Mckenzi Lyn Flis Founder & CEO Old Trends New Trends LLC
Bryon White
Mckenzi Lyn Flis Founder & CEO Old Trends New Trends LLC
Featured Winter 2023
BUSINESS OWNERSHIP THROUGH THE LENS OF FIRST COAST YOUTHPRENEURS
LIFE IN THE EXPRESS LANE: HOW THE NEW FIRST COAST EXPRESSWAY IS PAVING THE WAY FOR NEW BUSINESS
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Some businesses are built in boardrooms. Mckenzi Lyn Flis built hers between classes at Stetson University, during a pandemic, around a passion for authentic vintage designer handbags. By graduation, she was ready to go all in.
" I was honestly more excited than anything to stop going to class and really dive into OTNT," she said. " No more splitting my time between the two." What followed was a leap few entrepreneurs would take: packing up everything and moving to New York in March 2025 with rent due and no guarantees. Sometimes changing your environment changes everything. OTNT grew faster in its first month in New York than in the first five years of business combined. The team has grown from three to 15, e-commerce ships worldwide, and retail pop-ups now reach cities across the country.
" Most entrepreneurs give up before turning the corner to success," she said. " You might just be one hit away from shattering it."
Building an ironclad team is the next goal. For Flis, those behind the brand are the brand.
Bryon White
Founder & CEO Yaupon Brothers American Tea
Featured Spring 2023
Three people. A wild harvest. And a plant most Americans had nearly forgotten existed.
When Yaupon Brothers first appeared in EVOLVE, Bryon White ' s own description said it best: " We were early— more conviction than infrastructure." The team was building awareness around yaupon, a native North American plant with a long history and almost no modern market, while fighting two battles at once: educating consumers on what yaupon even was and proving there was real demand for it. There is.
From early farmers markets and regional shelves, Yaupon Brothers has grown into a vertically integrated agriforestry and CPG platform with products in over 1,000 retailers, including Whole Foods and Walmart, and a direct relationship with consumers nationwide. The team has grown to 12 and counting. White points to one decision above others: " Investing early in supply chain control has been the single biggest unlock," he said.
White credits the journey to persistence and clear-eyed storytelling. " We stayed committed through long periods where the market didn ' t immediately respond while continuously refining how we tell the story— honoring yaupon ' s indigenous roots while making it accessible and relevant to modern consumers,” he said
The vision ahead is bigger than tea. White is building toward category leadership in North American caffeinated botanicals— establishing yaupon as a regenerative, domestic alternative to imported caffeine.
BREWING SUCCESS: THE BOOMING BUSINESS OF YAUPON BROTHERS’ TEA
PUBLIX’ S SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS: HOW A GROCERY GIANT IS REDUCING ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
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