HOME PARTY LED HER TO OWN BUSINESS

What it takes to be an entrepreneur

Green Bay Press Gazette, 2002

Four years ago, entrepreneur Tracey Suehring dreamed of bringing America the perfect cup of coffee.

Today, she’s getting closer as she sees the expansion of her coffee and tea home party business, Inspired Aroma Inc., from a home-based business to a new 2,000-foot facility at 1382 Plane Site Blvd. in DePere.

Twenty-two sales consultants sell the 150 products she currently offers. That includes private label arabica coffees that are roasted for her each week, private label teas that she has developed from all over the world, cocoas, chai teas, apple cider, and a variety of preparation products related to brewing and enjoying the beverages.

Her new facility includes a test kitchen, training area, warehouse, and retail selling space to allow for walk-in customers. She also direct ships her products to customers through her Coffee Catering Club.

Suehring’s sales consultants are in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, and Arizona, and she’s beginning to make inroads into Michigan and Iowa.

What led me to this career: Suehring was a national sales executive for USI International in West Bend when she went to a home party for kitchen products. “A couple days later it came to me… Do it with coffee and tea,” she recalled. “I have always been a coffee drinker.”

She has also always been a go-getter. With only a high school diploma from Ashwaubenon High School, during her 13-year career at USI International Suehring worked her way up the ranks from receptionist to a sales executive whose work sometimes took her overseas.

The same day she came up with the idea of a coffee and tea home party business, she had already been to the library to begin her research, visited coffee shops, and even came up with the name for her business.

Her goal from the very beginning has been to educate herself about coffees and teas and in turn bring that information to her customers.

Workday inspirations: “Fifty states is where we’d like to be,” Suehring said. Her only full-time employee is Peggy Schneider, her training specialist. Her husband, Dan, also works about 15 hours each week at the business.

“It took a while to get to 22 sales people, but now things should really start to blossom,” she said.
By supporting her sales consultants well, “there’s no telling where it can go,” she said.
Some advice for other entrepreneurs: Suehring said her work is all about taking chances, but making sure the research is done first.

She remembers it was May 1, 1998, when she first got the idea for Inspired Aroma, Inc.. By July 1, she had left her full-time job to pursue her dream. “There was no turning back,” she said. “There’s a business on every single corner. Why can’t I do it?”

The risk worried her, but, she said, “It never occurred to me not to do it because it wouldn’t work right away. I didn’t want fear to control my life.”

What I do when I’m not at work: “I am a big believer in self-education,” she said. That includes Dale Carnegie courses and sales training courses. “The thing that I like about sales is there’s no ceiling,” she said.Family: Suehring and her husband, Dan, have three children, Tina, 25, Crystal, 22, and Ashley, 19. The family lives in Green Bay.