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Sara Stender Delaney with 3 Mountains

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Silverback Beverage was created by Sara Stender Delaney, a global activist, and social entrepreneur. She is a working mother in Asheville, NC, who was looking for more healthy but fun nonalcoholic options in the land of a thousand breweries. She began experimenting with her looseleaf tea at home and had an idea to carbonate the cold brew.

She sought out more skills and launching ground at the Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast. Sara put her passion, skills and determination into accomplishing a quality product for the beverage industry. She launched Silverback on Tap™ at the September 2017 Asheville Coffee Expo and started to work with a local area brewery.

Sara is driven by a larger mission to serve humanity and to identify empowering solutions to global problems. Since first learning about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, she has been inspired by the courage of Rwanda and sought out to live there, knowing it would be fertile soil for identifying her calling. She spent almost a year working with people who had lost loved ones during the genocide, managing a restaurant that served as a hands-on training facility for survivors.

For a deeper look at our company roots and Sara’s commitment to this work, check out our press page and learn more about her personal journey in her 15-minute Ted Talk.

Before Silverback Beverage, Sara founded the nonprofit organization Africa Healing Exchange (AHE), established to assist Rwandan Genocide survivors with trauma healing.

Today the organization operates a 3-part program designed for global replication: Heal – Connect – Sustain. AHE is in the process of opening up virtual services to anyone in the world for greater access to resiliency.

Connect with Sara on LinkedIn.

