Sajani Amarasiri is a complete pure at being a small enterprise proprietor. Her tea firm, Kola Goodies, has skilled quick development within the two years since its inception. The model’s Sri Lankan tea blends are already promoting in brick-and-mortar shops, they’ve landed a partnership with an enormous Boba chain, they usually’re at present within the works of increasing their product line. This success received’t be shocking to anybody accustomed to Sajani’s background.
“My dad and mom are entrepreneurs — small enterprise house owners,” Sajani mentioned. “So for a very long time, I did not notice that was the one reference I had for a profession… so company was not the dream. I at all times thought I might do one thing by myself.”
However, the highway to paving her personal firm took a while. After transferring to the US from Sri Lanka for faculty, Sajani determined to enter the tech area not as a result of that was her dream profession, however as a result of it was probably the most life like choice for her – a survival mechanism as an immigrant. She ended up working at Amazon after which made the transfer to Microsoft the place the corporate sponsored her work visa.
It seems, that Sajani really loved working in tech. Her job particularly centered on {hardware} provide chain, which might show to be helpful as soon as she made the swap to working a enterprise. And, regardless of the lengthy hours, Sajani didn’t let her day job take up all of her time. She at all times had aspect hustles like beginning a web-based clothes retailer. Ultimately, she determined to deal with a good larger venture and managed to open up the primary ever co-working area in Sri Lanka – Colombo Cooperative – which was completely women-founded and funded.
However even that wasn’t sufficient for the Sri Lankan native. The itch to do one thing larger and bolder was brewing inside her. By connecting again to her roots and leveraging her distinct perspective as an immigrant, Sajani would go on to create a small enterprise that embraces her Sri Lankan heritage.
A novel and multicultural perspective
A number of years in the past, Sajani seen the wellness increase which promised well being and vitality by means of holistic superfoods. Dwelling within the Bay Space, Sajani was surrounded by this new well being kick. It shortly grew to become obvious that rituals and components she grew up with in her Sri Lankan family – like turmeric and coconut oil – had been blowing up in her new dwelling.
And whereas it was good to see elements of her tradition being acknowledged, Sajani couldn’t assist however really feel like her upbringing was additionally being co-opted.
“[These ingredients] have been in our generational kitchens and households for 1,000s of years,” Sajani mentioned. “However our tales weren’t being advised. That cultural appropriation was sort of loopy to witness being an immigrant.”
She realized that all the tea manufacturers that had been promoting turmeric drinks on the time weren’t owned by South Asian founders, regardless of the yellow spice originating in South Asia. Together with her background and experience, Sajani knew she might develop an genuine, nutritious, and scrumptious turmeric drink. Much more so, she needed to create a product that might seamlessly mix her two identities.
“You get to have this distinctive perception from a distinct cultural lens. Two houses …my dwelling in America and my dwelling the place I grew up [in Sri Lanka],” Sajani mentioned. “For me, it was like, ‘how do I create worth addition from that perspective, in a method that provides again to each the locations the place I come from?”
Actually, Sajani named the corporate after a preferred Sri Lanka drink “Kola Kanda,” which is created from uncooked rice, coconut milk, and natural leaves which can be mentioned to have medicinal properties. This was a drink she grew up with and has significantly fond reminiscences of.
“It’s a deeply common, very Sri Lankan breakfast tea that’s so good for you. It is full of greens, it is warming, and it is nice on your digestion and power,” Sajani mentioned.
In 2020, she launched a minimal viable product of their first mix, the tremendous inexperienced latte, which incorporates turmeric. By way of this testing course of, Sajani obtained tons of suggestions and realized what shoppers needed.
This laid down the framework for Kola Goodies. Now, two years later, the corporate simply launched their third product – a dairy-free oat milk latte. Whereas Kola Goodies has seen quite a lot of success, Sajani has needed to alter her imaginative and prescient a few occasions alongside the best way.
Discovering your why and sticking to it
Sajani credit her success as an entrepreneur to at least one predominant factor: realizing her why. Even when she’s confronted obstacles in her companies, she’s been capable of join again to her finish purpose which has at all times pushed her ahead.
