Sheena Brady was set up to fail, an underdog all her life she decided to live by the notion of “Why not me?”, leading her to her passion and successes.
After realizing a career in hospitality would prevent her from building a successful e-commerce business, Sheena decided to work for Canada’s own e-commerce software, Shopify. From there, she blended teas out of her home while working full-time. Today, she still works at Shopify in leadership. As a Merchant Success Lead for Shopify Plus. At the same time, she has grown her side hustle into a million-dollar award-winning company that serves customers in over 30 countries around the world. “I’ve developed a deeply rooted passion for supporting and investing in women from diverse and intersectional backgrounds,” says Sheena. “I want to help you realize your potential. To be audacious. Because, why not you?”. Sheena’s success is the embodiment of the notion of the underdog set out in this month’s theme.
About the speaker
Sheena Brady is the founder and CEO of Tease Tea (a CreativeMornings partner), an all-natural and sustainably sourced loose-leaf tea company based in Ottawa.
Sheena will be exploring her experience as an underdog as an entrepreneur and professional.
“Growing up in a single parent household, if you translated my family history into data points, statistically I should have never gone to college or even graduated high school (fun fact: I did grade 9 math three times),” says Sheena.
“However, I not only became the first to do both, I carried an audacity and decided to live by ‘why not me?’ ever since.”
After becoming a certified Tea Sommelier, she fell in love with tea and decided to launch her own tea company. Sheena Brady started Tease Tea in 2013 as a side hustle and creative outlet from her demanding career in hospitality. After realizing a career in hospitality would prevent her from building a successful ecommerce business, Sheena decided to work for Canada’s own e-commerce software, Shopify. From there, She blended teas out of her home while working full-time.
Today, she still works at Shopify in leadership. As a Merchant Success Lead for Shopify Plus. At the same time, she has grown her side hustle into a million-dollar award-winning company that serves customers in over 30 countries around the world.
“I’ve developed a deeply rooted passion for supporting and investing in women from diverse and intersectional backgrounds,” says Sheena.
“I want to help you realize your potential. To be audacious. Because, why not you?”
Combining her passion for tea with her desire to empower women and young girls around the world, a portion of the proceeds of every purchase supports programs that are dedicated to empowering women and young girls. From shelters to startups, Tease Tea has contributed over $150,000 in product and financial support to date including what was at first a small program that has since grown into a company of its own, The Founders Fund.
The Founders Fund is an online accelerator that supports women-identified entrepreneurs during every stage of their journey. The company is made up of a community of members, funders, and mentors that are looking to invest in themselves and pay it forward to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In its first year, The Founders Fund raised over $40,000 in financial backing, funded five companies and supported 200+ women-identified applicants from 11 provinces and territories through online programming.
Favorite quotes from this talk
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Moonfruits
Banfield Agency
Rebel.com
Brown Bag Coffee Roasters
Tease Wellness
CBC Ottawa
