Richa Rai’s relationship with tea began long before she ever imagined starting a company. Growing up in India, tea was woven into daily life. “I come from a culture of tea,” she says. “For me, tea has never been just a beverage—it’s a ritual of grounding, connection, and conversation.”

It was also in India that Richa met her future husband, Navneet Raja, through a family introduction. Both came from engineering backgrounds and had pursued MBAs, drawn to intellectual curiosity and big ideas. Richa remembers being particularly struck by his entrepreneurial mindset. “What truly sealed it,” she says, “was his answer when I asked why he pursued an MBA after engineering. He said, simply, 'Because I want to be an entrepreneur'.”

The two married in 2006 and she joined him in the United States where Navneet was already living. He had started a job at Microsoft after completing his MBA at the Ross School of Business. The transition was both exhilarating and daunting. “With no family in the country, the move meant starting fresh—both professionally and personally,” she says. “While I missed my family and community back home, I was equally energized by the opportunity to build a life with a supportive partner in a new world.”

Over the next two decades, Richa built an impressive career in global technology leadership holding roles at Microsoft, Kaiser Permanente, and F5. Her work spanned product management, business operations, and strategy—fast-paced environments where precision, scale, and execution mattered. From the outside, the path looked linear and successful. Yet quietly, an entrepreneurial spark lingered. That spark wasn’t new. Years earlier, while still in college in India, Richa had drafted a business proposal for a tea café during a road trip with her parents after realizing how difficult it was to find a place that treated tea with intention or creativity. “Marriage and my move to the U.S. reshaped my path,” she says, “and that early idea quietly receded.”

Motherhood brought a different kind of clarity. Both of Richa’s sons were born with severe food allergies and eczema, turning her into an avid label reader. “I quickly realized that even the simplest foods—things like chocolate chips—came with long ingredient lists filled with chemicals I couldn’t pronounce,” she says. That realization led to a fundamental shift in how her family lived. Nearly a decade ago, she overhauled their pantry, moved toward whole foods and whole grains, began grinding her own spices—including chai masala—and simplified everything from food to skincare. Intentional living became second nature.

In 2023, after nearly twenty years in corporate leadership, Richa took a year-long sabbatical. “It was simply to slow down and create space in an otherwise fast-paced life,” she explains. During that time, she worked on a passion project for the City of Bellevue with Mayor Lynne Robinson, focused on women’s entrepreneurship. She spoke directly with more than 50 women business owners, listening closely for patterns across their experiences. “I wanted to understand not just individual stories,” she says, “but what consistently held women back, what propelled them forward, and how entrepreneurship, despite its challenges, created confidence, agency, and the ability to uplift others,” she explains.

That experience reignited the entrepreneurial instinct she had long set aside—but acting on it wasn’t easy. “I had spent two decades intentionally building the right experiences, navigating complex organizations, and earning my place in leadership,” she says. “Choosing entrepreneurship meant stepping away from everything I had worked toward for 20 years—and starting again from zero. The weight of that decision was real—it gave me goosebumps.” Strangely, it also made her feel more alive than she had in years. “I realized this was an opportunity to model what I had always taught my children,” she says. “That fear is not a stop sign, that risk is part of growth, and that it’s never too late to begin again.”

During her sabbatical, while recovering from a prolonged bout with COVID, Richa read books like How Not to Die and Outlive, which reinforced something that stayed with her: natural ingredients such as saffron, ashwagandha, and moringa—long valued across cultures and now supported by modern science—are remarkably potent in small quantities. That insight collided with a long-standing frustration. “For years, whenever I went out, tea had consistently disappointed,” she says. “It felt either medicinal, mass-market, or elevated in name only—relying more on marketing than substance,” she says. That tension revealed a gap. “Why couldn’t tea be experiential, luxurious, and sensorial—while still rooted in purity and intention?” she asked herself. “More importantly—why couldn’t I be the one to create it?”

In the summer of 2024, Richa founded Koshay, and on December 11th, 2024, the Koshay Signature Tea Collection officially launched. Koshay blends science with luxury, crafting teas the way fine perfumers craft fragrance—layered, architectural, and intentional. Her engineering background brings precision to each blend, while her MBA and years in product leadership shape everything from brand positioning and storytelling to operations and go-to-market strategy. “Koshay was never approached casually,” she says. “It’s been built with the same rigor I applied to launching products at scale in corporate environments.”

Bellevue plays a central role in the brand’s identity. Koshay’s workshop is based locally, its artisans are local, and its packaging is printed by a Bellevue-based printer. The brand is B2B-first, partnering with businesses to elevate client experience. One of its earliest partnerships was with FogRose Atelier, a woman-owned, high-tea destination led by Bellevue resident Quyen Dang.

Experiential tastings are core to how Koshay shows up in the community. One of the most meaningful was a guided tea tasting at Watermark, a luxury senior living community in Bellevue. “The experience went far beyond tasting,” Richa says. “Residents engaged with the stories behind each blend and shared personal memories tied to tea rituals.”

In its first year, Koshay has supported more than seven nonprofit and community organizations by donating teas for fundraising events and curated gatherings. These include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue, Leadership Eastside, the Women Arising Conference, Be Bold for Girls, and Dress for Success Seattle, where Richa also serves on the board. “Supporting women, youth, and underserved communities isn’t an add-on to the brand,” she says. “It’s part of our foundation.”

Richa and Navneet live in Bellevue’s Meydenbauer neighborhood with their two sons, ages 15 and 10. They moved to Bellevue in 2018 seeking balance—shorter commutes, strong schools, and more time together—but found something even better: community. As a family, they enjoy mystery board games—working through clues together, debating theories, and fully immersing themselves in the process. They also enjoy exploring local restaurants on relaxed Saturday evenings. Inchin’s Bamboo Garden and Carmine’s continue to be two of their longtime favorites—so special that they intentionally reserve them for special celebrations. They also enjoy summer walks to Molly Moon’s when the weather is nice.

At every stage of her life—corporate leader, mother, founder—Richa Rai has been guided by the same belief: that legacy is built through intention, courage, and the opportunities we create for others along the way.