Shop Small is a monthly series highlighting small business owners from diverse backgrounds. This series aims to go deeper than your typical product roundup, diving into the inspirational stories behind some of our favorite brands. By taking a behind-the-scenes look at how their shops came to be and highlighting the products they (and their shoppers!) love, we hope to put a deserving spotlight on these marginalized business owners.


After a decade working in fashion, Lisa Li felt burnt out and disconnected from herself — it was the ritual of drinking beautiful tea that helped her reconnect and heal. Growing up in China, Lisa remembers drinking tea with her grandmother, calling those moments "some of the most nourishing and healing times" of her life. With The Qi, a wellness brand specializing in whole-flower tea, Lisa hopes to spread awareness about the therapeutic power of drinking flowers.

"All flowers make people happy, but flowering herbs offer even deeper energetic benefits when you consume them," says Lisa, who tried and tested over 100 flowering herbs before starting the brand in 2018. From rose to wild chrysanthemum, Lisa encourages tea drinkers to drop the whole flowers directly into hot water and sip away — no tea bags or strainers required.

In recent years, The Qi has expanded its offerings, with a small collection of glassware and a growing line of loose leaf teas that are designed to improve one's overall well-being, whether it's energy, sleep or beauty.

Lisa draws inspiration from ancient Eastern healing philosophies — specifically the idea of Qi (pronounced "chi"), which refers to the energy flowing through all things. To learn more about the growing wellness brand, Lisa gives us a glimpse into her journey as a business owner.

Shangri-la Rose
Shangri-la Rose
Royal Chrysanthemum
Royal Chrysanthemum
Butterfly Pea
Butterfly Pea
Floral Collection Variety Box
Floral Collection Variety Box
Blooming Tea
Blooming Tea
Complete Functional Tea Set
Complete Functional Tea Set
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What inspired you to start The Qi?

After I was diagnosed with a thyroid disease, I went to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. He did acupuncture, energy tapping (a type of Reiki) and gave me herbal medicine. That was the first thing that made me realize how important it is to take care of myself holistically.

I worked in fashion for over 10 years, and I was really burnt out and disconnected, to be honest. I didn't feel like what I was doing really had a positive impact on people's lives. Growing up in Asia, drinking tea with my grandma was so healing and nourishing — so I just wanted to create a new brand that shared how beautiful that can be. There are just so many benefits — tea is not only calming, but it can be really powerful. Then, I went down a rabbit hole of figuring out all this stuff, and that was the beginning of me launching The Qi, almost six years ago now.

Qi means energy in all things. Why did you choose it for your brand’s name?

When a plant flowers, it's at the peak of its life. The flower is actually the fruit of its highest energy — that's Qi. When we look at flowers, when we go to gardens, it's why it makes people so happy. If you can relate that to a flowering herb that we drink and ingest, it has even more healing and energetic benefits.

putting flowers into glass tea cups
The Qi

What are the benefits of drinking flowers?

A lot of brands sell teas with flower petals or blends, but we're known for large whole-flower teas. Drinking a flowering tea is such a beautiful ritual experience. We think of it as a self-care ritual, the same as putting on a face mask, that gives you a moment for yourself. A 10-minute break does wonders for all of us — for calming our minds and bringing inner peace. Then, you add how beautiful flowering tea looks and it just creates happiness.

There are antioxidants in the flower itself. It also has zero calories and it's caffeine-free, so you can have it any time of the day — and you can drink it instead of plain water, because the flavor is light and subtle. A lot of times, people drink wine or a cocktail to relax — you can drink a flower, it relaxes you just as well without the hangover.

Are Americans drinking more tea?

Tea is having a moment! For a long time, tea was the weird little cousin to coffee here in the U.S., because people didn't have access to really good tea. Most people didn't know of the vast options — but it's really changing. Whether it's the wave of matcha or people looking for alternative ways to better their well-being through herbs and tea blends, it's really exciting. It's finally a time where people are open, interested and excited to experiment with tea.

How do you create tea blends designed to deliver different benefits — like sleep, energy and cleanse?

For the line we released in January, we worked with a traditional Chinese medicine herbalist to think beyond the flowers. Flowers are still the foundational base, but we added other herbs and fruits to make the teas more balanced, powerful and harmonious.

For example: For beauty, the hero ingredient is rose. It's popular in skin care, because it contains high levels of vitamin C. Rosebuds, chrysanthemum and hibiscus flowers are all good for skin and hair when drank as a tea. The cleanse, which is meant to help cleanse your body, has oolong tea, which is known for detoxing. There's also dandelion, mint leaf, mulberry leaf and rosebuds to create a really powerful benefit.

flower tea

What's next for The Qi?

We're working on more functional blends — maybe immunity or digestion, the things all of us can use more help of on a daily basis. We were getting feedback that people wanted more flavor, so that's another reason for the blends. It's for the stronger taste. We're thinking about what else we can do to make people's lives better, healthier and happier. How else can we positively transform people's lives through just natural herbs from the earth?

Headshot of Alyssa Gautieri
Alyssa Gautieri
Associate Lifestyle Editor

Alyssa Gautieri (she/her) is the associate lifestyle editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers all things home and interior design. Prior to joining GH in 2022, she wrote for publications including ELLE Decor, Chairish, BobVila.com, Unique Homes Magazine and LODGING Magazine, in addition to crafting product copy for home brands like BrylaneHome and VIGO Industries.