A month ago, WeWork organised a market celebrating talented female creators called ‘Tough As Nails’. There, I came across Kindred Teas and its founder, Madelene Poon, who stepped up to me to earnestly share about her travel-inspired tea blends.
Today, I grab a cosy window seat in the corner of a Starbucks, and she joins me with a huge cup of tea. As each sip warms her up, she recounts how she became her own business owner at 26.
Chasing Childhood Dreams
Right after graduating from SMU, Madelene was catapulted right into working at her mother’s human resource and procurement business.
The company dealt mainly in oil and gas, and although the industry paid well, Madelene never felt a connection to it and soon found herself lost in a “quarter-life crisis”.
“At a very young age, I wanted to be a pastry chef,” she says. “I have always wanted to go to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris to practice.”
So she pulled herself out of the gutter by making a pact with her mum — that she would leave the company, go to Paris, and come back with proper skills in French patisserie.
In the midst of fulfilling her childhood dream, she was already starting to work on her next big milestone. She tells me that setting up Kindred Teas was the first step towards her ultimate goal.
“My long term goal is to have a tea salon that only serves tea-infused desserts.”
The Tea Obsession
When I first met Madelene, a sleek glass teapot was displayed on her table, with a blossom suspended elegantly in it.
Blooming teas are one of the unique creations Kindred Teas is known for; it begins as a bundle of flowers and tea leaves and blooms as you brew it in hot water. It looked ethereal, and I thought to myself it would make a lovely gift.
As we chat, I learn that Madelene intended for Kindred Teas to be a gift to loved ones, carrying the memories of warm moments with her family.
“My family has always been tea drinkers. We always sat down, drank tea, and enjoyed our weekends together,” she shares.
“When I travel, I end the day sitting down with friends or even by myself, recollecting the memories over a cup of tea.”
“Tea is about bonding with others, and also about quiet time with yourself.”
While tea has long been a part of her life, Madelene became fascinated with it after watching a documentary. She learned that the different types of tea we know – black, green, white and so on – all came from the same plant.
“I’m not sure if I’m the only one who didn’t know that,” she laughs. “But it was a profound moment for me. Just getting to know how amazing this tea plant is really sparked my interest.”
Infused With Travels
Like many young Singaporeans, Madelene is filled with the adventurous spirit of wanderlust.
Her first big trip was during her SMU third year exchange to Austria. “But the whole month before the studies started I already went over and started travelling around Europe,” she shares. “I went to Greece, Spain, Portugal, London, Amsterdam, and Poland.”
One of the blends she’s proud of was inspired by her time in Austria. “Being my first time staying abroad for a long period by myself, that trip was a lot of self discovery and becoming independent.”
She introduces ‘Elder and Cream’, a black tea made with elderflower, elder berry, and a cream finish.
“There was a pub I used to visit in Austria with my friends. They served a very traditional Austrian spritzer called Holunder Spritzer.” (‘Holunder’ is German for ‘elder’).
By combining homages to her travels with her patisserie knowledge, Madelene balances delicate flavours rich with memories to create her unique blends.
Obstacles And Growth
While we see nothing but beautiful displays of teas and desserts on Kindred Teas’ social accounts, Madelene reveals that behind-the-scenes work is the toughest.
Starting out completely fresh in running a business, it was a challenge to find the right suppliers. She found herself back in her HR days, having to deal with people, some of whom weren’t the nicest.
“I received a shipment with almost 40% of damaged tins,” she says. “It caused a lot of conflict and back and forth before we managed to work out a deal.”
A bit of a perfectionist, Madelene tells me she would personally check each tin and reject any that had the slightest scratch. She was determined to make sure her customers received pristine products.
Once she got the basics sorted, Kindred Teas began to bloom and people started noticing.
“The first big thing for us was when Love, Bonito approached us to partner them in their store opening.” It was an even bigger deal since Madelene had admired and supported the homegrown fashion label since it was still called BonitoChico.
“From that event, we got a lot of connections with other companies. Local businesses are really nice and always supportive of each other.”
Self Care For The Long Haul
Running a small business, Madelene has to take care of every aspect with just a small team backing her up. But no matter how busy she is, she makes her health and wellbeing a clear priority.
“To take care of myself means managing my time very well.”
“I set my goals. I accomplish my goals. Then I give myself a pat on the back and say I deserve this time to do something I like.”
Madelene tells me that she loves being active as it keeps her focused and helps her stay sane – “I exercise four times a week.”
Another way she keeps herself going is by keeping her loved ones close by. “For me to recharge, I need time to work on myself, but I also need to spend lots of time with my fiancé, my family and friends. Weekends are for them only.”
These are the people who have supported Madelene the most in her endeavours. Brimming with gratitude, she tells me how her fiancé and his family would offer to make deliveries for her and spread the word about her teas.
More than anything, she’s thankful for a strong mother from whom she has learnt a lot. “I come from a single parent family and I’ve always only ever had my mum.”
“As a business owner, she knows how things should be done. She gave me a lot of encouragement, and also pushed me to always get back on track.”
Giving Back With Love
As we’re about to end our talk, Madelene shares that she will be on her way to a photoshoot for her Mothers’ Day collaboration with Far East Flora.
Kindred relationships have always been paramount to her, and have shaped the warm and giving concept behind her brand. Because of this, she hopes to reach out and benefit others with her work.
“We work with some charities and nursing homes. In fact, some of them approached us because they felt synergy with our name.”
Since operations have become smoother after a year in business, Madelene is currently looking into setting up an amount to donate with each order.
Click here to keep up with what she’s brewing.
