Young Mountain Tea’s Refreshed Mission & Vision

“So…What Exactly Does Your Company Do?”

At a recent team workshop, we each took a turn answering this seemingly simple, yet surprisingly difficult, question. Lucas spoke about ownership models in a colonial-born trade, while Mitra focused on how ethical sourcing improves the quality of our teas. Camilo used numbers to paint the picture of how we’re helping people, and Manny talked about sustainable supply chains that empower farmers. With the opening of the Kumaon factory this year, the timing felt right to get on the same page. 

Marking A New Chapter

This April, while discussing the new factory, our Board member Gustavo asked us a grounding question: “What does this milestone change for us?” At a Sustainable Herbs Initiative retreat in Oregon, surrounded by towering old-growth trees and new friends from other companies using plants to make the world better, I jotted a note to myself: lead a conversation with our team to clarify our core. It felt like the perfect moment to pause, take stock, and make sure the words guiding us were as strong as the work itself.

Living Documents, Dancing Together

We see our mission and vision statements as living phrases that represent the two partners in an unending dance. Our vision is our why—our North Star, the future we want to bring into being. It’s intentionally ambitious and aspirational. Our mission is our how: the path we walk to get there. It’s more specific and doubles as a clear answer to, “What does your company do?”

Over time, I’ve realized how useful these two phrases are, especially since our work sits in the overlap of for-profit and non-profit worlds. That tension is exactly why clarity matters: it allows us to speak with one voice to many audiences. And in all cases, we answer by talking about relationships with farmers. It was also clear that the mystical, playful power of tea itself needed to shine in both.

A Blueprint For Clarity

Mitra’s mom once told me: “You have to visualize the future you want with intense focus if you want it to manifest.” A detailed daydream, she said, is essential to reshaping reality. And honestly, I’ll take any excuse to indulge in a good daydream. That became our approach to these questions. Over months, we stripped away the jargon until we landed on words that could last. Our guiding principles:

• Concise, precise, confident - language our team can carry in a pocket, ready to spark conversation—whether in a chance encounter or at a backyard BBQ.
• Free of jargon - words that will outlast today’s buzzwords. No “sustainability,” no “regenerative,” no “equity.” Just simple language that says it all without too many words.
• Poetic and playful - carrying the spirit of tea itself, like a fountain to return to when the road ahead feels hard.


  

What We’ve Landed On (For Now)

Here’s where we are today… (cue the drum roll):

• Vision (Our “Why”): Tea that creates joy for all involved.
• Mission (Our “How”): We partner with farmers to balance the tea trade.

The simplicity is intentional. The vision is expansive, embracing farmers tending ancient trees, customers finding a quiet moment of peace, and everyone in between. It shifts success away from extraction toward genuine value for all.

Looking Ahead

These words serve as a fine-tuning of our compass. When potential customers ask what makes us unique, we start here. When weighing attendance of a costly conference, we ask: will we find people who get it? It also lives at the end of each email we send, in our signature lines. 

Already, they’ve become conversation starters and decision filters. And because they’re living statements, they’ll evolve as we do. Always moving together, always pointing us toward that North Star: tea that creates joy for everyone involved. No matter how you say it.