Chasing Joy

If there's one thing you should know about Sooji, our co-founder, it's that she doesn't always take the easy path. The other thing is that she's very good at chasing joy.

That chase started in the corporate world in the US, where big dreams left little room for stillness. Tea became her sanctuary — quietly, then completely. What began as a search for a moment of peace turned into something much bigger than she'd planned: visiting tea houses across Korea, then the farms themselves, then the hills. Solo trips into the most remote corners of the country, walking the valleys of Jiri Mountain, flying down to Jeju just to find a really good cup of matcha.

The further she went, the clearer it became — this wasn't just a hobby. She founded a tea brand in London in 2019, and a few years later, it found its truest form as TOKKIA.

Her love for matcha, in particular, came from two things that might seem like opposites: the simplicity of the ritual, and the sheer playfulness of everything you can do with it. She didn't want TOKKIA to feel serious or ceremonial. She just wanted joy — the kind that's uncomplicated and a little bit silly and completely genuine. The kind, as it turns out, that looks a lot like a bunny mid-binky*.

And the other co-founder, Hazelnut the bunny, agreed.

*A binky, for the uninitiated: a little jump, a twist in the air, pure happiness made physical.