The story of the tea shop from Arkansas to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Hi! I’m Abbi! I grew up here on the Outer Banks and recently returned home in May of 2022 with my lifelong best friend/husband, Jordan. For the last 10 years, we lived in Arkansas where I opened my first tea shop location. My story is a bit of a journey, so if you’ve got the time - I’d love to share it with you!

I have always wanted to own my own shop/restaurant, as I loved waiting tables throughout high school and college. I enjoy serving up a delicious something and sharing stories with people who wander in and out. But as the rise of the internet took root in my early 20s, I took a different path and pursued a career in digital marketing, web development & project management. That was a pretty great adventure - one that I was very good at - and I climbed all the ladders. But, as I got older and the jobs got bigger, and the ladder got higher - I felt like I was losing who I was - that the person I was becoming behind a desk wasn’t the person I wanted to be.
​In 2017, I took the big, scary risk of stepping away from a very great promotion at a very impressive advertising agency. I spent most of the year focusing on my family, marriage & my health. In July of that year, my dad passed away. He died at what I consider a young age, 65. One of my last conversations with him was about what I wanted to do with my life after this little sabbatical I was in the process of taking. We talked about the tea shop. He told me not to be so afraid - that not everything in life had to be planned out to the minute detail. He told me it wasn’t as daunting as I thought. 
He reminded me that I had always been so fearless. His nickname for me growing up was “Stands with Fists” a nod to Dances with Wolves - always defending something, always sticking up for someone, never afraid to stand up for what I believed. When he passed away, it was a significant and complicated loss for me. I was glad to be in a time that allowed me the time and space to sort through that grief.
As the year went along, my mom was right there. Encouraging me, challenging me. Helping me find that spunky, confident kid I used to be. In December of that year, she said “Okay, Abbi. I want you to look around and see what’s out there commercial space-wise.” Within a month, we found the location in the heart of Hillcrest in Little Rock, Arkansas. By February 2018, I had opened the shop with every single door swinging right open for me. Isn’t it funny how we lose ourselves as we grow up? ​​

​The Little Rock location was a dream come true all in itself. ​You can read about many of them on my blog or scroll through them on Instagram. It was a magical place. ​ For nearly three years, I operated as a retail/tea house - serving tea, hosting tea parties, and blending my tea blends in a cozy historic house on the corner of Ash and Kavanaugh. 
The Little Rock customers hold such a special place in my heart and this story. They gave me the confidence and validation that this was exactly what I was meant to do with my life. They reminded me that I am lovely just the way I am.

These few Little Rock memories don't even do it justice...

Surviving COVID on the curb with the tea stand...

When COVID-19 swept across the country in March 2020, I was starting my 3rd year of business with SO much hope. We were planning to hire my first full-time employee to help cover shifts with myself and my mom who helped me take days off during those first two years of business. I remember thinking, "oh, this is just temporary. I’ll set up a tea stand out front in the yard - it will be fine!"

When life gives you lemons, you make LAVENDER LEMONADE! (A beloved recipe that still proves to be one of my signatures.) 

​So, that’s what I did. I set up a quirky little tea stand with my tea blends, my teapots & tea cups, complete with sidewalk chalk and bubbles for the kiddos walking by as their daily outing during the pandemic.​​
What started as a few weeks turned into months, and suddenly, I’d been sitting out on that curb for a year and a half. Every day, every season - pulling out my tables with Whitney Houston blasting in my earbud; loading my cooler with tea jugs & decorating my tables with the latest tea novelties. The tea stand was well-loved locally and even got a couple of national write ups. But it took a toll on me physically and emotionally. I grappled with the loss of normal.

​For my family, the pandemic was pretty serious. Jessica, my beautiful sister, and her fiance Donald are both high-risk for illness and they are special needs adults. We simply didn’t want to invite folks back inside with big parties and all the stressors of the political conversation when the reality for our family was we just couldn’t afford for any of us to get sick.
During this same time, I was bolstering my e-commerce business. I used all the tools and knowledge I cultivated over a decade during my advertising career to buildout a well-oiled online tea business. This allowed other local customers who were trying to be careful to have an opportunity to order online for pick-up or shipping. This part of my business took off way more than I expected and continues to be an incredible way for me to keep in touch with my customers all over the US!​

Tea & Records by the sea, seems like a dream to me...

Jordan, my husband, was also climbing the ladder in his corporate job during all of this time. Promotion after promotion, learning & growing at one of the largest retailers in the United States - in one of the most profitable markets within the company. We had lived out here on the Outer Banks back at the start of our marriage. It was where we wanted to be, but with the pressure to have kids and our desire to start a family, we chose to move back to Arkansas. Children weren’t a part of our story, sadly. And after the loss of our third baby in late 2020, we sat down to determine what we wanted out of our lives together - if having children wasn’t going to be a part of that story, what would be next?
We had been coming back to the OBX over the last ten years to see friends and family (my side), and on a trip in 2021, Jordan looked across the table at me SmacNally’s in Ocracoke and asked me if I wanted to move back. I told him YES, but only if this was for good. I didn’t want to leave the ocean again. If we’re coming back, let’s make it for good. We chatted about what that might look like for us. Would he transfer with the company? I remember his smile that day, boyish and brave. “I think I’m ready to do my record store. You’ve shown me that I can do it.”  And so, we decided to make Abbi’s Teas & Things something bigger than just tea. Something we had always dreamed about, but figured it would be something we'd do when we were older and retired. 
Saying goodbye to the Little Rock chapter was bittersweet. In so many ways, I’d never be where I am without this part of my story. My Arkansas customers are INCREDIBLE. Many of them came right along with me, ordering online & watching my tea talks on Facebook Live. If you’re one of those customers reading this, thank you. 

​We opened our new location at Jockey’s Ridge Crossing in May, 2022. I dropped the dining experience and focused solely on my tea blends and retail, this made room for the record store & took some pressure off of finding folks to hire due to a local housing crisis on the Outer Banks. We’ve been LOVING every single minute of it! Jordan has an incredible eye for music and fills our shop up with the best vinyl record selection on the beach -new releases and an incredible selection of curated used records that he cleans & researches by hand.
You can find us in the shop - often we are both there together. But sometimes, I might step out to work in the kitchen where I do the blending, and sometimes, Jordan leaves a little early to take the pups for a good long walk. And in the off-season, you might just meet our cat, Clove, who has her own set of local regulars & fans. 

We hope you’ll shop with us while you’re enjoying the beauty of the Outer Banks. And if you’re local, we hope to get to know you and become one of your new favorite haunts. Tea and records by the sea, it was meant to be! 

Proudly working alongside
​ Sudden Light Records - a nostalgic new & used record store.