Transcript

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for business. And this will be a good one. Today, we have with us Sara Stender Delaney. And she is with 3 Mountains. Welcome, Sara.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:00:29] Thank you so much. Good morning.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about 3 Mountains. What are you guys up to and who are you serving?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:00:37] Yeah. Well, I am based in Asheville, North Carolina, where I’ve lived for, I guess, 13-14 years. I had the great opportunity to spend a year in Rwanda, which, for anyone who doesn’t know, is a small, landlocked country in East Africa about the size of Vermont but with many more people. And it was a dream come true. It changed my life. That was in 2009. And then, I launched 3 Mountains in 2016 with the effort of connecting artisans, and farmers, and producers in Rwanda with global markets, specifically for tea-based products.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:19] So, what kind of was the catalyst of saying, “Okay. First, let’s check out Rwanda,” and then, when arriving there saying, “Man, there’s something here that special, and let me plug in,” and really kind of become part of the community and really kind of start, I guess, adjusting your whole trajectory of your career and life?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:01:42] Yeah, it was a really long and interesting process. I would say it started really in my early 20s. Probably about 10 years before I actually made it to Rwanda, I watched a documentary about the genocide of 1994. And there were women in the film talking about what they had experienced, and what they had lost, and more importantly, what they had overcome and how they were recovering. And it really, really got me thinking about my purpose and what I was here to do on this earth.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:02:28] And it also helped me on my own personal healing journey. I had post-traumatic stress disorder myself, and I had experienced violence. And when I heard their stories, it just really, really resonated with me. And although I couldn’t imagine what they had experienced, I wanted to travel there one day and learn from them about this resiliency. And I was really inspired by their stories.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:02:57] And so fast forward, somehow, I was presented the opportunity to run a business in Rwanda. I was, at that point, I guess, 30. And an American couple owned a business there called Heaven Restaurant. And it was a mission-driven organization with the intention of providing jobs and training for orphans who had lost their parents during the genocide and were now young adults. And they had to come to the states to have a baby. And so, I moved there, and ran their business, and kind of took care of things for a year. And the whole thing just completely changed my life. I was really inspired. I really felt at home there. It’s a very beautiful, safe, mountainous place. And the people are so welcoming.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:03:54] And I got to know the tea while I was there. And I thought, when I go back to the States, there’s got to be more. I have to do something with Rwandans. It was such an amazing opportunity. And I would say before I even got into the tea, I was very driven to create more opportunities for people who had a history of trauma to access resources. I had the great privilege to access resources in this country. And so, we created a nonprofit foundation called Healing Exchange, ahe.org. And through that programming, we started offering services for trauma healing and, more importantly, for developing everyday resilience skills. And we’re still developing that today and creating a model that can be replicated around the world.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:04:55] And then, from there, with greater mental health and emotional stability, it’s just only natural that we want to access economic freedom, and financial security, and self-reliance. And so, that’s how we started developing more business opportunities. And I created 3 Mountains as a catalyst to help do that for our partners in Rwanda but, also, for people in the US, and for myself and my own family. And so, we go beyond fair trade. We resource only premium, organic, fair trade tea. And we are actually creating our own herbal tea program called Ubuzima, which means total health for the family. And we have a healing garden project in Rwanda where we’re growing tulsi, holy basil, oatstraw, lemongrass and some other really amazing botanicals that we use in blends there but also I’ll be using in my 2021 recipes for our sparkling teas.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:06] So, prior to this work and kind of finding this purpose, were you an entrepreneur, or did you have a regular job, or you were always entrepreneurial, and then you were able to kind of have this experience, and then it kind of moved you more into maybe social entrepreneurship? How did that come about?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:06:26] Yeah. I would definitely say I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I grew up in a small town in Vermont. And I don’t know if it was … I mean, because it was necessary to create your own businesses in the rural community I lived in, but I was surrounded by small business owners. My stepdad owned a home building and construction business, and he was a pioneer in the green building industry before it was so common. And so, I watched. It was kind of in my home. And I remember as a child, like I did the whole lemonade stand, but no one ever came because we lived like a mile from from any other houses. I mean, it was so remote. So, I would do other things.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:07:19] I started a birthday planning business for busy parents when I was, I think, 12. I had like a jewelry company and little things like that. I was just always inspired to create things. But I also knew that, like, there was a deeper purpose here, that I couldn’t really imagine doing like kind of a basic 9:00 to 5:00. I like having the freedom. I love traveling. I just love the challenge of creating new things and then watching them grow.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:07:58] And I studied Business in college in Boston. And I did start on a very traditional finance path. I worked for a bank in Boston my first year out of college. And so, I have done more kind of traditional jobs. But then, I quickly kind of merged and started my own Fairtrade Cafe Bistro back in Vermont in my early 20s. And then, I took a little break. And I absolutely love to ski. And I took a little break and worked for a ski area council and kind of bummed around. I spent a little time in Colorado. I’ve always been drawn to the mountains; hence, the company name 3 Mountains.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:08:46] So, yeah, I’ve had regular jobs and I also had kind of the side gigs necessary to launch this company here in Asheville, and had some really great experiences with local organizations, and served as fundraising managers and consultants for different local area businesses and non-profits.