Welcome to the
TeaNa~Verse
Artisan Blends | The Lifelong Story | Meet the Founder
Where Horticulture Meets Lore
TeaNa (pronounced Tee-nuh) Tina
BIO
The Heritage & Advocacy
The Myth of the Gardener
The Alchemy of the Leaf
Rooted in Five Decades: The Designer Soul, The Gardener’s Hands
Before there was a brand, there was a backyard in Decatur.
My journey didn’t begin with a business plan; it began in the rich black soil of Illinois, in a corner of the garden that was mine alone. While my family worked the earth to feed our table during the lean years, I was discovering that the earth also fed the spirit. My father built a treehouse that became my first sanctuary - a place of high-altitude tea parties and whispered stories where I first dreamed of being a guardian of the forest.
That girl in the treehouse grew into a woman who lived at the intersection of science and soul. For a decade, I operated as an award-winning floral designer - an “Enchanted” Florist who understood that a bouquet isn’t just a gift it’s a botanical message. From the traditional Japanese discipline of Ikebana to the lush, layered gardens of Europe, I learned that every plant has a signature, a rhythm, and a requirement for purity.
My Career eventually took me from the greenhouse to hospital campuses. Armed with a Master’s in Environmental Planning & Design and a heart for Historical Preservation, I spent decades managing the environments where people go to heal. I was a long-distance runner, a marathoner who used herbs and botanicals as fuel for performance, pushing my body to its absolute limits across the United States in the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathons’.
At TeaNa, we bring this entire lifetime to your cup. We source with the precision of an Environmental Planner and the reverence of a lifelong herbalist. This isn’t just tea; it is five decades of hand-touched ritual, rooted in nature, shaped by story, and steeped in a lifetime of family botanical practice.
From the Soil to the Sanctuary,
Tina “Tin” Long
Founder, Botanical Tea Artisan & Environmental Designer
The Collison and The Chrysalis
The Echoes of the Impact: Redesigning a Life of Stillness
In June 2023, the world was bright, fast, and full of momentum. I was a project manager, a runner, and a mother, living at the high-speed intersection of a career I loved. Then, at a construction zone stoplight in Phoenix, Arizona, the landscape of my life was permanently altered.
A high-speed rear-end collision didn’t just break my rhythm; it shattered the mirror through which I saw the world.
In that instant, I experienced the “Near-Death” - a threshold where you realize that what you leave behind is the only thing that truly matters. The year that followed was a descent into a different kind of darkness: over 300 doctor visits, endless scans, and the heavy, fog-filled silence of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and post-traumatic Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).
The woman who ran marathons now had to learn to walk down the street and how to manage the marathon of survival in a single day.
When the clinical world told me I was “disabled,” I chose to hear “adapt to redesigned”, even though my brain and body don’t always sync up. I returned to my roots in Decatur to be near family. In the summer of 2025, amidst the nerve pain and the brain fog, I turned back to my oldest friends: the earth, the herbs. But I didn’t need them for “performance” anymore. I needed them for Resonance.
The “Aha!” moment happened on my sofa, surrounded by my indoor sanctuary of plants. I realized that my name ~ TeaNa ~
had been holding the answer all along. It was time to create a legacy.
We don’t just blend tea; we design sensory environments for those of us who need the world to be a little softer, a little purer, and much more intentional. TeaNa is the next chapter - a place where we savor the blossoms, honor the stillness, and find the extraordinary delight of the “Innerflo.”
Steeped in Resilience,
Tina “Tin” Long
Survivor & Storyteller
While I am a visionary for TeaNa Botanica, my permanent neurological impairments prevent me from performing the physical labor myself. This project is a therapeutic “legacy” project that relies on assistance and support, rather than my own physical labor. This boutique is my home-based therapeutic- outlet - a way to pace my energy, engage my mind, and share folklore storytelling through the healing comfort of tea. TeaNa is the legacy, born from survival and adaptation.
Heritage to Heirloom
Where my roots became my offering
The Architecture of Destiny
A Name Lifelong in the Waiting
They say a name is the first gift a father gives his daughter, but in the “TeaNa~Verse,” it was a quiet prophecy.
