thus giving it a natural appeal.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I am extremely grateful for my mother who has been there from day one. (Passion and knowledge).
My Vitae Team. (Skill and Operations). And to the ones I have lost to health issues.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Tri-Annually, l provide a meal and tea service for the Mary Elizabeth Inn, located in San Francisco, that caters to women at risk. Additionally, I work tirelessly with non-profits in the Bay Area, that have limited budgets to bring a nice experience to the people they serve.
Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit?
- You won’t sleep, because the drive will keep you up at night.
- You will never be more broke in your life, because every penny you have and make will go into what you believe in.
- You will experience a loss of friends, because they will eventually stop believing in you.
- You will need very thick skin, because you will find yourself feeling alone in the sandbox.
- Come what may, you will need to be the driving force of your team and never let them lose faith in you.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Bringing Vitae to all parts of the world. Because everyone deserves to be healthy, and in return, they can do their part.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can find us on Facebook and Instagram under “Vitaetea”. Additionally, you can view product information and more on our website, www.vitaetea.com