Chaiwaala… we all are well aware of the power of chaiwala’s in India, Our very own Prime Minister Shri.Narendra Modi himself was a chaiwaala in his initial days, When a chaiwaala can become Prime Minister of the country which has 120 crores of the population then they surely can’t be taken lightly, This is another success story of a Chaiwala who is earning hundreds of crores by just selling chai. Yes, a normal chai vendor is earning approximately $35 million a year by selling tea, This is her story( Oh yes this time it’s a woman).

We all know how much Indians love Chai(Tea) It is India’s most loved drink after all… You can find hundreds of chai flavors across India, Which also attracted a lady from America Brook Eddy, She has a masters in Social policy, In the year 2002 she listened to an NPR Story about the Swadhyay, A social change movement originated in India, Which grabbed her interest. While talking about that movement Eddy said “Swadhyay seemed like this really cool movement that 20 million people were practicing but no one had heard of,” And “At the time, I was asking myself questions like, how can we make our nonprofits stronger? Can we make businesses more like nonprofits?” That’s how her journey to India started. Her research brought her to villages of Western India.

We all know how famous Chai is in Villages of India, She also fell in love with India’s most favorite drink Chai, Soon she became a chai expert who can distinguish between the varieties of Chai, She found about all the varieties of chai which gave her an idea about Chai Business. Back to home in Boulder, Colorado, She formulated an original chai brew as she failed to find an authentic version at her local stores.

She soon began her business of selling her own formulated chai, She started selling chai on back of her car, Which attracted many in those days, “I realized the recipe I had crafted for myself, a fiery fresh ginger chai, could be produced for cafés and retailers to bring people not only ‘India in a cup,’ but build a mission-driven company on the tenants of bhakti,” She said. She used the Sanskrit term Bhakti which means Devotion to take her brand into the people.

Since the launch of her Bhakti chai, she raised a total of $10 million through Angel Investors and private equity firms. In 2011 Eddy launched her ready-to-drink cold box sets of chai, Which helped her to expand her business across the Nation. Now her company has 26 employees who brew, package, distribute the bhakti chai. All the ingredients come from outside of the U.S., which includes her “special sauce”. Each year 300,000 pounds of organic ginger is delivered from Peru to her company.

And in 2015, in keeping with the company’s original mission which was to help the nonprofits, Bhakti Chai launched a social-change initiative called GITA (Give, Inspire, Take Action) to award the grants which range from feeding the homeless to providing the drinking water to those areas where it lacks. To date, the company has given $500,000 funds to help the ones in need.

India continues to be Eddy’s favorite place and her secret box of ideas… She visits India whenever she requires fresh ideas. While talking about India she says “I’m a white girl born of hippie parents in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and then raised in Michigan, right? I shouldn’t really have this pulse for India, but I do. I love the chaos and vibrancy. Every time I come I’m introduced to something new. It’s just real.”

“I think the inspiration piece is getting out of the Boulder bubble then going back and feeling more energized for my company,” Eddy Says. This time she is coming with Boulder Bubble, What is Boulder Bubble? It’s eating healthy, Lots of yoga, Meditation all in one environment. Bhakti Chai has total revenue of $35 million since it’s inception, and is part of a swelling industry valued at $3.7 trillion, according to the Global Wellness Institute. “I want customers to say, ‘Whatever Bhakti does it’s amazing because I trust them. It’s going to have a soul,’ She says. She also said “So maybe someday it’s sauces or chutneys or snacks or food or a brick-and-mortar concept. And maybe the pulse and the vibration of India will come through somehow. I want that to be the legacy.”

So this is the story of aa Chai Waala who is actually a woman from America. Yeah never ever underestimate a Chai Wala. This Chai continues to do wonders in India and outside India as well.