When I’m traveling and I tell people what I do, they often roll their eyes and say, “A tea lounge? Only in San Francisco!”

Now we have three Tea Lounges plus an online shop, but the truth is, Samovar almost never happened — even in San Francisco.

Of the banks that made time to meet, more than seventy rejected the business plan. Even number seventy-two, the bank that finally gave us a break, thought we would fail. “Honestly,” the loan officer said. “All the data says your concept will fail. But this is a place that I want to exist because I want to go there! With that, I’m going to approve it.” (Thank you for believing, Mr. Decius!)

Continue reading Success Ritual #3, How To Identify Your Core Values

Things do not change; we change.

— Henry David Thoreau

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

— Winston Churchhill

Knock, knock, knock. “One minute!” A woman’s voice replies from inside the single-story suburban home. The door opens. “Hello?”

“Hello, ma’am,” I say. “Have you ever considered what would happen to your beautiful home in the event of a fire? I’m sure you have insurance, but that wouldn’t begin to cover the true cost of your lost heirlooms — to say nothing of the danger! I’m here to share with you one of the absolute BEST fire extinguishers ever made. Do you mind if I come in?…”

Continue reading Success Ritual #2, From Shoe-Shine to Samovar, The Power of Visualization

The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.

–Thomas Edison

Did you ever see the customers in health-food stores? They are pale, skinny people who look half-dead. In a steakhouse, you see robust, ruddy people. They’re dying, of course, but they look terrific.

–Bill Cosby

Not long ago, my friend Dr. Sara Gottfried stopped by Samovar Tea Lounge. She’d been busy writing, traveling, promoting her new book, The Hormone Cure: Reclaim Balance, Sleep, Sex Drive and Vitality Naturally with the Gottfried Protocol. It’s a great book.

I’m not the only one who likes it. Her book is a New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Bestseller — no small feat!

As we talked, our conversation naturally turned to tips and tricks for keeping life in balance.

I was curious about how hormones affect men. What hormones should I be concerned about? What could I improve?

We had a fun conversation, but simply didn’t have enough time. Afterwards, I made two commitments:

1. I would learn more about the power of hormones and use my daily rituals to achieve the right balance,

2. I’d get Sara back to Samovar for a followup chat soon! (Want to join us? Read on for details.)

Continue reading Success Ritual #1, The Wake Up Shower

Fear is sticky, like glue. The initial emotion of fear may only last a few minutes, but if we let it linger, it can get stuck in our system for days, months, or even a lifetime.

The sensation of fear is effective if it protects us from real threats. The fight-or-flight reaction has helped humans escape life-threatening dangers over the millennia. But in this era of thinking, creating, and problem solving, our fears are usually unfounded. And when fear sticks in our system, it becomes a toxic influence on our choices, emotions, and actions.

Here are a few tips for getting fear out of your system:

Continue reading 4 Steps to Facing Your Fears

Let’s face it: we’re physical beings in physical bodies. When we exercise we feel good, and have more energy and enthusiasm for life. Our minds can focus better, and our bodies fight off sickness more effectively.

Yet most of our modern day working lives are spent in a chair, behind a wheel, or in front of a computer. Exercise is uncomfortable, so therefore it’s undesirable. Our schedules are full, our days are long, and we’re overwhelmed with distraction, so we find plenty of reasons to let exercise slip off the priority list.

So what if we reframed our thinking about exercise—not as a chore, but as a practice, as important as brushing your teeth and meditating? Suddenly the challenges and excuses melt away. You might even find yourself enjoying the process.

Continue reading How to Exercise the Samovar Way

Here’s a beautiful poem written by Gwen Weiss, a customer at the Tea Lounges. She said, “I was delivering tempeh to the Castro location today and decided to stop in my deliveries and have a cup of tea and get a snack…such a great decision.  I ended up drinking Maiden’s Ecstasy [pu-erh] and a poem came through that I left for James and the other very sweet servers.”

Continue reading “Tea Buzz”, a Poem By Gwen Weiss

I think it’s fair to say that the number one survival skill in the professional world is sales. You can have the best product in the world, but if no one buys it, it doesn’t matter.

At Samovar we focus on sales by actually NOT focusing on sales. All day long we’re bombarded again and again by ads: online, in the news, in the movie theater, everywhere. We’re trained to be on the defensive and revolt against anyone who tries to push something on us.

Instead of a sales pitch, what Samovar offers is connection. Genuine connection. This makes hiring and training hard; it’s challenging to find team members who truly care about connecting with total strangers. But it’s worth the effort, and customers often comment on the friendly, supportive service we provide.

And service is the best way to sell. No, we’re not a non-profit, and we can’t carry out our mission if we’re not profitable. But our focus is on understanding what our customers really need. We’re not here just to feed people and keep them hydrated. We’re here to give guests what they truly crave: a respite from the rigors of life. The opportunity to unplug, slow down, and connect with themselves, and with others.

If we compete just by selling lots of tea, we’re up against giants like Tazo Tea and Lipton. But if we compete by solving the true needs of each guest, we are wholly unique.

The typical restaurant has employees that are essentially “order takers.” It’s scary because if all you’re doing is literally “taking orders,” I’d say that your job isn’t very secure. There’s probably an app coming out for restaurants that will do just that.

Continue reading How We Serve at Samovar

Everyone you meet today has something they’re stressed about. Probably multiple things. It’s just part of life. But you can only do so much to address your stresses, and then you have the choice to let them go, or to hold onto them. What if you chose to let them go?

Continue reading Practice Peace, Drink Tea