Miami Gardens entrepreneur Tesi Johnson gives customers natural ways to heal

By focusing on the natural remedies that mattered to her, Iset By Nature founder Tesi Johnson has built a business selling teas, candles and other natural products to help her clients improve and maintain their health.

Johnson, 38, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and splits her time between there and living in Miami Gardens. She had family in Florida and visited Miami often while growing up which made her 2013 move to the city easier.

Using social media and building an online presence that translated into 14,000 Instagram followers came naturally to Johnson, whose father was a computer programmer and IT specialist.

“I was exposed to the internet from a young age way before most of my peers through my dad,” she said. “When social media started to blow up, it was a natural segue for me. Now, we’re in a time where you can connect with your audience instantaneously. People check their phone before they brush their teeth in the morning.”

Looking back, Johnson realized entrepreneurship had been at the top of her mind since she was in school. As a high school student, she sold candy to classmates to make money and she owned a clothing business before pivoting into plant-based retail. She later found writing opportunities on gig economy site Upwork before making a major career change.

In 2011, Johnson took an interest in plant-based living. She learned that Jamaica has a strong plant-based culture that existed long before veganism became popular in Western society. “Before veganism we had ital, a Rastafarian way of eating,” she said. “Rastafarian have been eating that way for decades.”

Jamaica’s plant-based culture played a key role in Johnson launching Iset By Nature in 2015. She learned that many herbs used for holistic medicine grew in Jamaica and that planted the seed for starting her business.

Johnson works with three staff members for her business and has five seasonal workers. Working directly with suppliers such as woodsmen and fishermen in Jamaica is important for her because the sea moss she sells is harvested there. Some products are packaged in Jamaica and for others, Johnson ships raw materials from Jamaica to the United States for packaging in Florida and Pennsylvania.

Interest during pandemic

Johnson noticed an increase in customer interest during the beginning of the pandemic. She learned that more people became interested in holistic remedies and naturally boosting their immunity to illness because there was not yet a vaccine for COVID-19. She knew she had to scale her business to meet the increased demand.

Going to her local bank and trying to access funds for a loan proved unsuccessful and she had no outside investors. Similar to other Black entrepreneurs, Johnson has had challenges in accessing capital to further develop her business.

In 2020, nine months after she transitioned her store from Etsy to Shopify, she received an offer from Shopify to provide funding based on the sales her Shopify site had made. That first round of funding was for $15,000 and allowed Johnson to expand her production and product offerings. Three rounds later, Shopify has provided Johnson with $95,000 in funding.

Shopify began building Shopify Capital to better provide Black business owners like Johnson with access to capital. In the years since, it has provided more than $4.5 billion in funding to Shopify merchants.

“Shopify is aggressively pursuing ways to make commerce more equitable for Black business owners, including giving them access to capital,” said Shopify Director of Product Vikram Anreddy. “Shopify Capital is a simple and effective way for entrepreneurs to get the financing they need to grow their business, as it does not require personal credit scores or request lengthy applications or paperwork.”

Panama-based Ras Joe is a Rastafarian entrepreneur who owns real estate throughout the Central American country. He has been a mentor to Johnson throughout her career and purchased property in Panama to grow fruit and vegetables there.

Joe, 50, has emphasized the importance of authenticity to Johnson when it comes to selling natural products and believes it is part of her business’ appeal.

“Just be true to yourself and what you’re dealing with,” he said. “She is interested in a natural lifestyle and everything she sells is organic. Don’t fake it.”

Having a high level of confidence and belief in her overall mission has allowed Johnson better handle the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. Finding her niche of clientele that seeks natural remedies has allowed her to better focus on her business goals.

“You need to have an unshakable belief in your own talents and capabilities,” she said. “Being an entrepreneur is going to shake up everything. You’re going to have long periods when you’re broke and not making any money. You’re going to have periods when people don’t believe in anything.”