Long before I understood the alchemy of the leaf or the sanctuary of the garden, my father, held a singular conviction. He insisted on the name Tina. It wasn’t a choice made by chance or a passing trend; it was an unwavering North Star. He loved the sound, the resonance, and the weight of it so much that no other name was ever considered.
At the time, it was simply a father’s love. Today, over twenty years after he has passed, it feels like an act of pre-ordained destiny. My father also had a nickname for me, but that’s one I’ve chosen to keep as my own.
Spiritual tradition tells us that our maps are drawn before we take our first breath. The “random” moments of my life ~ a high-speed collision in a desert construction zone, a near-death threshold, the miraculous finding of a home back in my birthplace ~ were not coincidences. They were guideposts leading me back to my name he gave me and to my roots.
TeaNa is more than a phonetic play on words. It is the moment where my father’s love meets my life’s work. It is a whispered promise from a guided hand, reminding me that I didn’t just find my way - I realized the immense value of leaving a meaningful mark behind- of weaving my name and my deep love for the botanical world into a legacy that stands long after I am gone.
Tap to ENTER ‘In Purity We Trust’ ~TeaNa Blueprint
The Matriarch’s Shimmer
Anica Divine & The Legend of ‘Tin’
If my father provided the map, my mother, provided the light.
In the heart of our home, she was ~and remains~ the Luminous Force. A queen, a warrior & survivor, a matriarch, she is the very essence of the Anica Divine Botanica Collection. My mother raised five children through the leanest of times with a classic elegance that never faltered. She taught us that “cleanliness is next to Godliness” ~ not just as a matter of order, but as a standard of self-respect. Whether we were spending the day in the park because the cinema was out of reach, or she was facing down multiple cancers with an unbroken spirit, she always stepped out looking her absolute best.
That indomitable grace is the soul of Anica.
But there is a second layer to this heritage ~ a secret tucked into every vessel we sell. Since I was a small girl, my mother has called me “Tin.” It was her nickname for her bold, adventurous daughter, a reminder to spread my wings and tackle the world. Today, my Tin Tea Collections are a tribute to that sparkle. A tin is more than a storage vessel; it is a protector of treasure, a keeper of freshness, and a literal piece of my mother’s vice calling me forward.
When you hold a tin of TeaNa, you aren’t just holding tea. You are holding a legacy of resilience, a flash of matriarchal strength, and the timeless elegance of a woman who proved that even in the toughest soil, you can choose to shimmer.
Pronounced “Tina”, Crafted with Love,
~Tin
TeaNa | [tee-nah] \ Proper Noun
The Divine Flower: A nod to the botanical grace of the Camellia Sinensis plant. A Divine Heavenly Flower.
The 10-Minute Vacation: A trademark destination for the sensory-overloaded.
The Architect’s Seal: A proprietary brank founded by Tina Long, bridging 25 years of design with the healing power of the leaf.
The Significance of the Name
The Long Legacy
In the world of tea, ‘Long Leaf’ is a mark of purity ~ a whole, unbroken leaf that requires time, patience, and the right environment to reveal its true story.
But for me, the name runs deeper. Long is my heritage, a name steeled by my father’s conviction. In the ancient languages of the East, Long also means Dragon. It is no coincidence that the guardian of this sanctuary is a dragon named Ozmi, or that my journey has led me to craft a ‘Long Leaf’ connection that honors the resilience of the unbroken spirit.
At TeaNa Long Leaf, we aren’t just selling tea we are honoring a name that was destined to protect the garden.
This is brought to life through the physical hands, technical strength, and unwavering love of my supportive collective, the Treehouse Sisters. Together, they help manage the heavy lifting so that I may quietly focus on the creative alchemy of blending, sharing folklore, and anchoring my name for generations to come.
Follow the golden Leaf
Letters from the Garden
Become a Member in the TeaNa Circles.
Tap the Golden Leaf to Enter
Echoes & Ink
Mythic Journeys | Steeping the Story
Our collections are “Steeped in Story,” inviting you into the folklore of The Leafy Echoes™. “A sanctuary crafted for those who seek beauty in the leaf and magic in the margins.”
Kindred Spirts | Ozmi & Anica
Within our gold seal drifts Ozmi, the fairy dragon, alongside the elegant Anica Divine. These are the guardians of our sanctuary - waiting to be found between the leaf and the story.
Tap Leaf to Enter Echoes & Ink
