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Tierra Robinson Jeter: The Business of Luxury Coffee and Herbal Tea

THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES — “I’m always interested in what my customers like so that I can get an idea of what they want or need,” said Tierra Robinson Jeter, owner of Fairfield-based La’Fleur Coffee Boutique. To that end, the business owner makes sure she goes out of her way for her customers. “A luxury experience starts as soon as someone walks up to my table or into the store; I try my best to be as professional and approachable. I will always have a smile on my face,” she said, adding that you’re more personable that will make customers want to purchase from you.
The post Tierra Robinson Jeter: The Business of Luxury Coffee and Herbal Tea first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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2 years ago

October 19, 2022

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By Nicole S. Daniel | The Birmingham Times

Tierra Robinson Jeter, owner of Fairfield-based La’Fleur Coffee Boutique, wants her customers to do more than just like her products. She wants them to know why they enjoy her luxury coffee and herbal tea.

“I’m always interested in what my customers like so that I can get an idea of what they want or need,” said Jeter.

To that end, the business owner makes sure she goes out of her way for her customers. “A luxury experience starts as soon as someone walks up to my table or into the store; I try my best to be as professional and approachable. I will always have a smile on my face,” she said, adding that you’re more personable that will make customers want to purchase from you.

Also, with every purchase online she tries to be prompt with responses and shipping out orders. “I really take pride in how I package everything; everything is hand packaged by me. If it doesn’t look, right, I’m going to do it again,” she said.

In addition to selling coffee and herbal teas La’Fleur Coffee Boutique sells accessories such as coffee mugs, gold stainless steel straws, coffee scoops, and reusable coffee filter cups.

“For some orders, I may throw in a free accessory because I want people to feel like their business is appreciated. I don’t ever treat anybody like they’re just the number because I’m grateful for every purchase, every customer that even inquires about my brand or feels drawn to my brand, and I’m appreciative of them so much,” said Jeter.

Her customers can purchase the gold stainless steel straws that come with one straw cleaner per order.

“It is a part of the luxury experience. I just get a different type of feeling when I use those straws. You save money and it’s not something that you’re going to throw away they are non-toxic, and they don’t peel,” said Jeter.

The Flower and The Flavors

Jeter knows her target audience. “I discovered millennial women make up the majority of the coffee drinkers in the United States right now,” said Jeter.

She would go to a local coffee shop to create content for her blog Blossoming Unlimited to empower young women and looked around “and I kind of just realized that I wasn’t in the environment that I felt comfortable in and God gave me the vision to create an environment for women of color and millennial women from all walks of life,” said Jeter.

After doing her research and connecting with other coffee shop owners Jeter launched La’Fleur Coffee Boutique in August 2020.

“La’Fleur is a French word for flower and the vision came to me while I was blogging years ago,” she said. “Whether you’re working woman, stay at home mom, whatever the case maybe I just wanted somewhere where we could feel empowered comfortable in a comfortable space.”

Her first step was to develop the product. “I actually sat on that idea for about four or five years before I actually moved forward,” she said.

While studying business management with a concentration in production and operations at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jeter researched how to start a business and where to purchase coffee products.

“I ended up connecting with some other coffee shop owners in the city and that led me to coming out with my first two products and they were the house blend and white chocolate mousse, both are ground coffees,” she said.

“House Blend is perfect to jumpstart your day and it provides a smooth harmonic taste with less acidity.” White Chocolate Mousse is 100 percent Arabic coffee roasted to a medium brown flavored with natural and artificial flavoring.

To create an effective product Jeter researched herbs and came up with the perfect blend using elderberry and lemongrass as a few ingredients which is one of her best sellers, said Jeter.

Lemon Berry Refresher is one of her favorites, she said.

She also makes another tea called Lights Out which is blend of chamomile lemon peels and lavender.

“Although it’s titled ‘Lights Out’ to help you with sleep, I also like the fact that the herbs help with anxiety and that’s something I’m overcoming. I created that blend for myself but when I started to talk about it and connect with my customers and learned they were dealing with anxiety and not being able to sleep I added it to my menu,” she said.

For non-coffee drinkers there is organic Jasmine Green Tea — “an alternative to coffee because it’s highly caffeinated but it’s still healthy,” she said.

Asked what makes La’Fleur Coffee Boutique unique Jeter said, “I feel like my brand as a whole is unique because of my brand colors, the name, and I definitely create like a luxury experience for my customers.”

La’Fluer Coffee Boutiqe colors are hot pink and gold.

