Loose Leaf Tea

Plants saved my life.

Not because I ate them. Not because I breathed the oxygen they provided. But because they healed my broken heart and gave me the will to live again.

Allow me to explain.

My name is Kita Centella. I’m an Herbalist and the Founder of Loose Leaf Tea Market.

The Turmoil Before The Tea

I used drugs for the first time when I was just 13 years old. By the time I was 16, I was an alcoholic. Suffice it to say, my entry into adulthood was tumultuous. Since I had no idea how to manage my moods and behave like a responsible adult, I got into a lot of trouble. By the time I was 25, I was battling multiple addictions and in prison for the second time. I had lost everything. My self-respect. My freedom. Custody of my children. And my will to live.

Somewhere along the way, I met a Native American healer with a passion for the healing power of plants. She started to teach me how to respect my body. She taught me how to manage my emotions. She taught me how to respect other people. And a magical transformation began in my body, soul, and spirit.

Over the next five years, my healer mentored me, helped me mend my broken heart, and restored my will to live. That was when I made a public commitment to dedicate the rest of my life to learning about the healing power of plants and sharing my knowledge with the world.

A New Beginning

When I was 28, I was released from prison and given the opportunity to rebuild my life. On a mission to live responsibly, I got married, had two children, and sought out opportunities to honor the commitment I had made to my healers and myself. In 1998, I graduated from an herbal program at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) while working part-time at a local herbal store. My passion for the healing power of plants was growing on a daily basis.

Over the next four years, I honed my expertise in medicinal herbs and in 2002, I accepted the opportunity to purchase the herbal store I worked for. While I was excited by its potential, I knew the public had a lot of misconceptions about herbal stores; they were viewed as primitive at best, witchcraft at worst. I knew our handcrafted, organic wellness teas could help so many people with the challenges they faced on a daily basis--everything from sleeplessness and gut issues to anxiety management, weight loss and everything in between. I simply had to educate consumers enough to get them to try the teas. I knew once they did, the results would speak for themselves.
I began teaching a course in herbal healing in an effort to change public perception. Recognizing more work needed to be done to reach a larger percentage of the population, I decided to rebrand the company and give it a sleek, clean look. I also dedicated countless hours to creating new herbal teas that were both therapeutic and tasty. Loose Leaf Tea Market was born.