Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Swoffer.
Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always been an artist and a teacher. During COVID, when everything moved online, I started teaching backyard art classes which turned into my business: Lets Paint, LLC. We were literally creating art in the garden (painting while kids picked raspberries, strawberries and cherry tomatoes).
Over the next few years something became really clear to me: people didn’t just need something to do. They needed a place to connect.
At the same time, my husband Zach and I had been dreaming about creating something together.
Zach spent 15 years at Brasada Ranch, serving as Director of Golf, and hospitality has always been a huge part of who he is. I came from education and the arts. So we realized we had these two worlds that actually fit together beautifully: hospitality, creativity and community.
That’s where TEAL was born.
We wanted to create something that felt less like a traditional business and more like the comfy, cozy living room of Bend. A place where you could walk in by yourself and somehow leave feeling like you belonged.
TEAL stands for Tea + Art Lounge, but it’s really about so much more than tea and art.
You can come in and drink a beautiful loose-leaf tea from a local tea company. You can grab a pastry from a local baker. You can shop work from a local artist. You can sit down and make something with your hands. You can come to a class, meet a friend, join a book club, listen to live music, celebrate a birthday, or simply sit in a cozy chair and have a cup of tea.
Our motto is Sip. Connect. Create.
And those three words really are the heart of the business.
Sip is the hospitality. The tea, the food, the experience.
Connect is the community. We want people to meet each other here. We have groups, events, music, workshops and gatherings because we believe people are craving real connection.
And Create is the artist in all of us. You don’t have to consider yourself an artist to make something at TEAL. In fact, that’s one of the things that matters most to me. We’re much more interested in the messy, imperfect process of creating than we are in producing something that’s Pinterest-perfect.
I think somewhere along the way, our culture has made creativity feel like something you’re either “good at” or you’re not. I don’t believe that.
I believe art is good for the soul. And I believe tea is good for the soul, too.
So, we built TEAL around that idea.
We also wanted to be very intentional about being part of the local community. We work with local women-owned businesses, local artists, local teachers and local food producers whenever we can. We’re a mom-and-pop business, and we want the money people spend at TEAL to ripple back into the community we all share.
Opening TEAL has definitely been an adventure. There are a million things you don’t know when you’re building a business from scratch, and we’ve learned something new practically every week.
But the moments that make all of it worthwhile are the little ones.
It’s watching a child proudly carry something they made.
It’s seeing two people who walked in as strangers sitting together and talking.
It’s hearing someone say, “I didn’t know Bend had a place like this.” or the tourists who constantly say “I need a place like this at home.”
It’s watching someone come back again and again until they become part of the TEAL family.
That’s what we were hoping to create.
Not just a tea shop. Not just an art studio. Not just an event space.
A place where people can slow down, connect with one another, and remember that they are creators.
That’s TEAL.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have definitely been obstacles, and honestly, I think that’s part of what makes building a small business so meaningful.
One of our biggest challenges has been building a new concept and teaching people what TEAL actually is. We’re not simply a tea shop, and we’re not simply an art studio. We’re trying to bring tea, art, hospitality and community together under one roof. That makes us unique, but it also means people don’t always immediately understand what we are or why they should come through the door.
The other major challenge has been building consistent traffic and revenue while we’re still establishing ourselves. We opened a brand-new concept in a competitive market, and we’ve had to figure out how to turn the people who love the idea of TEAL into regular customers. We’ve learned that having a beautiful space and a great product isn’t enough. You have to constantly give people a reason to come back.
As a small, family-owned business, we’ve also had to learn how to do a lot with very little. We wear a lot of hats. We’re owners, marketers, event planners, instructors, servers, problem-solvers and sometimes even maintenance people. There isn’t a large team behind us, so every decision has a direct impact on the business.
And probably the biggest personal obstacle has been learning to be patient with the process. You pour so much of yourself into something like this, and you want people to immediately see what you see. But building a community doesn’t happen overnight.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I think I’m most proud that TEAL has become more than the idea we had in our heads when we started it. It’s becoming a place that belongs to the community.
When we first dreamed up TEAL, we wanted to create a space where people could slow down, be creative and connect with one another. But you never really know if people are going to embrace an idea until you open the doors.
Watching people come in and make TEAL their own has been incredibly meaningful to me.
I’m proud of the artists who have found a place to share their work. I’m proud of the teachers who are bringing their creativity into our space. I’m proud of the kids who walk into an art class and discover that they actually are artists. I’m proud of the people who come to an event alone and leave having made a new connection.
And I’m especially proud that we’ve created a place where you don’t have to be talented, successful, outgoing or “artistic” to belong. You can just walk through the door exactly as you are.
I’m also proud of what Zach and I have built together. Starting a small business as a husband-and-wife team takes a tremendous amount of work, flexibility and faith in each other. We took two very different backgrounds (hospitality and education/arts) and turned them into something neither of us could have created alone.
But ultimately, what makes me proudest is when someone tells me, “I needed this place.”
That’s when I know we’re doing what we set out to do.
TEAL isn’t just something we built. It’s something we’re building with our community.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I love most about Bend is the lifestyle and the people. There is something really special about being able to step outside and have the mountains, rivers, trails and so much natural beauty right at your doorstep. I love that people here value being active and being outdoors, but I also love the creative side of Bend. There are so many artists, makers, entrepreneurs and people who are willing to try something new.
I also love the sense of community. Bend has grown tremendously, but there is still this desire to support local businesses and to create meaningful connections. That’s actually a big part of why TEAL felt like the right fit here. We wanted to create a place that reflected the things we love about Bend. Creativity, connection, hospitality and a strong appreciation for local businesses.
I cannot say there is anything I strongly “dislike” about Bend. I think there’s a tension between wanting Bend to remain the special, connected community that people fell in love with and recognizing that growth is inevitable. I don’t want Bend to stop growing or changing. I just hope we can be intentional about what kind of community we’re building as we grow.
Pricing:
- Art Classes $45 to $130
- Artistic Bites $1 to $50
- Tea $5 to $16
- Food $3 to $16
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bendteal.com
- Instagram: @bendteal
- Facebook: @bendtealteaartlounge
