After 14 years working as a celebrity stylist, Davida Colona Roberts has expanded her business horizons and launched a new tea line.
A love of tea spurred Roberts to develop Davinitea – Davida’s Lifestyle Tea. The brand infuses blended tea with the Philadelphia native’s artistic expression.
Developing the tea line gave Roberts the chance to move into what she refers to as “phase two” of her business life.
“I’ve been a wardrobe stylist for the last 14 years and the industry has changed so much with movies being done for low budgets and the music industry tanking and I was thinking what else could I do as my phase two,” says Roberts, who currently resides in Los Angeles.
For Roberts, tapping into the tea business was a natural evolution.
“I’ve always frequented tea bars and made my own concoctions up so that why is was easy for me to come up with it because it’s natural. With me being a wardrobe stylist, I didn’t want to do a clothing line, a T-shirt line or a jeans line. I wanted to do something that didn’t have anything to do with the garment industry. This just seemed like it was just a natural fit,” says the 33-year old.
With an investment of about $30,000, Roberts was able to launch the line of loose and blooming teas that unfurl into flower-like arrangements when steeped in hot water.
The Davinitea line currently offers five flavors including Shrink — an herbal blend of lotus leaf, senna, oolong, marshmallow root and Harmony — a blend containing lemongrass, reishi and jasmine flower.
Due to the holistic herbs that are used in the line, Roberts is hopeful that potential customers will use the teas as a part of their health and beauty regimens.
Roberts says it took about a year to bring the tea line to the marketplace. She developed the tea formulas based on a mixture of her personal taste, talking with friends and working with an herbalist.
“It has a balanced taste. You won’t be overpowered by mint or rose. It’s very balanced.” Roberts says in regards to the tea flavors.
Roberts’ tea business has been influenced by her years in the entertainment industry where she she’s worked with starts such as Chris Brown, Martin Lawrence, Mike Epps, Nas and Jamie Foxx. To that end, she’s encouraged some of her celebrity clients to try the tea line and has designed tea infusers in the shape of music notes.
While the tea is currently sold via the davinitea.com website, Roberts aspires to have the tea carried in upscale day spas, restaurants and hotels.
“We want it to be a high end tea brand. We want it to be a speciality tea all across the board,” Roberts says of the product.
“I want it to be a celebrity-driven brand,” says Roberts, who attended the Moore College of Arts.
“I want this brand to be different than the rest that’s why I refuse to put it in the tea bag form because I don’t want it to be traditional by any stretch of the imagination.”
Contact staff writer Ayana Jones at (215) 893-5747 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
