Q&A with the Founders of Motion Matcha (one of my go-to energy boosters!)

Hi Friends! Today I have an exciting post offering a little behind-the-scenes glimpse at one of my favorite foodie companies, Motion Matcha! I was connected to Jess at Motion Matcha a few months back and we immediately hit it off over our mutual mission to spread health and wellness in our communities. If you haven’t tried Motion Matcha, they offer an incredibly convenient and delicious matcha tea product that is perfect for the matcha newbie (or novice!). There’s an exclusive offer waiting for you at the bottom of this post!

Hi Guys! Thank you so much for visiting the FitLiving Eats space. So first, tell me a little bit about yourselves!

Erik and I have both lived in NYC for the past 6 years. We met in 2013 through a mutual friend and get engaged last year (we’re getting married next week, yay!!). We love to travel and have also recently started fostering cats. Needless to say, it’s been a busy 2016. Oh yeah, and I love desserts!

You all have an amazing company and product, Motion Matcha. What was the inspiration behind starting this company?

We had been talking about starting a company as a “side hobby” for a while and just decided last summer to go for it. Our inspiration to start Motion Matcha was admittedly a little self-serving. Erik was really into matcha and convinced me to try it. Because matcha can be somewhat of an acquired taste (it’s very earthy), I gravitated towards flavored versions. The options were pretty limited though and those on the market had tons of sugar. So we decided to create some fun flavors using real fruit powders and only a little bit of sugar. Our goal is to make matcha more accessible to average person by offering a healthy, yet tasty, product.

What was the greatest piece of advice you received when starting your business?

To be honest, we didn’t really get any advice when we started. This was really our doing though. We were both shy to share our idea with our friends and family at first*. A lot of our inspiration came from the wealth of easy-to-access information out there. Some of our favorites are Tim Ferriss’ book, The 4 Hour Workweek, and The Freedom Fast Lane podcast.

*For full disclosure, our friends and family were really supportive when we finally got up the courage to tell them. They even had the chance to be our first taste-testers/guinea pigs.

[Tweet “Check out this Q&A with the founders of @MotionMatcha + get 15% off!”]

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far as an entrepreneur?

Be prepared to figure things out as you go. Erik and I are both planners so this was a little tough for us. We were doing a lot of stuff that we had never done before and issues came up that we could never expect. We learned over time to prepare for what you can, but be ready to roll with the punches. It saves us a lot of time and stress now.

I love all of the amazing flavors of the Motion Matcha products. I’ve never seen anything like this before! How do you all choose your flavors?

Thank you!! We spent a couple months developing recipes in our kitchen. I think we ended up trying well over 100 variations to end up with the shortlist of what we loved.

I know that matcha tea is crazy good for the body and has so many health boosting nutrients. Tell me more about how matcha tea can play a role in living a vibrant and healthy lifestyle… 

Green tea has a lot going on for it: antioxidants, a stress relieving and mood enhancing amino acid (l-theanine) and caffeine. Matcha is a supercharged version of green tea because you’re consuming the whole, ground up tea leaf. What does this actually mean? I describe it as a “calm alertness.” I’m able to focus for longer periods of time with less of a crash like what I get with coffee. And it has only a handful of calories.

We’ve also created a summary of this information on our website if you want to read more.

I was sold on Motion Matcha the first time I received my gift package in the mail. What makes Motion Matcha so unique?

Our goal is to make matcha more accessible to the average person that’s just trying to live a healthier life. We’ve tried to accomplish this in two ways:

• Most importantly, by creating some fun and tasty flavors so that people like me can get excited about matcha (I mentioned I had quite the sweet tooth, right?);
• And second, by making them easy to enjoy anywhere. Making our products available in single-serving to go packets takes away any excuse of not having it at the office, at the gym or when traveling.

Okay, I’m going to put you on the spot, here. Matcha latte – iced or hot? What are your favorite ways to use Motion Matcha?

I’m always cold so I’d have to go with “hot.” I like Orange Vanilla + hot milk. Erik prefers simplicity, efficiency and variety so he’ll grab a random packet, add ice and water to a Blender Bottle and shake it up while walking out the door.

What are some of the most inspiring recipes you’ve seen created with matcha tea?

I don’t think I could pick one! We’re a little obsessed with all the crazy and beautiful matcha creations out there (just check out our Instagram and Pinterest). We’re actually in the process of creating a very special, very unique, printable guide, 5 Delicious Matcha Drinks in 5 Minutes or Less, for our best customers. As a special thank you to your audience for listening to our story, we’d be happy to make this available to them. They can sign up here to receive it when it’s done!

So, tell me. What does life look like for the two of you outside of Motion Matcha? I hear there’s a wedding coming up in the next few weeks?

Yes!! It’s happening in a little over a week. Besides Motion Matcha, we keep busy with our day jobs and even have started fostering kittens with various shelters across NYC (my other passion). When (or if?) we have free time, we love to travel.

How do you inspire others to live a healthy lifestyle in your daily life?

The most pro-active way is through Motion Matcha, by having conversations with influencers like yourself and hoping that others will then help share our message. I would love, love, love if we could get one new person to try matcha every day.

Besides that, Erik and I try to inspire each other by always trying to improve our diet and habits. We believe that living a healthy lifestyle can be a very effective way to indirectly inspire friends, family and coworkers to start their own healthy habits.

What is your favorite inspirational quote or mantra that keeps you going?

“Do something that matters.”

It’s very easy to read that and think “but I can’t end world hunger.” I interpret it differently: we can all create small changes and those matter even more. A healthy lifestyle starts with one healthy decision. Maybe that’s convincing a friend to walk with you outside at lunch every day or starting a group that shares healthy recipes. Before you know it, the little things will add up, and that matters.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

We’d love you for letting us share our story and thank your audience for taking the time to read. So thank you!

[Tweet “Want to try @MotionMatcha? Get 15% off your order here: http://bit.ly/2fAs8Hv”]

Want to try Motion Matcha for yourself? 

Erik and Jess are offering FitLiving Eats fans 15% off your order of Motion Matcha! You will also receive the 5 Delicious Matcha Drinks in 5 Minutes or Less PDF when it is ready… win!

Click Here to Receive Your 15% OFF Coupon!