Mark Sotomayor, a fellow Grove City entrepreneurship major, started his own business in October of 2017. Té Amo was created in response to Mark’s belief that he should start a business in college due to his major. Mark summed it up like this, “If you’re gonna major in it, why not try your hardest to start a business?” He knew that if he came up with an idea, he could also use it to enter into various competitions that Grove City pays for . Using his Peruvian grandmother’s chai recipe, Mark shares his love for tea with Pittsburgh, and gives the proceeds to Haiti. Having gone to Haiti before, Mark came up with an idea for a value proposition: for every bottle of tea bought, one tree is planted in Haiti. Trees naturally make the soil more rich in nutrients, thus causing more produce to be able to grow. With more resources, Haitians can make a living and feed their families.
During my interview, Mark’s face became serious as he explained that not all aspects of his business have been sunshine and rainbows. This past year, there was a mix-up with Mark’s business taxes, making him receive a hefty $800 fine from the IRS. In addition to this, Mark also received a cease and desist order from a company in Guatemala with the same name, Té Amo. With these two problems along with various others, Mark does not know for sure what the future holds. But he does know that, “People are supportive of my idea…It makes them feel something, as it should.” While Mark encountered many hardships, he still feels confident in the idea of his product and he wants to make it work. Exemplifying true grit, Mark illustrates how to persevere through seemingly impossible situations because his vision is worth more than just a paycheck.
I remember hearing about this a while back. But I didn’t remember the story behind it. There’s a lot of Grove City Alum that go on to form businesses, it great to see another Grove City Graduate do the same.
Mark is such a cool person to talk to. I visited Haiti on a missions trip a while back and noticed the same need. So many times people try to help the people of Haiti out whenever they suffer from natural disasters. But these empty donations do nothing to help the people of Haiti long term. Having trees and livestock not only gives the Haitian people a source of food, but also a source of income. Whenever they sell there produce and livestock they are then able to send there children to school so they are able to be educated in higher skilled fields and lead to more development in the entire country. In 2018 most of Haiti still doesn’t have electricity and indoor plumbing which contributes to disease throughout the country.
I can’t decide whether it’s reassuring or discouraging to hear the trials that this company has gone through. So many things go on underneath the surface of any business that can seem like the last straw for that business, but then they are able to turn things around.