“I feel one of many greatest issues is having your ‘why’ very clear as to, ‘why you’re beginning this?’ And, ‘what’s the imaginative and prescient behind it?’” Sajani mentioned. “As a result of it’s not simple to undergo daily pushing a small enterprise to achieve success. However having that why… will at all times assist you to get by means of it.”
For Sajani, her predominant goal has at all times been to boost extra consciousness of Sri Lankan tradition and amplify the voices of the Sri Lankan group. So, though it was troublesome for the entrepreneur to shut down Colomba Cooperative a yr into the pandemic, she was nonetheless pleased with the expertise as a result of she knew she’d achieved her purpose. The co-working area was the primary of its sort in Sri Lanka and introduced folks collectively, making the group stronger.
Equally, early into Kola Goodies Sajani had discovered that she wanted to pivot with the sorts of teas they had been producing.
“Once we first began, we had been extra centered on the superfood drinks, like Moringa, and turmeric latte,” Sajani mentioned. “However then, we needed to have extra culturally impressed merchandise that we’re bringing to life supporting our personal farmers, and that had been going to carry our tradition ahead in fashionable methods.”
Relatively than simply specializing in strictly wholesome drinks like their Tremendous Inexperienced Latte, Sajani was capable of develop the product line so as to add the Sri Lankan Milk Tea, which is at present their best-selling product. Increasing to supply milk tea additionally made it attainable for one among Kola Goodie’s greatest partnerships.
Boba Guys – a well known milk tea chain in California and New York – had an accelerator program for minority founders and ended up loving Kola Goodie’s tea blends a lot, that the 2 companies collaborated to launch a turmeric boba milk tea. Not solely did this enterprise present extra publicity for Kola Goodies, however for Sajani, it was one other method to usher in extra range within the beverage area.
“It’s one factor to see golden [turmeric] milk boba accessible at such an enormous chain,” she mentioned. “Nevertheless it’s such an incredible collaboration to see East Asian tradition and South Asian tradition coming collectively in a drink.”
Ushering in additional illustration for the Sri Lankan tradition has at all times been a purpose for Sajani. However extra importantly, she needed to immediately assist her fellow Sri Lankans. Because of this Kola Goodies immediately sources their components from native farmers, regardless of it not being probably the most sensible route.
“I’m going to make use of that additional time and sources to seek out the [Sri Lankan] farmers to have the ability to help them as a result of that immediately correlates to my why. And it is sensible as a result of that is a price framework that I’ve for all the choices that I make,” she mentioned.
Not solely does this result in the freshest and most genuine components, but it surely additionally permits Sajani to pay these farmers in USD and supply them with a extra secure earnings. At the moment, Sri Lanka is dealing with a political and financial disaster and Sajani has used her platform as a small enterprise proprietor to educate her prospects in regards to the scenario. She’s additionally raised cash for Sri Lankan organizations and donated a whole lot of meals on to these in want.
With the ability to give again to her hometown means lots to Sajani. And the entrepreneur mentioned she has one one that deserves the credit score for making all of it attainable – her mom. Kola Goodies’s slogan, “Acquired it from my amma,” is a direct shoutout to her contributions. If it wasn’t for his or her morning rituals within the kitchen, Sajani mentioned she might by no means have been impressed to open up a Sri Lankan tea enterprise.
“[My mom] is such a cornerstone, as a result of if she did not take the time to make the issues that nourished us, that grew to become an enormous a part of my day-to-day rising up, then nicely, I would not even have an inspiration level to carry an excellent inexperienced latte or Sri Lankan tea,” she mentioned. “That was all her.”
The entrepreneur has come a good distance from ingesting Kola Kanda at dwelling as a baby along with her household in Sri Lanka. By merging all of her idiosyncrasies– her distinct background, her expertise in tech, and her drive to empower her group – Sajani has created one thing particular. Kola Goodies is likely one of the manufacturers bringing much-needed illustration to cultures that don’t usually get a highlight.
“The truth that there’s Sri Lankan milk tea in a San Francisco grocery store is big from a cultural perspective,” Sajani mentioned. “[Sri Lanka] is such a small nation. We’re very a lot not represented, even when it comes into the South Asian dialogue. So it is superb to simply see your self on a shelf if you’re strolling down the grocery retailer.”