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:10] Now, you mentioned early on, you had a lemonade stand. So, I guess that was your first foray into the beverage industry.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:09:17] Good point.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:18] What made you think like, “Hey, I think I can do this beverage thing. Like there’s tea leaves here. I’ll figure this out”? I mean, like, it’s a big leap going from, “Hey, let’s kind of play on the stove and play around with things,” to the beverage industry is manufacturing. Like, there’s a lot of moving parts to that to scale it. How did that come about?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:09:44] Yeah. I mean, ignorance is bliss. Like I am glad that I didn’t know what I know now because I probably wouldn’t have gotten into it. But I have no regrets, and I absolutely love what I do. And I mean, yesterday I spent most of the day in grocery stores checking on products, and checking with managers. And I just had this moment as I was walked in through a grocery store aisle, and I just had this thought like, “God, I love this business.” Like I love the consumer packaged good business. Like I love the grocery business. And 10 years ago, I don’t know, I really didn’t know much about it at all. So, it’s interesting that I’m at this point. And I’m just super grateful that I do love it. There’s, of course, aspects of it that aren’t always exciting or fun but, I mean, that’s just part of it, but yeah.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:10:40] So, I stopped drinking alcohol when I was 28. So, 14 years ago. And I’m living in Asheville. I mean, breweries are just popping up left and right or they were. And it’s kind of a social thing to do. And so, yeah, I’ve always been looking at non-alcoholic options just for myself, and I try to live a healthy lifestyle. I don’t eat my sugar. I don’t want to drink a bunch of calories. So, there was that. There was that I wanted to create a beverage, which would not only be interesting for myself but I just know so many people who are trying to drink less alcohol but want something special and want something that’s healthy and they don’t feel guilty about it, but it could be like an everyday drink to.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:11:37] So, kind of put that together with my exposure to all the tea farmers, and then really getting to know the tea leaves, and discovering this, This is like award-winning tea. This is not a charity product. This is like Rwandan tea is some of the best in the world. And why aren’t we seeing it in stores or even mentioned on labels? We’re starting to see like single origin Rwandan coffee here but, still, people are surprised. They don’t even know tea comes from Rwanda. East Africa actually produces 17% of the world’s tea. Most of it is from Kenya.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:11:37] So, put all those things together. And then, I saw what a great social impact and economic impact we could make by sourcing ingredients directly from the farmers in Rwanda. And so, I’ve been working there for 10 years and have those relationships, and it all just came together. And then,studying the trends and studying opportunities in this country, it just all made sense. So, that’s how I decided to move forward with the business.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:12:45] And I started slowly. I mean, I created my recipes myself. Yes, in my kitchen on the stove. But then, I thought, “Hmm, I wonder what would happen if we moved this kind of cold brew tea to like another level?” And I had some friends who own breweries, and I asked one of them if they would help me, if they would teach me how to keg, and carbonate it with me, and see what happened. And so, we just did some testing, and we did a small batch, and we did a little sort of like a feedback session with an event they had. And they had their beers, and then I had my little table over in the corner with my keg of my original recipe, and it was a huge hit. It might have been like 50 people who tried it that night, and it was beyond what I could have imagined for feedback.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:13:44] And so, that was the moment when I thought, “Wow, this might actually be a marketable product.” But then, it was probably another year or even more that I decided to can it. Originally, I thought this is going to be a keg option for breweries to have a non-alcoholic choice on tap.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:04] And then, so at some point, you said, “Hey, let’s put it in cans and sell it to the consumer directly”?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:14:12] Yeah. I mean, we did enough events and had enough feedback from breweries that it was taking off and growing in popularity. And I was feeling really, really confident about the flavor profile and formulation. And then, that was another big hurdle to finally get into cans and to get it shelf-stable without using artificial ingredients or preservatives. And that was probably the most stressful time is just that R&D period. Like, is this going to go? Is this going to be safe and shelf-stable? And can we keep it true to the original recipe?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:14:56] And I had no idea how tough the grocery business was. I mean, I had no idea what it took to actually get into stores. And  so many people, we always hear, “Oh, you should. You should. Have you thought of this? Have you thought of that?” And so, yeah, it was probably two years ago. And people were like, “You should really get into the Whole Foods with this.” But I mean, I wasn’t even at the point where we had … well, we were still doing a small batch at a brewery. So, it’s been about six months. We’ve really, really scaled up and partnered with a new facility, and we’re able to do it in very large volume. And yeah, we’re just at another level now.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:15:48] And I was telling someone yesterday, they were asking for advice, and I’m glad I’m at that point where I can offer some advice, but I still have a steep learning curve ahead. But now, I have people on our team who have been in this industry for a long time, and they know how to navigate it. And I’m really grateful for that help now, and to have a growing team. But I am glad that I had to learn myself because I do understand all the the steps that it takes. And I’m glad I didn’t just go full steam ahead two years ago and and hire everyone I needed to do the different things to get into UNFI, to go nationwide, to do all the marketing. I think I’m glad we did it kind of the slow route.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:36] Now, how did you kind of manage the funding of this? Is this self-funded or did you have investors?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:16:43] And it’s a combination, yeah.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:46] So, now that part of the business is a whole other business. I mean, there’s so many moving parts to pull something like this off. It’s really an amazing achievement. Congratulations.