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KC girl, 9, starts own tea business: 'I'm gonna have a ginormous corporate office in Kansas City!'

Posted at 1:26 PM, Sep 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-06 19:24:56-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Brayisha Avery may be only nine years old, but she already has her own business brewing.

The fourth grader, who goes by Bray, really loves tea. She loves it so much she now sells it through her company Grandma’s Tea, naming it for the woman who introduced her to her favorite drink.

“My grandma, she is very nice and she’s good at baking too,” she said. “We sit there, we talk, we drink it.”

Avery said she never thought twice about starting her own business at a young age.

“I said right now,” she said. “Because if you learn how to be an entrepreneur while you’re young, it wouldn’t be… it won’t be so hard when you’re older.”

She said she was inspired by her mom who also runs her own business.

“I thought that looks cool, I want one of those,” she said.

“You always want to find something they love. So tea was it!” said her mom, Karesha Worford. 

Grandma’s Tea is now about six months old with a website, social media, and even a logo.

“It says ‘A Tea Kids Can Enjoy,’” she said, pointing to her shirt with the logo. 

Wanting other kids to love tea as much as she does is also the reason Bray said she sells caffeine-free tea, with a little help from mom.

“She actually either packs it herself or we’ll sit down and tag team it and pack it up,” said Worford.

The budding business owner says she has talked to a local business group and sells her tea at events and online, even delivering occasionally to customers. Next month her mom said she is headed to a Girls Entrepreneur Expo.

“I like that you’re the boss,” Avery said about having her own business. “And I also like that you can move upward.”

Her mom said she hopes this business could be a way to save some money for college, but Bray’s plans don’t end there.

“I’m gonna have a ginormous corporate office in Kansas City!”