AVL Biz Weekly — May 27–June 2: Raptors, Whiskey & the Twinings Cease and Desist

Welcome to AVL BIZ Weekly—your local cheat sheet for what’s happening in Asheville’s small business + creative scenes.

Each week: hand-picked events, marketing ideas that actually work, and a little local flavor to keep things fun.

My name's Jason and I'm writing this (connect with me here).

Hey friends,

How was your Memorial Day weekend? You good? My neighborhood pool just opened and it…was…packed. It feels like everybody’s ready for summer.

But even with all the summer plans, you still have to keep your business running, and growing.

Good thing there's plenty going on this week. Whiskey fest and live raptors at Sweeten Creek. Plus Umphrey's McGee at Pisgah two nights in a row and Future Islands back for a second run at the Orange Peel.

Let's get into it.

📋 On Deck

• Business Events — JS dev talk, and a downtown safety series.

• Fun Stuff — WNC Whiskey Fest, live raptors at Sweeten Creek, RAD vocal crawl, and Bear Shadow up in the High Country

• Bands on the Horizon — Future Islands, Umphrey's McGee, Andrew Bird with the Symphony, and 15+ more

• Local Business Spotlight — Full Moon Tea Company and the Twinings cease and desist that the internet solved in three days

• Marketing Quickies — This week: stop letting missed calls walk out the door

🙋 Want your biz featured in front of a few really smart AVL business owners? Email me for details

🗓️ Business Events

• 🗓️ React Native: One JavaScript Team, Two App Stores — Wednesday, May 27 · 6:00–7:30 PM (Mojo Coworking, 81 Broadway St Suite 201) The avl.js crew covers modern React Native development in 2026 — Expo, EAS, the new architecture, and live demos building a small app. Good for React developers curious about mobile or already shipping apps.

• 🗓️ Business After Hours — Thursday, May 28, 2026 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM (Mission Cancer Center - Rooftop) The Chamber's monthly Business After Hours is a classic for a reason. Check it out.

• 🗓️ Downtown Public Safety Series — Session 2 — Friday, May 29 · 9:00–10:30 AM (Fitz & The Wolf, Downtown Asheville) The Asheville Downtown Improvement District digs into Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, with real updates from APD and city planners on what's actually being done to improve safety infrastructure. Free — register ahead.

Hosting something cool?

📬 Hit reply and tell me what you think. Or share an event!

💡 Marketing Quickies

This week's theme: your phone is ringing while you're on a job. Here's what happens to that lead.

1. The missed call is a delayed job, not a lost one — if you respond fast. Within one hour of a missed call, you're seven times more likely to qualify that lead. Most businesses call back the next day, if at all. By then, the customer has already booked someone else. An Auto Call Text Back fires a message in seconds: "Hey, saw you called — what can I help you with?" That one text has done more for close rates than any ad campaign I've seen. The Show Up and Follow Up System has this built in from day one.

2. Replace "let me know" with a decision-point. "Let me know if you want to move forward" is a dead end. Nobody lets you know. Instead, send: "I have two open slots this week — Tuesday morning or Thursday afternoon. Which works better for you?" You're removing the mental friction of their next step. They either pick a time or they’ll ghost you.

3. The 9-word re-engagement text. "Are you still looking to get [your roof / your floors / your fence] done?" Send it to every lead that went cold in the last 90 days. You'll get responses from people who are ready now but just got busy and forgot to call back.

Local Spotlight

This week's spotlight: Katie-Lynn McDonald of Full Moon Tea Company — a small-batch loose leaf tea brand that started with a hotel contract and grew into a loved and community-supported brand.

When the Cease and Desist Arrived, the Internet Showed Up

Katie-Lynn McDonald got a letter from Twinings last summer. The British tea company, in business since 1706, had a trademark problem with her best-selling Earl Grey blend. The name “Appalachian Lady Grey” — specifically, “Lady Grey” — belongs to Twinings. She had 30 days to sell roughly 250 bags and rebrand.

She posted about it on Threads. Three days later, all 250 bags were gone.

“Everyone was like, ‘We’re going to help you get it off your shelves so you have the money to rebrand,’” she says. That kind of response doesn’t come from customers. It comes from a community. “You either have customers or you have a community,” McDonald says. “I always knew I wanted a community.”

Full Moon Tea Company is two and a half years old. McDonald spent twelve years as a pastry chef in Asheville before a friend connected her with the Restoration Hotel, which needed female-owned vendors for its tea program. She bought ingredients from the French Broad Co-op, made sample blends using pastry chef instincts, and landed the contract before she had a business name, an LLC, or any formal paperwork. She kept her day job, saved every dollar the hotel contract paid, and launched her retail line in December 2023. The Restoration Hotel is still her biggest wholesale account.

The product reflects her standards. Small-batch loose leaf, no bags, no artificial flavors — whole fruit pieces and herbs sourced from around the world. Tea bags shed microplastics. Most flavored teas use up to 200 chemicals in processing. McDonald skipped all of that. When Hurricane Helene hit nine months after launch, she had already spread across multiple sales channels — website, wholesale, markets, social — and the business held.

She’s built her following on Threads by being herself: no content calendar, no polish. Three of her employees are three-legged rescue cats with official titles: communications director, vibe curator, and communications manager. Customers write order notes asking that profits go toward their snacks. One regular declared Full Moon Tea the “official tea supplier of Threads.”