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:16:55] Oh, thank you. Yeah. I mean, every every business has a different fundraising and financing strategy and model. And I never bought into the … I had a lot of people warned me that it would be much more expensive than I thought. And I am an eternal optimist. And I am not a financially wealthy person. It wasn’t that I just had all this money to pour into something. I just had so much faith and so much trust. And I knew this thing was meant to be because the mission is so much bigger than me. It’s so much more than tea or a beverage. And I just knew the funds would show up as we needed them.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:17:45] And I mean, that may sound so naive, but it’s worked for me. And I do also believe that you can grow a business with your revenue. And I do believe that every business has a different … I guess, it really depends on how fast you want to grow it. And like I said it, if I had decided to do that route of like, “Okay, we got to go all in, like so fast nationwide,” yes, it would have taken a lot more money than I had access to at the time. But I’ve also seen companies fail like that because they raise all this money, and they spend all the money, but they haven’t learned even who their customer is in that time. So, that’s kind of how we’ve done it to this point.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:31] So, now, who is your customer? Is it kind of grocery stores, and boutique gourmet shops, and restaurants? Like are you going direct to the consumer or combination?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:18:42] Yeah. Well, I mean, the end user, I guess we’re still discovering is we want to say … I mean, when I used to do demos in advance, it seemed like everyone liked it, which is really hard sometimes because you want to know, like, who is our target demographic here? And so, I think, sometimes, that changes. I think, often, as founders or like recipe inventors, we tend to think our target demographic is someone just like us. Like it’s going to be female, like my age, into health and fitness, likes adventure, travel. But we’re still figuring that out because I will, sometimes, walk through a store and see people grabbing my drinks out of the fridge, and it’s not maybe who I thought.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:19:28] And so, it’s definitely the healthier person, but not necessarily someone who is afraid of like one gram of sugar because I don’t think one gram of organic raw cane sugar is going to, like, throw me off of a certain type of diet, but I know that’s not for everyone. So, we do have calorie-free and sugar-free options as well. But I also think it’s the person who really looks behind the label in a brand, and they’re choosing a product for the flavor and the healthy ingredients, first and foremost, but they also want to know and trust that the brand is doing good things in the world. And especially now, where most of us are staying close to home and not really able to travel, I think we’re looking for ways to connect and give back in a really simple way. And so, for someone to know that can be done just by choosing our products is we make it easy for that.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:20:40] But in terms of like our wholesale customer, that has shifted with COVID too. So, we are relying so much on restaurants or university campuses like we might have 10 months ago because those were channels we were growing in. And especially, I mean, the university demographic is a great one for us, but that’s been really up and down lately. So, yes, we’re putting in a lot of our resources and attention into building out the grocery channel, particularly the natural grocery. But even in conventional grocery, there is a very fast growing expansion in their natural sets. And then, we are launching an Amazon in three weeks. So, super excited for that.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:34] Now, you mentioned the importance of affiliating and becoming immersed in different communities, some of which are associations that have helped you in your growth. Can you speak a little bit about GWBC, and how that’s helped or supported your work?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:21:53] Yeah, I am really grateful for the organization and the opportunities that it provides. And I guess it was last winter that I went through the process, and did the paperwork, and it was just a no-brainer to me to be part of this. I really think it’s important to support our fellow female entrepreneurs and other people in diversity. And it’s challenging. I mean, it’s a challenging business. And I would say in my industry, the beverage industry, grocery industry, it is very rare that I meet other women in the business, whether it’s like at a grocery store management level, at the buyer level, at the manufacturer’s CEO level, there just aren’t that many.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:22:51] And I guess that’s changing but to have that recognition and to be able to use the WBENC logo and mark in our material. And then, lately, I’ve noticed more and more opportunities coming from, specifically, the grocery channel with requests for certified women businesses. And in some cases, even fees are reduced. So, that’s really helpful.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:23:27] And I just think the more we can put this message and image on our products and our companies, the more we can inspire other young women or even girls who just don’t have that many role models but they see it, and they’re like, “Oh, wow, this is so cool. Like, this company is owned by a woman.” I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I go into a store even here in Western North Carolina, and I might be checking in products, and people think I’m an employee. And then, they see my name on the can, and they’re like shocked. And I don’t know if they’re shocked because it’s me or because I’m a woman, but it’s still a pretty strong reaction.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:12] Well, you saw growing up when you had a role model of an entrepreneur, and seeing kind of the ins and outs of that, how powerful it was for you in your path of it’s doable, it’s possible, it’s hard, but I can do this. And then, there you are now role modeling that same behavior to other girls and women that showed, “Hey, I’m doing it. It’s hard. It’s rewarding. I’m making a difference. You can do this too.” I mean, I think that the more the young people, especially, see role models that look like themselves, it’s important because that can change the trajectory of their life and career because they don’t know what’s possible until they see what’s possible a lot of the times. And the more they see that not only it’s possible, that there’s a lot of people doing this now, they can do it too, and they’ll take that leap, and they don’t have to feel like, “I have to get a job,” or “I have to sacrifice and settle for something, when there’s more out there, if I can dream bigger.”

