I find it hard to believe I left Cranleigh 20 years ago. I certainly do not feel that old and whenever I meet or see pictures of my classmates no one seems to have aged. However, as I edge closer to 40, I look back on those 20 years with mixed emotions.
Towards the end of my time at school I started getting daily headaches and intermittent double vision. It turns out I had developed congenital hydrocephalus (too much fluid on the brain). My gap year and what was meant to be first year of university was spent having five brain operations and it subsequently took me five years to fully recover.
I shelved my original plans to study European Business at University. I came to realise that the vast majority of us don’t appreciate our health until we lose it – a mantra that stays with me today.
I went on to study Fitness Training and Sports Therapy and have been helping people achieve their goals ever since. I have worked with a wide range of clients from athletes to cardiac rehabilitation patients aged from 8 to 90.
I enjoy encouraging people to think about their health, to promote awareness of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle as well as practical ways to achieve it.
I went back to playing rugby and after I stopped playing seven years ago I set myself the task of completing a physical challenge each year, sometimes for charity and other years just for fun. Among my achievements to date are the Ironman in 2010, climbing the highest mountain in Italy, and canoeing the non-tidal Thames. This year I am doing a charity bike ride from Milan to Monaco and have set myself the target of being able to do the ‘Human Flag’ (google it and you’ll see the size of the task!).
As a freelancer and being entrepreneurially minded, I was always thinking of new ways to earn money without working per hour. In 2012, I set up T-tox, a loose-leaf tea company with a focus on the health benefits of drinking tea. At the time, I was travelling monthly to India to train a client and did not fully focus on the tea. With the business going nowhere I had to make a decision, fold the company or relaunch. Tea is such a large market that I needed a niche. My background and expertise in Sports and Fitness made targeting this sector an obvious choice.
After a few years of development and research in October 2016 we launched the UK’s first blended Matcha tea aimed exclusively at those who exercise. Matcha is a green tea powder where you consume the entire leaf thereby gaining 100% of the polyphenols and antioxidants which play an important role in maintaining your health and wellness. It is already extremely popular in Japan, the US and Australia and this year the market in the UK and Europe will explode. Indeed, every week a new Matcha company is launched it seems.
Why is it so popular? Well Matcha is ¼ the caffeine content of coffee. The high levels of the antioxidant L-Theanine results in a calmness and alertness as opposed to the shakes present after most caffeinated drinks. In the short term the benefits include an increase in (natural) energy and a higher state of alertness. Continued regular use has been shown to help boost metabolism, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and can be anti-aging amongst other things.
Matcha can be an acquired taste but our blends taste much smoother than most of our competitors. We offer three blends:
Matcha Energise – To better prepare for activity.
Matcha Recovery – To improve recovery from activity and exertion.
Matcha Health – For overall active day performance improvement.
We also have a glass shaker for on the go consumption and a purer taste.
In January of this year I was featured on a TV series Pop Up Start Up, shown on CNBC. Each episode featured two entrepreneurs vying for a £20,000 cash prize for their company.
It was a fantastic experience and in eight weeks I achieved what would have taken eight months. I visited China and met the manufacturer. 
I’m happy to say that I won my show!
We also won the award for best tea at the World Beverage Innovation Awards 2016, in which we triumphed against many household names. We are currently agreeing terms with a large High Street retailer to become the first tea in their Sports Nutrition section and hope to launch nationally this July. By developing two blends for professional athletes tested to Informed Sport standards, we aim to lead the way for fitness tea.
2017 promises to be an eventful year not only for the business but also personally. My son turned four at the end of May and starts school in September and I’m delighted to say we are expecting our second child at the end of October.
Anyone wishing to know more about Matcha teas, fitness or starting a new business feel free to get in touch. johnny@t-tox.com T-tox can be ordered online. To find out more go to T-tox.com.
I would like to offer a 25% discount for all OC Members. Simply enter the coupon code ‘cranleigh’ to receives your discount.
Johnny Harris (Cubitt, 1992-1997)