Louisville Magazine

FEB 2014

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

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Q&A; ROOIBEE RED A s the CTeaO (chief tea ofcer) of Rooibee Red Tea, Heather Howell, 41, oversees all operations of the beverage company, which produced 500,000 bottles of organic rooibos-bush teas last year. Before that, Howell managed an employee-recruiting program at Humana. She says that if she and Rooibee Red Tea founder Jef Sturm, who worked at Brown-Forman before he started the company in 2009, hadn't already been in Louisville, it easily could have started somewhere else. "I think the best way to ask the question is, 'Why do we stay?'" she says. TEA FOR MANY TWOS What are the advantages to being located in Louisville? "Louisville's geography. Everything east of the Rocky Mountains one can get to their destination in 24 hours. As a consumer-product company, our business becomes a logistics business. Shipping and getting our Rooibee Red Tea goods to their destination is critical to a consumer brand's success." Howell also attributes part of the company's success to another big local export — bourbon. "Our bourbon industry creates an ecosystem for beverage companies to thrive," she says, adding that making Rooibee with Louisville tap water doesn't hurt either. Because your business has grown up here, what advantages do you see to being an entrepreneur in Louisville versus other cities? "I can call our mayor and he'll respond. I can reach out to other CEOs in the community and there is a sense of humility and familiarity. I often refer to Louisville as LouisVillage — a place where everyone comes together to help one another." What challenges do you see? "Every city has negatives and positives. Te challenge is the need to secure investment capital for a rapidly growing consumer brand. I always caution entrepreneurs that getting loans from a bank is much diferent today than it was a few years ago." ONE QUESTION What kind of companies do you see opportunities for in Louisville? "Companies are about people. Te greatest opportunity Louisville has is to focus attention on continuing to develop the best educational institutions in the region. I always say great cities equal great academia. (As a recruiter,) my eyes were open wide as I interviewed candidates and traveled to cities with top-ranked academic institutions. It was enlightening to see that high-functioning cities are in fact built around universities. Business needs top talent to grow and sustain." Little John's Derby Jewelry 3029 S. Fourth St. Founded in 2004 CTeaO Howell (top right) and Rooibee team members Jeremy Irvin, Courtney McCoy and Kristin Madden. What makes Little John's an important part of the community, not just another pawn shop? "I guess we look like it, but we're not even a pawn. We just buy and sell. We give people estimates on how much their stuf is worth, even if we're not buying. We give info freely. Even folk art. We bought a piece of Rachael Howard folk art for over $1,200. No pawn shop would buy a piece of Rachael Howard artwork. We're known for gold, but we're skilled as jewelers in general. And we're laid-back, man. We're just chillin'." — "Little John" Tan, owner 2.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 43

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