participating/showcasing at expos is a great part of building the wholesale business.  this year we will be exhibiting at the world tea expo in las vegas for the first time.  the world tea expo holds a special place in tavalon’s history because that is where we found chris cason, our tea sommelier.  back in 2005 i had the idea/concept for tavalon and got my certification in tea but still didn’t have enough product knowledge to start the biz so i headed out to las vegas for the world tea expo.  my plan was to do more research on the market/product but then came to the realization that i didn’t want to reinvent any wheels.  why not just bring on a tea expert?  the tea industry isn’t necessarily run by the youngest of people.  back then it was even worse and we were definitely the youngest amongst tea entrepreneurs.  i met with a few tea experts and they all looked me like i was crazy and wanted nothing to do with us or our concept.  they were happy catering to the older generations of tea drinkers and not open to change.  but then we happened to stop by a booth of the largest online tea company at the time and there was a young guy with crazy hair working the station.  he naturally stood out because looked like a mad scientist and he was also young. this was chris cason, the tea master for this online tea company.   i found out later that he also wrote a book on tea and that was it, i had to get him on my team.  so we set up a meeting a few weeks later back in nyc and i gave him the pitch for what we were looking to do with tavalon and the rest is history…  looking forward to heading back out to the expo this time as a team and an exhibitor.