Climate, Creatures, Children's Literacy - From a Multi-Million Dollar Kitchen Brand | Latesha Hearth
Care Beyond ProfitsShow Notes
From a Facebook post to a multi-million dollar yoghurt brand, Tesh Hearth shares social enterprise, impact business, and philanthropy from her purpose driven work.
"It's not worth it for me to just do stuff for myself or make money for myself to buy fancy things. I have to feel like I'm being of service, actually being helpful and making things a bit better than they were."
Tesh Hearth never went to school.She never went to university.
She started what's now a multi-million dollar plant-based yoghurt brand out of her own kitchen. After a single Facebook post on a local Raglan notice board offering a jar of homemade coconut yoghurt blew up overnight. From there, Raglan Food Co landed in supermarket fridges around the country, and Tesh poured the proceeds into The Values Trust (a charitable trust she'd been planning for years), focused on climate, creatures, and children's literacy.
About Latesha Hearth
Tesh Hearth is a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist - co-founding Raglan Food Co in her home kitchen in 2014, a brand that has become the market-leader in New Zealand for dairy-free yoghurt. After a growth journey that included building a 1,500sqm yoghurt factory in Raglan to keep the company locally-based, Tesh navigated a successful partial exit to Pioneer Capital in 2020, taking on an active advisor role to Raglan Food Co's current CEO & Board.
Committed to using business as a tool for positive change, Tesh has won several awards for her efforts in sustainability and product innovation, also becoming a finalist in the 2021 Women of Influence Awards. Under her leadership Raglan Food Co became B Corp & Toitu Climate Positive certified, backing initiatives like the 1 Million Pieces project to encourage environmental stewardship.
Tesh is an Edmund Hillary Fellow and founding trustee of The Values Trust, which supports Climate, Creatures, and Children's literacy initiatives through innovative projects like Floofsters doggy daycare & online pet store, and Little Libraries. She wears many hats, from operating Raglan Rural Retreats, sitting on the Boards of Daisy Lab and HUHA (Helping You Help Animals), and mentoring start-ups. Her blog led to a book deal with a US publishing company for The To-Be List, and she has published several children's books.
Tesh’s path to success was untraditional but highly impactful. She inspires listeners to "follow their curiosity" and make a difference. Timestamps
(0:00) Meet Tesh Hearth and Raglan Food Co
(2:04) Why Homeschooling Built an Entrepreneurial Mindset
(7:32) Three Jars and a Childhood Charity Mindset
(11:20) How a Facebook Post Launched Raglan Food Co
(14:35) Sustainable Growth Without a Safety Net
(18:59) Imposter Syndrome and Backing Yourself
(21:05) Inside The Values Trust: A New Charity Model
(26:58) Daisy Lab: Dairy Proteins Without Cows
(31:02) Little Libraries and NZ's Literacy Crisis
(39:32) Floofsters: Social Enterprise Doggy Daycare
(45:21) How Tesh Manages a Portfolio Without Burnout
(50:16) The To-Be List and Tesh's Two Core Values
Learn more about Latesha and her work - The Values Trust: https://valuestrust.co.nz - Raglan Food Co: https://raglanfoodco.com - Floofsters: https://floofsters.co.nz - Reformation Studios: https://reformation.co.nz - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lateshahearth/ - Little Libraries: https://www.littlelibraries.co.nz - Daisy Lag: https://www.daisylab.co.nz - HUHA: https://www.huha.org.nz
Learn more about Azoora and her work
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azooraali/ - Website: https://www.accountingandtax.co.nz/
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