South Florida family turns love of tea into growing side hustle amid rising costs

As inflation pushes up the cost of everyday necessities, millions of Americans are looking for ways to bring in extra money, and one South Florida family turned a desire to help its matriarch retire into a growing tea business.

Natacha Armbrister is the owner of High 7 Teas, a family-run Hollywood business involving three generations of women. Armbrister works full time at a hospital while spending her free time building the company she started about a decade ago.

"I didn't realize High 7 Teas would be where it's at now," Armbrister said.

The idea began when Armbrister's mother started talking about wanting to retire and stay home. Looking for a way to provide additional income for her, Armbrister realized the foundation for a business was already part of their family's routine.

"She loves making tea," Armbrister said of her mother. "She loves making tea for the family, just to be able to sit around the table and just drink a cup of tea and just relax. So that's where I decided, 'Oh, hey, let's go and see what I can do with teas.'"

Nearly three in 10 Americans have a side hustle

High 7 Teas is part of a broader trend of Americans taking on additional work to supplement their income.

A survey by e-commerce company Omnisend found 28% of Americans have a side hustle, with four out of five saying financial need is behind their decision to take on extra work. Most make less than $500 a month from their side jobs, according to the survey.

For Armbrister, turning that extra income into a sustainable business meant learning how to build one from the ground up.

"It comes from budgeting, knowing your numbers, knowing your product," Armbrister said.

She turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at Florida International University, which offers free resources and guidance to entrepreneurs and small business owners.

"When you are a business owner, your hardest work is to be able to visualize where you want to go in the future and build a path to get there," said Adriana Madrinan, a business consultant with the SBDC at FIU.

Madrinan said technology has opened new opportunities for entrepreneurs to turn relatively small operations into businesses capable of reaching much larger audiences. But she cautioned that aspiring business owners need to do their homework before investing.

"Improvising a business could become very expensive and could also make you fail if you haven't done the correct research," Madrinan said.

Testing the market is also critical, she said, because entrepreneurs need to determine whether customers actually want the products or services they plan to sell.

High 7 Teas is now putting those lessons into practice, selling its products online and at local farmers markets.

Customers can find High 7 Teas at Booth 224 at the Yellow Green Farmers Market every weekend and at the Pinecrest Farmers Market on Sundays.