Naja Hayward has had a love affair with tea ever since she was a little girl.  Each morning she would watch her grandmother Ella, an entrepreneur and the matriarch of their community, begin her busy day with yoga, perfectly browned toast and a cup of freshly steeped chamomile tea.  This ceremony became a symbol of a lifestyle Hayward cherished and after a memorable trip to a Tea Bar on Boston’s Newbury Street, she decided to drink her tea and make it too.  Now 7 years later, her grandmother’s self-care ritual is at the heart of her company, NajaTea and Hayward hopes people will feel like she does each time she drinks a cup, satisfied, motivated and simply content.

How do you describe your work? “I describe my work as what my life has prepared me to do.  I love what I do because it fulfills so many aspects of my personality and so I think it’s a constant lesson.  I’m always learning and surrounded by people who I’m learning from.  My work is more than my business, it’s part of my life’s mission.”

What three adjectives best describe you? “Tenacious.  Adaptable.  Nurturing.”

Cats, dogs, birds … describe your pets? “I was never an animal person even though my family had them growing up.  Last year I was doing a sales call and this man was saying I have puppies to give away and I thought this was wrong, like he was throwing them out.  I went and fell in love with all of them.  So I got home and my son started saying I’m bored and I said, `Get in the car!’  We got Hawk.  He’s a Rottweiler/King Charles mix and he is the love of my life.  He is the most gentle bear and he has brought a whole new element to my family.  He is my second son.”

Favorite season? “Spring.  I love Spring.  You get the coolness – I love cold weather – but it’s not so cold, not so abrupt and not so intense.  It’s a balance of all of the seasons and I love the colors of Spring.”

Name a city you’d love to visit.  Why? “I actually just had a trip planned to Croatia to the City of Dubrovnik but we missed our flight from London so we ended up going to Sicily.”

What’s the best thing about being single? “Making my own rules.  Being allowed to be selfish and it’s okay.  And the opportunities that are available to you.”

Describe your ideal “Girls’ Night Out.” “I think as I get a little bit older, it gets simpler.  For me having a great dinner party at my house or one of my girlfriends’ houses and all of us being open and talking.  That to me – I love that.”

What’s the nicest thing a friend (or friends) have done for you? “You know it’s always centered around my son. What my friends do for me – especially as a single mom and a business woman doing it all on my own.  It’s hard at times to juggle it and my friends are his surrogate moms. They unconditionally – they are there for my son and I know that he’s safe and protected.”

What do you do for “Naja” time? “I’m pretty good at that.  (laughs)  My son is with his dad every other weekend and that gives me time.  It’s just my weekend.  I love spas.  I love reading. I love just sitting with a cup of tea and thinking. If I can get my brain into nothingness, that’s great because it’s rarely there.  If I can have moments of nothingness, that’s great Naja time.”

What’s the best advice you ever received? “My son had a nanny for the first two years and being a new mom was such a scary thing for me.  I remember one day I was crying and she spoke very little English and she said,  `Naja, Naja, Paciencia’.  And I was like, `What does that mean?!’  It means patience and seriously to this day, I say it to myself.  All of this is going to subside.  There is nothing that is so bad that a little patience won’t get you through it.”

What quality do you admire most in a man? “Consistency.  Reliability.  It’s so funny because I went out on a date with a guy recently and he does what he says he is going to do.  Honesty is also underrated.  I like when someone can tell me something regardless of whether of it’s going to hurt my feelings or not.”

What quality do you admire most in a woman? “People who are available because I’m that type of friend.  I’m available.  I understand that people have their lives.  I think my closest friends, we are available for each other without judgment.”

Who are your real life heroes? “I respect a lot of people for what they’ve accomplished but that word hero has always been a struggle because I don’t heroize people.  My grandmother is still taking care of people’s children, helping the world.  My grandfather just passed and she was married to him for 40 years and she’s dealt with that with grace.  She’s slowly becoming alone and I see how she’s dealing with it all.  I would say my grandmother then.”

What is your guilty pleasure? “I don’t do anything with guilt. I just do the pleasure part. (laughs)”

What is your biggest fear? “Well let’s just say it generally centers around family stuff.”

If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be? “Or what’s his name?  (laughs)  Let’s see I would say forgiving sooner and apologizing more quickly.”

Other than your own talents, what talent would you most like to have? “I wish that I could just open my mouth and have this voice of the goddess.  I wish I could just belt out tunes and touch the world.”

What is your motto? Or what words do you live by? “Our tag line is live, be, experience and I would say that that is my personal mantra.  Live life to the fullest, Be your best self and experience everything you can because we don’t have forever on this planet.”