At Work With Judith Krull-Russo LLC

  Libby Barsky
  May 23, 2008

Name: Judith Krull-Russo LLC

Type of Business: Food historian, tea specialist, consultant, lecturer, and speaker

Address: Edison

Telephone: (732) 985-2486

Web site: www.teafoodhistory.com

Number of employees: 1

Founded: 1999

   Top officer: Judith Krull-Russo, managing member of her LLC

How would you describe your business?

"I provide programs and seminars on various subjects including the history of tea or foods native to New Jersey such as blueberries, tomatoes, and cranberries to different organizations," said Judith Krull-Russo.

"I've given programs at libraries, museums, Hadassah, and sisterhoods and senior centers throughout the state.

"I've always liked tea and food. I was always interested in why people ate certain things or why foods grew in a certain area and my research was the impact food had on people's lives. I like researching and finding books and old articles to find out why. For instance, at one of my lectures someone mentioned that he had worked in a food packing plant in New Jersey and he wanted to know where they had gone. I researched and found the whole packing industry had moved to either to California or the midwest. With the plants gone, the farms started to go, too. It's an interesting web to follow."

What makes your business special?

"Each lecture is different. There is always another piece of research from an article or a trend from a newspaper that I can incorporate in the lecture to make it fresh. I accommodate each group. For instance, for the program ‘A Tea on Queen Victoria's Birthday Celebration,' I collaborated with the chair of the Cultural Arts Commission to have her dress up as Queen Victoria, letting her speak in the queen's voice."

What goals do you have for your business?

"I would like to do more consulting for restaurants and tearooms on how to buy tea and how to prepare tea. I believe most restaurants don't know the correct methods. People will go to a really expensive restaurant and they will be served a tea bag in warm water. I still want to continue to lecture and talk to people but I'd also like to get my business into restaurants and tearooms and encourage them to learn about tea -- the different types of tea, how to store tea, and the different desserts to serve with the tea. I've done some consulting already with some restaurants but I'd like to do more and expand my programs with the public so people will be inspired to read more about the topics I present. People tell me ‘You've inspired me to learn more, I'm going to get a book on this.' So I've opened their world and that is what I want to do as well."

How has your business changed?

"When I started, it was in the kitchen of a friend and our subject also included a cooking demonstration. My lectures or seminars may include recipes but no cooking demonstrations. Today, I offer more programs and they take place in many different venues.

"My first lectures were given in libraries and museums, now I go to different organizations and women's groups. The audience has changed. For example, in the month of May, I had 10 engagements of varying topics including ‘The Asian Tea Experience' at the Cherry Blossom Festival at the William Paterson University campus, Wayne; at the ‘Spirit of the Jersey's State History Fair' at Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville -- lectures were on New Jersey's Wonder Fruit: blueberries and the Jersey tomato; Remedies from the Kitchen at Somers Point; Memories of Aprons and Cookies at the Sayreville Public Library; and History of Tea with tea tasting at West Caldwell Library."

What was your most important deal?

"Leaving the corporate world, where I worked in marketing and sales and starting lecturing and giving seminars. I began on weekends and in the evenings. When I started I was doing everything -- working during the day, doing lectures, and going to school. In 2000, I went to a school in upper Connecticut to learn about tea. Since then I've been going to the Specialty Food Institute and am at Level 3. Then my husband and I decided to do this full time. In 2006, the business received its LLC designation."

What changes do you expect in your business in the next 10 years?

"In the future, I expect I will sell some tea and some tea items, but that is not my focus. My focus is to open up your world to food. It's also entertainment to inspire and educate the person.

"I expect that there will be a different type of tea room that will be more like a café, and more casual. I also think people will want more local and organic food and know where the food comes from and the workers are paid fairly. They will want to know more and a lot of people want the tea to be fair trade. People want to know what kinds of fertilizer, pesticides are used. That's how things will change."

What is the most important thing you've learned in your business?

"That what I do is a labor of love. When you do something you love, you work all the time, but it's a labor of love. It's constantly changing, it's stimulating and dynamic and you never stop learning. No matter what someone says as an expert you will never know everything about tea and food. The world is open to you because everyday you learn something new."

What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work?

"They have to be able to talk in front of people without using a slide projector or PowerPoint. What they are talking about has to be their passion. You have to love the subject and keep it fresh and alive. If not, it comes across that you aren't interested. Remember that a lecture is a living thing -- it's organic. The information you have today may not be the same information tomorrow. It is not a static thing. It always has to be moving. My husband I went to a lecture on photography and were excited to go. It was a slide show and the man read from a paper. It was a nightmare -- there was no energy, no life. You can't do that because people fall asleep as soon as the lights go off."

Is there anything you would rather be doing?

"No. There is nothing else I would rather be doing."