Stephanie Miller

is a marketing professional and fan of tea who enjoys visiting North Texas tearooms for Tea in Texas. She enjoys gardening, and spends her free time watching her children play sports and perform in youth theater. Her interests include needlepoint, antiquing, volunteer work and, most of all, spending time with her family and yellow lab.

Sylvia Raupple

is an author and educator on the subject of tea. She is the author of “Texas HospitaliTea,” a guidebook to planning and hosting teas. Sylvia lives in Dallas.

Archana Pyatt
is a true tea enthusiast. Her passion for tea has served as a platform for writing, traveling and finally opening her own tea room. Serenitea Tea Room, located in Sugarland, TX is not only a place for lunch and Afternoon Tea but also a venue to share the knowledge of tea and all things related.

Janet Pool

enjoys reading, traveling with her husband, paper crafts and, of course, anything related to tea!
Read more with Janet at letshaveatea.googlepages.com

Virginia Walker


Penny Ward is a Certified
Tea & Etiquette Instructor. She is a speaker, event planner, and the owner of It’s an Affair of the Heart. She is also the founder and director of Houston Academy of Etiquette and Protocol.

Becky Watts
owner of Small Potatoes Catering in Dallas.

Joshua Rigsby

is Marketing and Communications Coordinator
at QTrade Teas and Herbs and a Tea Specialist (Levels 1 & 2)

Kathi Russell

was born in Boston, and surrounded by her mother, aunts and grandmother , originating from Scotland, afternoon tea has always been a ritual in her family. It was at the knee of her grandmother, Mary, that a passion for tea served in elegant English tea cups, was born. In a small town of Franklin, Michigan, an opportunity arose to open The Franklin Village Tea Room in 2005. After retiring to Atlanta, Kathi found another opportunity to open a tea room in the beautiful antebellum town of Madison. Opening in the fall, this tea room will host the same wonderful environment which allows tea lovers to come together and enjoy the art of taking tea.


Thia McKann

is the owner of The Path of Tea which is the only totally organic tea shop in Houston. Thia is the only Certified Tea Master in Texas. The Path of Tea was voted Best Tea House in Houston for the second year in a row.

Gail Henderson

is a creative tea & friendship writer who lives in a Tampa neighborhood with her husband and travels whenever possible. Gail Henderson and Martha DeWeese recently produced their 8th Love Your Neighborhood Hospitali -TEA Adventures Calendar (gorgeous tea pictures, monthly columns, inspiring scriptures, and a free gift inside).

Marci Peschke

is an author and school librarian who has been a tea lover for over twenty years. She is the co-founder of the Tea With Friends Club in Dallas, Texas.

Lydia E. Harris
earned her M.A. in Home Economics from the University of Washington with an emphasis in family relationships. Her background in teaching and eleven years of experience as a grandmother prepared her to write this easy-to-follow, practical, and inspiring Bible study.
Lydia has also contributed to thirteen books and has written hundreds of articles, devotionals, book reviews, and personal experience stories.

Carol Sims
Co-founder of Tea Embassy in Austin, Texas.Author of Tea Treasures and More Cookbook and blog.teatreasures.com.

Cindy Price

Lisa K. Morrow,
as a decorator and teacher for 30 years, has spoken to dozens of women’s organizations and church groups across Texas on the pleasures of home as she learned them so well from her mother and dad who helped each of their children celebrate the life God had given them. If you are interested in arranging a program for your club or civic organization, Lisa can be reached at www.sewfunwithmrsmorrow.com . She and her husband, Jim, live in McAllen, Texas.

Vikki Douglas
is a sophomore at The University of Texas at Austin this year, continuing her major in Japanese Language. She enjoys learning new cultures and languages, writing in her spare time (what little she has as a college student), and the many different outdoor activities the city of Austin provides, such as canoeing. When she visits home, her favorite thing to do is to sit in her parent’s tea room and bakery and eat her mother’s delicious Belgian waffles!


Jenn Best
President & Founder Steeped and Infused It’s Tea Time
Steeped and Infused, located in Toronto, Ontario Canada offers a premium selection of quality loose leaf teas. Jennifer’s personal challenges with her health introduced her to the world of tea and the many healing properties tea promotes. Having personally benefited from a lifestyle that includes a variety of quality loose leaf teas, she brings her passion, insight and commitment to health to her customers.


Doreen Pike
Being Canadian and having a love for Tea, I knew I couldn’t pass up visiting a Tea Room in Toronto, Canada on a recent visit with my Aunt Bernadette. It was by chance that I picked Steeped and Infused and so happy that I did. We almost didn’t wait around for it to open but when we looked inside the window of this inviting little shop we knew we couldn’t pass it by. Jennifer Best, the owner is such an amazing person and as you will read in this article. Please take time and enjoy reading this wonderful story of the benefits of tea.

Dr. Don Vann

is a Regent’s Professor of English, Retired, and Professor Emeritus at the University of North Texas. A co-founder of the Denton Dickens Fellowship, he is also a member of the London Dickens Fellowship and the London Pickwick Club.