Sodexo Live! Small Business Spotlight: Mimi Jo's Fruit Tea

Sodexo Live! and Music City Center partner Nerissa Rollins, Nashville native and the powerhouse behind Mimi Jo’s Fruit Tea, shares how a weekend lemonade stand turned into a thriving business.

Interviewer: How did Mimi Jo's start?

Nerissa Rollins: Our neighborhood was hosting a garage sale. I thought it might be a good way to meet our neighbors. My daughter, who was seven or eight, suggested we do a lemonade stand. I thought that was a good idea but decided we'd make my fruit teas instead. We had our beverage dispenser, she had her little clipboard, and we printed out some fliers. Cars were driving by and stopped out of curiosity. People asked if we sold at the local farmers' market or were in stores. I kept saying no because it wasn't even a business at the time. I was just trying to meet people! 

For three years, I worked the Nolensville Farmers' Market every Saturday morning. On Friday, I would work a full day, and then at night, I would be in the kitchen, making tea to sell the following day. I was exhausted. I needed to stop doing this or make it a real business. And that's what I did in 2016.

Interviewer: Where did the idea for fruit tea come from?

Nerissa Rollins: My grandmothers were always in the kitchen. I loved watching them cook. One of my responsibilities very early on was to help make tea for Sunday dinners. My grandmother here in Tennessee would make sun tea. I would sit it out on the back porch, and then we would leave and go to Sunday school and church. When we returned, I was responsible for mixing the sugar and lemon and getting the glasses ready for our meal. On my dad's side, my grandmother made what she called "tea punch." She would let the tea bags brew, and then I'd go to the refrigerator and pull out different juices. I loved to be able to mix whatever I wanted into her tea base. I cherish those memories.

Interviewer: How has your partnership with Sodexo Live! and Music City Center helped Mimi Jo's grow?

Nerissa Rollins: I'm a Diversity Business Enterprise certified through Tennessee. They have a database where you can list your business, and that's how Doug Zimmerman, General Manager, Food & Beverage at Music City Center, and I connected right before the pandemic. He told me he wasn't sure he had any business at the time but wanted to stay in contact. A few months later, he reached back out and wanted to try a local beverage in their cafe and retail storefront on the main level. He did a very small order, and the rest is history.

Since then, Music City Center has been my biggest cheerleader. They consistently reorder. When I stop in, they're waiting for me. They recently placed my largest order to date for an event with local breweries and restaurants. That exposure and those connections help start conversations that keep my business growing. I'm also proud to partner with other local businesses. I work with Grayland Warehouse and Fulfillment Services, a local woman-owned warehouse and fulfillment logistics center, to pack and ship my product. 

This is a family recipe, so it was always going to be a family business. Mimi Jo's is the first two initials of my children's names: Miles, Milan, and Joseph. I come from a family of entrepreneurs. I didn't wake up and say, "Hey, I'm going to start a fruit tea business." I always knew that I had that entrepreneurial spirit, but I didn't know what I wanted to do. It just happened.