“When you think of coffee you mostly think of like brown or tan you know, and I use those colors as accent colors, as well as gold. But I just want it to stand out and I feel like that was something very different,” said Jeter.

Family

Jeter’s love for coffee began as a child in her family home in Hueytown. She was attracted to the aroma every time her great grandmother Arsenia Jackson brewed a pot of brown coffee.

“My great grandmother also had a garden in her backyard. I would learn from her by being in the garden about herbs.”

Around age 5 she was introduced to herbs and its benefits while drinking tea almost every day with her grandmother Barbara Figgers.

“She would drink tea every single morning; I would sit at the kitchen table and drink tea with her. Both were very influential in me creating La’Fleur Coffee Boutique.” said Jeter.

Jeter, 29, and a wife of Jonathan and mother to Josiah 6, and Lynnox 2 said her son is her “number one supporter. He loves my business; he always tells me I’m doing a good job and he loves the smell of my coffee. I don’t make him any coffee drinks, but I make him Frappuccino’s without coffee, and he enjoys. My daughter’s favorite drink in the lemon berry refresher there’s no caffeine in that,” said Jeter.

Health Benefits

Jeter promotes coffee because outside of energy from the caffeine it has a lot of antioxidants.

“It actually helped me to not only speed up my metabolism but burn fat, a lot faster,” she said. “If you over if you have too much of anything, it cannot be a good thing but if you drink it and drink in moderation it has a lot of benefits for your digestive system,” said Jeter.

On her website, she also offers a Coffee Cleanse with lemon juice.

“I had picked up a lot of weight after my second child. I had digestive issues, when I started drinking just black coffee and took a lot of dairy out of my diet, I noticed how things were changing, and my digestive system was a little bit more regulated. I realized by adding the lemon juice, which also has a lot of antioxidants in it combined with the coffee, it really did help to burn the fat faster. So between the intermediate fasting and changing my eating habits, I lost over 50 pounds,” said Jeter.

To learn more about La’Fleur Coffee Boutique visit its website at https://lafleurcoffeeboutique.com/ The business operates Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. out of The Pink Trap located at 5230 Valley Rd, Fairfield, AL 35064.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

The post Tierra Robinson Jeter: The Business of Luxury Coffee and Herbal Tea first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, activist Ramona Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.
The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Once upon a time, Black Americans were simply known as colored people, or Negroes. That is until Ramona Edelin came along. The activist, renowned for her pivotal roles in advancing civil rights, education reform, and community empowerment, died at her D.C. residence last month at the age of 78. Her death, finally confirmed this week by Barnaby Towns, a communications strategist who collaborated with Dr. Edelin, was attributed to cancer.

Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.

Edelin’s contributions to academia and activism were manifold. She was pivotal in popularizing the term “African American” alongside Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in the late 1980s.

Jackson had announced the preference for “African American,” speaking for summit organizers that included Dr. Edelin. “Just as we were called Colored, but were not that, and then Negro, but not that, to be called Black is just as baseless,” he said, adding that “African American” “has cultural integrity” and “puts us in our proper historical context.”

Later, Edelin told Ebony magazine, “Calling ourselves African Americans is the first step in the cultural offensive,” while linking the name change to a “cultural renaissance” in which Black Americans reconnected with their history and heritage.

“Who are we if we don’t acknowledge our motherland?” she asked later. “When a child in a ghetto calls himself African American, immediately he’s international. You’ve taken him from the ghetto and put him on the globe.”

The HistoryMakers bio noted that Edelin’s academic pursuits led her to found and chair the Department of African American Studies at Northeastern University, where she established herself as a leading voice.

Transitioning from academia to advocacy, Edelin joined the National Urban Coalition in 1977, eventually ascending to president and CEO. During her tenure, she spearheaded initiatives such as the “Say Yes to a Youngster’s Future” program, which provided crucial support in math, science, and technology to youth and teachers of color in urban areas. Her biography noted that Edelin’s efforts extended nationwide through partnerships with organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Education.

President Bill Clinton recognized Edelin’s expertise by appointing her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1998. She also co-founded and served as treasurer of the Black Leadership Forum, solidifying her standing as a respected leader in African American communities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Edelin dedicated herself to numerous boards and committees, including chairing the District of Columbia Educational Goals 2000 Panel and contributing to the Federal Advisory Committee for the Black Community Crusade for Children.

Throughout her life, Edelin received widespread recognition for her contributions. Ebony magazine honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, and she received prestigious awards such as the Southern Christian Leadership Award for Progressive Leadership and the IBM Community Executive Program Award.

The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.
The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its board, a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance.

Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy

May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …
The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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April 3, 2024

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