Katya Popoff and Olga Lenova

WHAT GOT YOU STARTED?

by Burke Campbell 

Published in the Financial Post

 Sept 8, 2008

Sisters Katya Popoff and Olga Lenova founded FullyLoadedTea ( www.fullyloadedtea.com ). Headquartered in Vancouver , the company makes and sells specialty fruit tea. Katya Popoff tells the Financial Post what motivated the sisters to become entrepreneurs.  

 Adventure: “In the early 1990s, the Soviet Union was disintegrating. Our parents were engineers working in Siberia and decided it was best to immigrate to Canada . I was eleven and Olga was eight. Although we knew no one here, we were glad Vancouver was warmer than Siberia !”  

Russian liquid soul: “Olga and I wanted to start our own company, so we decided to create teas, with fruits and berries added, like the ones we drank in Siberia .”  

Serious work: “Throughout 2006, we researched the industry. By March 2007, we were ready to exhibit at trade shows in Los Angeles and Vancouver where our specialty tea, with its distinct packaging, got noticed.”  

Quality product: “The tea and other ingredients are imported, inspected, processed in Quebec , where the teas are also blended and packed. With wider distribution, FullyLoadedTea is increasingly available in Canadian and American grocery stores.”  

Reading tea leaves: “Things are going well and we aim to make FullyLoadedTea a food and beverage company. Olga and I enjoy working hard and we can count on our family for emotional support.”  

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