Donna Nichols-Lawrence has always enjoyed a good cup of tea and gardening, but after returning from a trip to England in 1990 she found she had become addicted to everything associated with Afternoon Tea.

In 1997, she was asked to present a class on tea as a fund-raiser for the Guild of the New Jersey State Opera, and an idea was conceived. Combining her love of tea and Heritage roses, the company of Tea and Roses was born. Two years later, Donna decided to incorporate these interests and her studies into a quarterly newsletter. The initial subscription base has quadrupled in less than two years of publication and the Tea and Roses Newsletter (now Tea-and-Roses Quarterly) is now read by subscribers in forty-two states, Canada, and Great Britain. Tea-and-Roses also publishes an E-Newsletter (sign-up to receive a copy).

Donna has presented numerous programs in the New Jersey and New York areas. Her handmade china mosaic teapot trivets, stained-glass teapot Suncatchers and teapot cozies with matching plates may be purchased at specialty shops in New Jersey and New York. Donna has designed and blended her own line of Signature, Special and Opera Teas and recently developed a Tea Tasting Journal.

A former high school chemistry teacher and science department chairperson and corporate trainer, Donna was the Assistant to the Artistic Director of the New Jersey State Opera for over 25 years, and is CEO of DLD Consulting, Inc., a company specializing in individual coaching in all aspects of presentation skills, business and technical writing and computer applications. She is an avid knitter and spinner of yarn and loves music, reading, the New York Yankees and traveling (especially to Maine and the UK).