Taiwanese and Filipino Tea, Creative Ways to Market a Product, and Leaving Your Job to Grow Your Business
Description
#34. Ash Yao and Kyle Gillaspy launched their tea brand in November of last year after nearly a year of preparation. Ash grew up in Taiwan and has loved tea since childhood - later, after graduating with a neuroscience B.S. at Santa Clara University, she started brewing tea for friends during her weekly family nights where she would cook dinner for her close friends. Due to popularity, she kept making her tea for others and eventually decided to turn it into a brand. After three years of work in tech sales post college, she was laid off, but this proved to be serendipitous timing for her to give KACE the focus it needed in preparation for its launch later that year. Kyle, having studied Computer Science at USC, developed an interest in product management through an internship during college, and pioneered a product organization called Product Space that has expanded to over 10 universities across the nation including Berkeley, UCSD and UCLA. He's been working in product management at Oracle until just recently when he left his role to join Ash in working full time on the company. Their combined skill sets have contributed to the skyrocketing success of KACE so far. With a team of three in total at the moment, KACE is now sold in over 20 stores but growing quickly. Sold mainly in the Bay Area, they are looking to expand to southern California in the near future. The tea itself is made in Taiwan, with a Taiwanese and Filipino influence. There are currently 3 flavors but more Filipino influenced flavors will be dropping soon.
https://www.instagram.com/drinkkace/
https://www.passionprojectpending.com/
https://www.instagram.com/passionprojectpending/
United States