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:25:15] Exactly, exactly. And I went to an all women’s college, Simmons College in Boston. And it’s funny. Just kind of like getting to Rwanda, I just felt so divine that I ended up there because I was looking at probably eight schools and none of them were all women. I never set out to be in an all women’s school. I mean, that was the last thing on my mind. But in the end, it was the best option. And in the end, it felt like a great fit. And I was still in Boston, lots to do. There were coed schools next door. But in the classroom, I just was so focused and surrounded by professors and other students who are so such great role models as well, and teaching things like female advantage and how to be a strong female leader. And so, that really was an amazing opportunity for me too that, again, I wouldn’t have set out to do, and it’s not for everyone, but I wish that kind of inspiration for every other woman and young girl.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:26:24] Well, what could we be doing to help you? How can we help you get the word out, let people know this exists? You said you’re going to be partnering with Amazon shortly. Right now, is the beverages available through your website? Can anybody anywhere get it or do you have to be near you?

Lee Kantor: [00:26:41] Yeah, so we ship around the country and anywhere. It’s Drink Sarilla. So, drinksarilla.com. It’s made with our looseleaf tea, which is Drink Tima Tea, T-I-M-A. And both those places, you can purchase our products and sign up for our newsletter, which we send out very rarely but those are great ways to stay in touch. And then, I always like to connect with people on Instagram and Facebook. And we also are willing to send out samples to anyone if you can just try to cover shipping. We have product to give away right now. Because we can’t be in stores sampling, I would love to get free samples to your listeners.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:26] And if they go to drinksarilla.com, that’s the best website, right?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:27:30] Yeah, because from there they can just link to our social or send us a direct message.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:35] And then, that’s D-R-I-N-K-S-A-R-I-L-L-A dot com?

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:27:41] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:42] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today, Sara. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.

Sara Stender Delaney: [00:27:48] Thank you so much. I really enjoyed talking with you, and I appreciate your support.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:52] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on GWBC Open for Business.

About GWBC

The Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®) is at the forefront of redefining women business enterprises (WBEs). An increasing focus on supplier diversity means major corporations are viewing our WBEs as innovative, flexible and competitive solutions. The number of women-owned businesses is rising to reflect an increasingly diverse consumer base of women making a majority of buying decision for herself, her family and her business. 

GWBC^® has partnered with dozens of major companies who are committed to providing a sustainable foundation through our guiding principles to bring education, training and the standardization of national certification to women businesses in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.