TeaNa~Verse
Artisan Blends |The Lifelong Story
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, I bring this entire lifetime to your cup. I 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 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 “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.
I don’t just blend tea; I 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 my 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
Currently in development: ‘The Grains of Sand’~ A memoir of impact and awakening. Expected 2027.
No holding back- this memoir traces from impact to awaking, is my story of crossing thresholds (NDE) - of what was seen, what was survived, and what was revealed when trusted system fractured. Woven through the story are moments that defy explanation - where paths cross in ways that feel anything but random ~ uncanny intersections that challenge the idea of chance.
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.
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 finally became the person I was always meant to be.
Click to Enter ‘In Purity We Trust’
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
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.
Follow the golden Leaf
Letters from the Garden
Become a Member in the TeaNa Circles.
Click the Leaf to Enter
Kindred Spirts: The Guardians of the Sanctuary
Ozmi, The Fairy Dragon
The Guardian of the Hearth & Hidden Blooms
~ The Pulse of Zen
Within the gold seal of our sanctuary drifts Ozmi, a fairy dragon whose wings shimmer like the morning mist over a tea garden. Ozmi is the keeper of the Ozmi Blooms - those rare “tea bombs” that hold the power of transformation. In folklore, the Dragon (the “Long”) is often the protector of a great treasure.
His Purpose: Ozmi represents Resilience. In folklore of The Leafy Echoes, he minds us that even when we are caught between worlds, there is a “bloom” waiting to release us.
His Resonance: He is the protector of the Root & Crown, and everything in-between, helping those who seek grounding and spiritual expansion. When you see Ozmi, know that your tea has been guarded with magic and fierce intent.
More than a mascot, Ozmi is the ancient, alchemical spirit of Innerflo. He is the heartbeat of ‘mi’ ~ That jubilant, sparkling wonder that exists everywhere. Born from a name twenty years in the making by the founder, Ozmi represents the ‘tickle-me-pink ’extraordinary delight we feel when we finally tap into our own vibrant energy. He is the ritual, the wisdom, and the jubilant heartbeat of every bloom.
Our Zen Magical Innerflo.
Anica Divine, The Elegant Spirit
The Muse of Grace & Botanical Wisdom
~ The Noble Ballerina of the Air
Alongside Ozmi stands the elegant Anica Divine. If Ozmi is the fire and strength of the brand, Anica is the grace and the “pour.” She moves through the gardens with a quiet wisdom, selecting the leaves that speak of beauty and refined tradition.
Her Purpose: Anica represents Elegance and Tradition. She is the reflection of the high-end, long-leaf quality that TeaNa™ stands for. She reminds us that the ritual of tea is a formal invitation to treat ourselves with dignity.
Her Resonance: She oversees the Heart and Throat resonances- encouraging clear communication and a compassionate spirit. She is the “elegant echo” in every cup.
A Nobel Innerflo Cherishing All.
Anica is our sassy, delightful ballerina of the sky. She is the aroma that dances in the air, a beautiful bird of noble spirit who reminds us to cherish every scent and every moment. She doesn’t just fly; she performs a celestial ballet, creating beauty out of the very atmosphere.
Mythic Journeys | Steeping the Story
Sneak Peek:
Through the Leafy Echoes
By Tina Sue Long
The story beings in the historic streets of Basel, Switzerland. For TeaNa, life was a rhythm of design and long-distance runs until a sudden, high-speed collision shattered the landscape of her world. Walking in the quiet sanctuary of her home under her mother’s watchful eye, the fast-paced life she once knew is replaced b a different kind of movement ~ the slow, mythical growth of the garden.
It is here she meets Ozmi, the Fairy Dragon. A jubilant, ancient spirit of “Innerflo,” Ozmi is a kindred spirit only TeaNa can see. When he suggests a walk along her favorite running path, they discover that familiar “Land of the Long Leaf” has transformed.
Ozmi senses another presence: Anica, a noble, bird spirit of the air. While TeaNa cannot yet see or hear her, a silent bridge forms between the two spirits. Anica is a guardian of Milou, a traveler who, while exploring his ancestral lands, stumbled into a hidden rift and fell into the In-Between Dimension.
He is there, invisible to the human eye except the wavery of botanicals covering him, waiting for a resonance strong enough to pull him back into the light. The crackel of a ‘Villain’ is the injury itself - heavy, confusing, and isolating ~ the shadow of an impact ~ and the light required to break through it.
The key to release lies within the knowledge of the Great Tilia Tree. Through a crackling leaf that mirrors the shattered mirror of her own accident, TeaNa discovers she can peer through the veil of time. She becomes a silent witness to a story more than a century old ~ following a master Swiss watchmaker across the Atlantic to the Illinois prairies, the hallowed stomping grounds of Abraham Lincoln, and back again on a ship bound for Europe.
There, a gift for a French opera singer holds a power, no one expected.
TeaNa must match the past unfold to find the clues to save the present. It is a journey of friendship, resilience, love, and heritage. Just like a cup of tea, this story has a journey and a soul. It is a tapestry of hidden gems, historical mysteries, and the thin, shimmering line between what we lose and what we are destined to find.
“Did you Know?
The Tilia tree (Linden) has been used for centuries in European Herbalism to calm the spirit and open the heart ~ the perfect gateway for a journey into the In-Between.” ~Tin
Fairytale Surrealism Folklore Book
Coming 2026.
What Sets Us Apart
The Purity & Heritage Pledge
Free of microplastics: We’ve meticulously curated our sourcing and packaging to ensure your 10-munute vacation is free of adhesives and microplastics. We believe the vessel should be as pure as the leaf.
The Master Gardener’s Standard: Every botanical is handled with the expertise of an award-winning florist and master gardener. We grow our own peppermint, lavender, and lemon balm right here in our sanctuary garden to ensure peak potency.
A Storytelling Apothecary
Magic in the Margins: We are a storytelling tea shop. Through our dragon mascot, Ozmi, and our folklore characters like Milou, we weave ancient herbal wisdom with fairytale surrealism, inviting you to live the story in every cup.
The Architect’s Steep
Environmental Design for the Soul: Our blends aren’t just flavors; they are ‘Environmental Design’ for your internal landscape. We curate teas specifically to work with a sensitive nervous system, not against it.
The Garden’s Gratitude (Loyalty & Rewards)
The Golden Circle Rewards: I value my community’s loyalty above all. We offer a 5% Sign-Up Gift on all purchases and 5% Market Cash on every purchase. Your stillness should be rewarded, not just sold.
The Conservatory of Names: We don’t just have customers; we have Patrons. Whether you choose to be a Silent Guardian or have your name honored in our digital journal, ‘Letters from the Garden’, you are the ‘foundation stones’ of this sanctuary.
Enter the Dragon’s Keep
Click our Golden Seal to discover how you can become a Member of the TeaNa Circles or a Patron. From joining our ‘Golden Membership’ to being inscribed in "‘The Conservatory of Names,’ your support helps us grow from the garden ate to the global stage.
The TeaNa Research Initiative
TeaNa Botanica was born from a high-stakes collision, but it grows through the power of community. We don’t just sell tea; we advocate from a world that is softer, slower, and more accessible for the creative souls and resilient warriors among us.
“As part of our founding mission, we have pledged 5% of our business proceeds to support the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago and Stanford Medicine: FND Program (Study of TBI combined with FND). We Specifically champion their research into the connection between Traumatic Brain Injuries and Functional Neurological Disorder, helping to bridge the gap in care for those with invisible neurological challenges.”
~ Tina Sue Long