Today we’d like to introduce you to CJ Sugita-Jackson, PhD.
Hi CJ, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Absolutely! my story winds through a lot of chapters, but the common thread has always been creativity, healing, and connection.
I started in the performing arts, spending more than two decades as an actor, director, stage manager, and writer, eventually performing at Universal Studios, Disney and Sea World. At the same time, I quietly fell in love with tea, ritual, and world wisdom traditions. I began blending signature teas for cafés and restaurants, studying sacred beverage ceremonies like chado, gong fu cha, cacao and coffee rituals, and eventually earned my PhD in Religious Philosophy. What began as curiosity became a lifelong devotion to understanding how story, ritual, and nature help people heal.
Life, of course, redirected me. I faced serious health challenges, severe vision impairment, financial instability, and the reality of having to reinvent my career in my 50s. Instead of letting that break me, I let it refine me. I dove deeply into holistic health, becoming a Certified Nutritionist, Master Herbalist, and Holistic Life Coach. From there, I began writing, consulting, and teaching full-time, merging everything I loved into something cohesive.
Today, I run ZenCha Studios & #Tea4Peace TranquiliTea Lounge, where I blend nutrition, herbal medicine, tea culture, and immersive storytelling into an ecosystem of wellness consultations, tea and mocktail experiences, educational content, and business strategy for wellness and food-and-beverage brands. I help people reduce stress, support their health, and reconnect with themselves through daily rituals and creative experiences.
Most recently, I stepped into a new chapter as Co-Founder and Vice President of Branding and Community Relations for Horizyns, an all-in-one marketplace and creator platform for holistic wellness, metaphysical, spiritual, and creative professionals. Horizyns allows practitioners to host their own shop, live classes, subscriptions, and one-on-one sessions in one cohesive space. My role there is to shape the brand’s visual and narrative identity and to build a supportive, ethical, inclusive community where creators can actually thrive instead of getting lost in the algorithm.
My journey hasn’t been linear, and it certainly hasn’t been easy. From living in a school bus with my husband and navigating vision loss, to rebuilding my work from scratch, every chapter has shaped the mission I carry now: to help people heal, feel seen, and rediscover hope through ritual, creativity, community, and holistic well-being. My work is my way of saying, “You’re not broken, and you’re not alone”—and I’m incredibly grateful I get to share that message through everything I do.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been anything but smooth. In many ways, my entire career has been shaped by challenges I never expected to face.
One of the biggest hurdles has been my health. I live with severe visual impairment, including open-angle glaucoma, blocked tear ducts, cataracts, and chronic eye pain. Losing so much of my vision changed everything about how I work, how I move through the world, and how I create. It forced me to rethink my future at a time in life when most people expect stability, not reinvention. There were moments I felt like I was watching the life I’d built slip through my fingers.
On the business side, I’ve faced the uphill climb of being a creator and holistic practitioner in industries that often undervalue or misunderstand the work. Building ZenCha Studios, #Tea4Peace, and now Horizyns from literally nothing required resilience, resourcefulness, and a lot of faith. I’ve had doors close, opportunities fall apart, and entire business plans crumble due to circumstances out of my control. But each setback pushed me to evolve, simplify, and align more deeply with my purpose.
And like many LGBTQ+ creators, I’ve had to navigate bias, assumptions, and environments where authenticity wasn’t always welcomed. Choosing to lead with honesty, spirituality, and creativity in traditionally rigid or conservative spaces hasn’t always been easy, but it has always been worth it.
All of these struggles with health, financial strain, rebuilding in midlife, navigating bias, and building businesses without resources has shaped who I am today. They taught me compassion, adaptability, and the importance of creating inclusive spaces where people feel safe to be themselves.
The road hasn’t been smooth, but it has been meaningful. And every obstacle helped clarify my mission: to help others realize they can rise, reinvent, and heal no matter what life throws at them.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work sits at the intersection of entertainment, wellness, and cultural storytelling, and I’ve intentionally built a career that blends all three in a way that feels completely authentic to who I am.
