The Chameleon Collective began one afternoon during a phone call between me and my father. Being a tea exporter, he was constantly discussing tea with me and my brother, and out of the hundreds of conversations we had probably had in my life, that particular conversation that day caught my interest for some reason.
I was in college at the time, and I remember getting caught up in the idea of a brand immediately. Being away from home, there wasn’t much that I could do towards developing the brand immediately, so I created mood boards and planned out my ideas for the brand - I did what I could.
On eventually returning home a few months later, I immediately set to work on the brand’s development. The first few months were spent studying everything that I could about tea as a product and the language of the industry and this was a pivotal time for me, even though I may or may not have realized it at the time, and even though I thought it gruelling I guess I was too caught up in my own perspective of how I had just finished studying, and here I was doing just that - again. But now I realize how much value that time held. It has given me such a good base to start on, without which, I may have felt completely in over my head. Tea can be an exacting taskmaster. I learnt how to create blends, and how best to pair ingredients and flavours. It was through this process that I created my very first three blends, and I was so excited at the fact that I had created actual blends on my own.
Then, soon thereafter, somewhere during the first week of December 2019, I was reading an article at home when I suddenly felt inspired to release some blends for the Christmas season. Given the tight timeline, the next two weeks were a whirlwind. I worked from morning to night creating and perfecting those first three blends for The Chameleon Collective - the beginning of a great journey. I released those blends as a seasonal offering in the middle of December in 2019. The first few days after launch were fruitful. But even with 3 great blends, the weeks that followed weren’t overwhelmingly successful.
I returned to the drawing boards to come up with new strategies and new ways of marketing ourselves. One of the major platforms that I was counting on to be a significant launch pad for us didn’t prove to be so, and I had to re-evaluate our action plan. I was forced to stretch and target new customer hubs, and to expand my range within the constraints I had as a typical start up. But I soon broadened the range to 9 luxury value-added blends in the catalogue, and began curating for customers both locally and internationally.
Although it can be summed up into a single sentence, creating blends and making the brand available to local and international customers did not come easy. And the global pandemic that hit did not help. But with hard work, constant adaptation, unwavering belief in myself, and an incredible support system, I made it happen.
I hope you enjoy The Chameleon Collective just as much as I enjoyed bringing it to life.
Comments