Krisi Smith started Bird and Blend Tea company with business partner Mike knowing very little about tea or running a business. She drew up their mission statement in the pub whilst working as a ski instructor in Canada.

They started up working in her mums back bedroom to now running 20 retail stores across the UK.

Before starting the company she had more than 30 jobs and that’s just by the age of 24. For her, putting people are the forefront is what business is about.

Krisi talks about the challenges of opening a business with your partner in life as well as business. ‘Got married, got divorced, and we're now just business partners.’

Evan asks about the key personal and business-related decisions that got her to where she is today.

The Decisions That Made Me A Leader is a mini-series from The Bottom Line. It features one-on-one interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders, including Duncan Bannatyne, Martha Lane Fox, and the boss of Depop, Simon Beckerman. All of these episodes are available on BBC Sounds and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer. To find the series, just search: The Decisions That Made Me A Leader. You can also watch the series on BBC iPlayer. To find the series, just search: The Decisions That Made Me A Leader.

Host: Evan Davis
Producers: Paige Neal-Holder and Farhana Haider
Assistant Editor: Matt Willis
Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning Editor: Hugh Levinson

A BBC News Long Form Audio production.