Before stepping fully into holistic wellness and entrepreneurship, I spent more than twenty years in the entertainment industry as an actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Performing in theatres, theatrical tours and theme parks which shaped my ability to connect with audiences, create immersive experiences, and blend narrative with emotion. I’ve also spent over 15 years in executive level marketing and business development leadership. These backgrounds still inform everything I do, from the way I teach, to how I build brands, to how I design experiences people remember.
Today, I’m the founder of #Tea4Peace TranquiliTea Lounge, where I specialize in tea ceremonies, global beverage rituals, herbal medicine, nutrition, mindfulness, and immersive event experiences. I’m known for transforming something as simple as a cup of tea into a full sensory journey that blends cultural traditions, philosophy, sound healing, and storytelling. My mocktail development, tea blending, and signature beverage ceremonies have become a core part of my brand, and I’m proud that they’ve helped people reconnect with mindfulness in a way that feels accessible, artistic, and meaningful.
I also serve as Co-Founder and Vice President of Branding and Community Relations for Horizyns, an upcoming all-in-one online marketplace, social hub, and live learning platform for holistic, metaphysical, spiritual, and creative professionals. In that role, I lead brand identity, creator development, community culture, and strategic outreach. I’m essentially responsible for shaping the look, voice, and soul of the platform while building an ethical, supportive community that empowers creators to grow sustainable businesses.
What sets my work apart is the way I merge entertainment, wellness, and strategic business development into one cohesive experience. I don’t approach tea or herbalism as just health practices, and I don’t approach branding as just marketing. I approach everything as storytelling. Whether I’m hosting a tea ceremony, writing a mocktail grimoire, coaching a wellness entrepreneur, or designing creator programs for Horizyns, my goal is always the same: to create spaces where people feel seen, inspired, and connected.
I’m proud that I’ve been able to build a career that bridges art and healing, and even more proud that it’s helping others find clarity, purpose, and confidence in their own journeys. My work is unconventional by design and that’s exactly what makes it powerful.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
There are so many meaningful ways people can work with me, collaborate with me, or support what I’m building whether you’re an individual seeking guidance, a business wanting to grow, an investor looking for a unique opportunity or a creator looking for community.
Through #Tea4Peace TranquiliTea Lounge, I offer:
Nutrition and herbal wellness consultations with personalized plans that focus on reducing stress, supporting chronic conditions, and helping clients create sustainable, healthy routines.
Astro-Herbalism sessions that blend astrology and herbal medicine for a uniquely tailored holistic experience.
Private tea ceremonies and cultural beverage rituals (Gongfu Cha, Chado, Cacao ceremony, Buna Tetu, Yerba Mate, and more), either in person or as part of retreats, events, and workshops.
Custom tea and mocktail recipe development for cafés, restaurants, wellness brands, and event producers.
Workshops, speaking engagements, and immersive wellness experiences for conferences, community events, and corporate wellness programs.
Book private or group tea-based mindfulness sessions.
Bring me in to create specialty non-alcoholic beverage menus or tea-driven pop-up events.
Collaborate on themed ceremonies, sound healing events, or creative immersive experiences.
Through Horizyns, creators, practitioners, and small business owners can:
Join our platform as early creators and build their own shop, live classes, subscriptions, and one-on-one services in a single cohesive ecosystem.
Collaborate with me directly on branding, storytelling, and community engagement inside the platform.
Become part of a growing, supportive, ethical creator network designed specifically for holistic, metaphysical, spiritual, and artistic innovators.
People can also support my work by:
Reading and sharing my blog articles and wellness content.
Attending my workshops, ceremonies, or sound-tea events.
Hiring me for brand consulting, recipe creation, or immersive event design.
Following my social media and sharing my daily educational content.
Bringing me in as a speaker for conventions, retreats, and wellness gatherings.
Whether someone is seeking healing, creativity, collaboration, or community, I always aim to meet them exactly where they are and help them grow. My work is deeply personal and I’m always grateful for anyone who chooses to walk a part of their journey with me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cjsugitajackson.com
- Instagram: @tranquilitea_lounge
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-sugita-jackson-3a132b2b4
- Youtube: @cjsugitajackson
- Other: https://www.Horizyns.com