“The more me, the more weird, the more silly, the more unhinged I am on social media, the better my business does.”

The rebrand from the Twinings situation? Goddess Grey. And this June, Lady Gay — the Pride blend that came out of the whole situation — returns for Pride Month, with a percentage of sales going to PFLAG.

Day in the Life

1. Favorite coffee spot? Retro Coffee on Sweeten Creek Road — owner Carrie serves Full Moon tea.

2. Fitness routine? Hiking trails and walking Biltmore Estate gardens with an annual pass.

3. First time in WNC? Food at ButterPunk, Leo’s House of Thirst, and Neng Jr.’s. Downtown shop-hopping with a tea stop at Dobra Tea.

4. Nonprofits she supports? Blue Ridge Pride sponsor — a percentage of Lady Gay tea sales goes to PFLAG.

Want to try the tea? Visit fullmoonteacompany.com or find her on Instagram and Threads at @fullmoonteacompany.

🎉 Fun Stuff Around AVL

• 🗓️ Connect Beyond Festival — Friday–Sunday, May 29–31 · Various Times (The Orange Peel, Asheville) Three days of music, film, storytelling, interactive art installations, and creative workshops at The Orange Peel. Filmmakers, musicians, and creatives from around the region converge — it's a full-weekend experience, not just a show.

• 🗓️ Bear Shadow Music Festival — Friday–Sunday, May 29–31 (Base Camp, Highlands, NC) Three days of live music, guided hikes with live acoustic performances, and immersive experiences in the High Country. This one's more retreat than conference, but if you run a wellness or outdoor brand, it's worth knowing.

• 🗓️ Spring Into The Arb! — Friday–Sunday, May 29–31 · 10 AM–3 PM (NC Arboretum, Asheville) Plant shows, nature programs, music, and art across the weekend at the NC Arboretum. Free with regular admission — a solid low-key option if you want to get outside without the crowds.

• 🗓️ WNC Whiskey Festival — Saturday, May 30 · 12–5 PM (A-B Tech Conference Center, Asheville) The inaugural WNC Whiskey Fest brings craft distillers, established labels, bourbons, and ryes under one roof at A-B Tech — with live music and artisan vendors alongside the tastings. Proceeds benefit the WNC Harvest & Heritage Foundation.

• 🗓️ Birds & Brews: Live Raptor Presentation — Saturday, May 30 · 4–6 PM (Sweeten Creek Brewing, Asheville) Live raptors, local brews, native plant swap, and conservation groups out in the yard at Sweeten Creek. Benefits Wild for Life. Bring your camera — you're not getting a closer look at a red-tailed hawk than this without hiking to find one.

• 🗓️ Asheville Choral Society Traveling Fundraiser — Saturday, May 30 · 5:30–9:30 PM (River Arts District, Asheville) Three RAD venues, live vocal performances, gallery visits, and multi-course food and drink pairings — all in one rotating evening. It's a crawl, but make it classy.

• 🗓️ Women's Golf Day Tournament — Sunday, May 31 · 7 AM–2 PM (Omni Grove Park Inn & Spa, Asheville) The inaugural Women's Golf Day Tournament at Grove Park invites players of all skill levels for a day on one of Asheville's most iconic courses. Part celebration, part tee time.

🎧 Bands on the Horizon

• Steep Canyon Rangers (Album Release) — Fri, May 29 · 6 PM @ Sierra Nevada Brewing

• Beats Antique — Fri, May 29 · 6 PM @ French Broad River Brewery

• J & The Causeways — Fri, May 29 · 8 PM @ Grey Eagle

• Andrew Bird with the Asheville Symphony — Fri, May 29 · 8 PM @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

• Tongues of Fire (Album Release) — Fri, May 29 · 7 PM @ Eulogy (FREE)

• Travis Stevenson (Comedy) — Fri, May 29 · 7 PM @ Noble Cider

• Naomi Hope — Fri, May 29 · 6 PM @ Turgua Brewing

• Asheville Drum Circle — Fri, May 29 · 6 PM @ Pritchard Park (FREE)

• Piper & The Hard Times — Fri, May 29 · 7:30 PM @ White Horse Black Mountain

• Future Islands (Night 1) — Fri, May 29 · 7 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Beats Antique — Sat, May 30 · 6 PM @ French Broad River Brewery

• Aden Webb — Sat, May 30 · 7 PM @ Fitz and the Wolfe

• Umphrey's McGee (Night 1) — Sat, May 30 · 6 PM @ Pisgah Brewing Co.

• Future Islands (Night 2) — Sun, May 31 · 7 PM @ The Orange Peel

• The Riverbreaks — Sun, May 31 · 8 PM @ Grey Eagle

• Martha Spencer — Sun, May 31 · 2 PM @ Highland Brewing (FREE)

• Umphrey's McGee (Night 2) — Sun, May 31 · 6 PM @ Pisgah Brewing Co.

• Cole Chaney — Sun, May 31 · 8 PM @ Grey Eagle

• Reedy River String Band — Sun, May 31 · 2 PM @ Sierra Nevada Brewing (FREE)

Know an Asheville business owner who'd find this useful? Forward it.

See you around town,

Jason De Los Santos
Pixelated Stories Digital Marketing
(828) 585-4293