Currently based in Los Angeles, Sara Pietila is an entrepreneur impacting lives with the meaningful products she creates. Formerly known as Earl Grey & Polka Dots, her business started with beautiful items to enjoy over a quiet moment with a cup of tea. In 2017 her best friend passed away. In honour of their friendship, steady and flight was born. Whether it is tea scented candles, hand soap or mugs with inspirational words, Sara creates each product as a celebration of the love we have in our lives. She hopes steady and flight blesses your lives because creating it has helped heal her broken heart. At the tea table Sara shared the first time tea brought her comfort, how tea influences her work, favourite places to travel for tea and more.
The kettle is on and I can hear it about to sing. What tea are you going to steep for us today?
There are very few things that bring me more delight than hearing a tea kettle sing. Many people prefer to use electric tea kettles because they’re faster but I love setting my kettle on the stovetop and waiting to hear it whistle. What a joy!
The tea I’m steeping today is Earl Grey but in my life, Earl Grey and matcha are both a part of my daily rituals and bring up different emotions. Earl Grey is very nostalgic and full of lovely memories while matcha is soothing and energizing.
Do you recall the first sip that started your tea journey?
I don’t recall my first sip – sometime in my youth I began drinking black tea with a lot of sugar. However, my first recollection of tea as something important happened in my teens.
I’d just gone through a breakup (oh teenage love) and was dealing with anxiety for the first time. My dear Aunt Lois knew I was going through a hard time and she gave me a book called A Tea To Comfort Your Soul as well as a collection of teas.
The first one I tried out of the collection was Earl Grey and there was something magical about the scent and flavour. I believe that’s the first time I connected that tea brought me comfort.
Since that moment tea has always been a source of solace. I’m grateful for my Aunt Lois who understood what I needed at that moment and helped encourage my love and interest in tea.
As a small business owner and music teacher, what are some of your daily tea rituals and how does tea influence your work?
Tea rituals have been a part of my life since before I was an entrepreneur but I think factor in so much more since I started working for myself.
Without an office to travel to each morning I’ve created my own habits for light structure in my work day. I begin each day with a matcha latte.
There are a few steps in the process: bring the kettle to a boil, add milk to my frother and turn it on, sift the matcha into my mug, add the hot water to the matcha, whisk the matcha and water with a bamboo chasen, then add a bit of vanilla extract, and finally pour in the frothed milk.
It is these steps that feel a bit like meditation. A way of feeling grounded.
I also often have an afternoon matcha latte to both boost my energy and also give me some encouragement to finish out my day strong!
I also find tea a very useful tool when I’m working.
There is a quote from Leo Tolstoy that resonates with me deeply:
“I must drink lots of tea or I cannot work. Tea unleashes the potential which slumbers in the depth of my soul.”
I adore my work both as a private voice and piano teacher and as a product creator at steady and flight. I find that tea adds to the magic of my work. It’s the conduit through which my most remarkable ideas and lovely revelations arrive.
From mugs to stationery and essential oil candles, you have created so many wonderful and meaningful products over the years. Can you share a few of your personal favourite steady+flight products and the story behind them?
There are a few of my products, past and present, that stand out as favourites.
First, my friendship mugs.
These mugs were created as the first steady and flight product. Each set came with an anchor mug and a hot air balloon mug.
The anchor represents Lisa, my best friend I created steady and flight in honor of, and the balloon represents me. There is a longer story connected to this but the idea was to buy a set, keep one for yourself, and give one to your best friend/Mom/partner – just like friendship necklaces.
They were my first true best seller in my shop and I just sold my last set at the end of June. It’s bittersweet but I don’t intend to restock them at this point. However, they’ll always be the beginning of something beautiful.
Second, my masala chai candle.
It was the first essential oil candle I made. I remember when I was in the testing phase I took a candle to a friend’s house. While there I smelled both the candle and a cup of masala chai and they essentially smelled the same. I couldn’t believe how perfect it was! It’s still my best-selling scent to date – for good reason!
Third, in the midst of 2020 and the pandemic, I created out a mug that says “Love yourself through the messy middle.” It sold out in less than a day! I’ve restocked it 3 times since then. It’s still the mug I reach for the most. I find its words just as comforting as the tea I drink from it.
Finally, I am the MOST excited about new products hitting the shop in the middle of July 2022. These products are a part of steady and flight apothecary!
Under the apothecary umbrella, I am launching hand soap, hand lotion, room sprays, and more. They are all scented with essential oils!
My favourite scent, by far, is the London Fog. I’ve been using both the hand soap and lotion on a regular basis and whenever I do I cannot stop smelling my hands. I can’t drink more than a few cups of Earl Grey a day (too much caffeine). But, I can use these products and smell my hands as much as I want!!
Can you tell us about a time when you experimented with a product for steady and flight that you just didn’t like in the end?
I’ve had a lot of different products in my shop and I’ve mostly loved them. However, there have been a few throughout the years that have flopped. Like sold one or two and that’s it. Those are always the hardest blows.
I’ve been fortunate that most of my experiments, like essential oil candles, have gone really well.
It’s the normal items that just don’t always get traction – like mugs. I think the phrase on them has to hit JUST RIGHT or else it doesn’t always resonate. And that’s okay. I think of those as happy little accidents.
Eventually, those mugs go into the sale section of my shop. They always still end up in someone’s home giving them a little bit of extra encouragement.
Speed Round:
Black, Green, Yellow, White, Oolong or Puerh?
Black!
Hot, Iced or Cold?
Hot all the way!
Teapot, Infuser or Gaiwan?
Teapot for sure.
Straight, Sweetened or Latte?
Latte would always be my first choice.
Cheese or Chocolate pairing?
Cheese!
If you could travel anywhere in the world for tea, where would that be and what would that trip look like to you?
My favorite place to go for tea in the world is England. I’ve been obsessed with British culture since I was very young. I began watching Are You Being Served and Keeping Up Appearances on PBS on Saturday nights when I was just a kid.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled to England twice in my life (hoping for another one here in the next 18 months) and I just love how tea is woven into their culture. Everywhere we went there were tons of tea rooms and places to grab tea and pastry.
My ideal trip to England would be to travel from village to village drinking tea and checking out local food, book stores, and pubs! I love the English countryside!
An honourable mention for one of my favourite places to have tea is in Sweden. My husband and I were married there in 2014 and they have a daily coffee/tea break called fika. It’s happens both in the morning and afternoon. It’s a small snack and cup of tea or coffee.
I loved experiencing fika all over Stockholm in sweet cafes and coffee shops in the days leading up to our wedding. Those are some of my favorite memories of our time in Sweden.
I suppose I love it because I appreciate cultures that value tea as a part of their daily lives.
Find steady and flight:
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ABOUT THIS SERIES: Tea tells stories and when connected with humans, more are created. That’s where the idea for this blog series, At the Tea Table, originated. With this series, The Cup of Life asks tea lovers around the world to take us inside their tea lives to share their favourite steeps, spaces, routines and more. Meet some of your fellow tea drinkers here.
What a cool business and beautiful reason to start it! Loved this interview:)