Stephanie Miller

Stephanie 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

Sylvia 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
Archana 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

Our talented book editor 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

Virginia is owner of Special-Tea Occasions, LLC a tea party business and specialty tea on-line retail business. She enjoys hosting tea parties, cooking with tea, traveling, and sharing information about teas with ladies groups and friends. Visit her at www.special-teaoccasions.vpweb.com


Penny Ward

Penny Ward  is a Certified Etiquette Instructor and Certified Tea & Etiquette Instructor. She is a Speaker, an Event Planner, and has many years of experience in Women’s Ministry Leadership. Penny is the owner of It’s an Affair of the Heart and the Founder & Director of Houston Academy of Etiquette & Protocol.

Becky Watts

Becky is owner and chef of Small Potatoes Catering, serving the Collin County area for 10 years. She has recently retired from wedding and large event catering and now specializes in offering off site catering for brunch, luncheons, and tea events. Her newest venture is the production of SPC Sorbet and Shortbread featuring all natural ingredients and seasonal flavors. Check the website for more information: www.smallpotatoescatering.com

Joshua Rigsby

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

Kathi Russell

Kathi 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

Thia 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 in 2011.

Gail Henderson

Gail 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

Marci 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
Lydia 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, Carol has authored of Tea Treasures and More Cookbook and blog.teatreasures.com. She is a Tea Consultant and speaker, enjoying tea with her new grandchildren.

Cindy Price

Cindy is a tea aficionado who collects teacups and French chocolate cups. Cindy hosts an annual Valentines for Veterans Tea in her Houston area home, where neighborhood ladies make handmade valentines for delivery to the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Medical Center in Houston. A self-described “19th century soul,” Cindy enjoys the health benefits from tea as well as the historical connections to tea’s illustrious past. For tea’s future she would like to see more American tea production since tea is an environmentally-friendly crop. www.AuthorCindyPrice.com

Lisa K. Morrow
As a decorator and teacher for 30 years, Lisa 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
Vikki 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 of 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, Doreen loves visiting Tea Rooms across Texas and Canada with her Aunt Bernadette.

Dr. Don Vann

Dr. 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.