Zhena’s Gypsy Tea founder Zhena Muzyka will keynote the Business Times’ Top 50 Women in Business awards reception next month (courtesy photo)

The Pacific Coast Business Times will celebrate its eighth class of outstanding tri-county business women at an April 17 event featuring keynote speaker Zhena Muzyka, founder of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea.

Muyzyka founded the Ojai-based tea company in 2000 with $6 in her savings account and the modest goal of funding an operation to save her her son’s life. Embracing her Ukrainian Gypsy ancestry, she began by selling her custom tea blends on street corners. By 2008, the company notched $3.5 million in revenue.

Today, both Muzyka’s 14-year-old son and her company are thriving. She has authored the forthcoming book, “Life by the Cup: Ingredients for a Purpose-Filled Life of Bottomless Happiness and Limitless Success,” which chronicles her journey building Zhena’s Gypsy Tea into a multimillion-dollar company lauded for its sustainable and fair-trade business practices.

Muzkya has said she hopes to inspire women from all walks of life to change their circumstances by committing to their values and transforming passion into possibility. She will keynote the Top 50 Women in Business awards banquet, which will take place on April 17 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Bacara Resort & Spa in Goleta.

This year’s class of honorees will be profiled in a special section publishing with the Business Times’ March 28 print edition.

Tickets to the awards banquet may be purchased here.