Meet Tim Hill

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tim Hill. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tim below.

Hi Tim, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often seen as a trait—something you either have or you don’t. But for me, resilience has been a process. It didn’t start as a conscious effort; rather, it began with what I like to call a healthy indulgence of ignorance. I simply believed things would work out in the end. Not because I had a well-mapped plan or a safety net, but because I refused to believe otherwise.

Faith and the Purpose in Every Experience

My faith has played a huge role in shaping my belief. I’ve come to understand that there is purpose in everything we do, even in what the world would call failure. In Dune: Part One, the voice of Jamis says, “The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. You must move with the flow of the process.” That line struck a chord with me. Resilience isn’t about fighting against reality; it’s about moving with it, learning from it, and trusting the process—even when that process is painful.

There have been moments when everything seemed to collapse around me. I’ve built businesses, only to watch them struggle or fail. I’ve been one week away from declaring bankruptcy. I’ve had to push forward despite devastating personal loss—losing children, watching my wife endure extreme suffering. And in the business world, launching something truly new and innovative didn’t come with applause; it came with hate, doubt, and accusations that we were simply copying others. But nothing tests resilience like the voices of those closest to you—the ones who should believe in you but don’t.

Resilience Is Built in the Hardest Moments

For me, resilience is not about being unshakable. It’s about being shaken, knocked down, and still standing up again. It’s about learning as I go—through both the good and tough lessons—and passing on what I’ve learned to my kids without burdening them with the weight of it all. My ceiling is their floor. That is what keeps me going. I may not have all the answers, and in the world’s eyes, I may not have the biggest successes. But if my children can start from a higher place than I did, then everything I’ve fought for is worth it.

The Hardest Part: Wanting to Quit

The truth is, resilience is exhausting. There have been many times—still are times—when I want to stop. When the thought of getting a “real” job, with weekends and stat holidays, sounds like freedom rather than restriction. The stress of carrying a business, providing for my family, and pushing through the unknown has affected my sleep, my body, and my mind. But even in those moments, there’s a quiet belief inside me that something good is just around the corner. And even if it isn’t, what I’ve learned along the way is worth more than I ever expected.

Resilience Is a Family Journey

My wife and I work together. Our kids are part of our entrepreneurial journey. They see the risks, the sacrifices, the long hours, but they also see the freedom, the passion, and the ownership of building something of our own. And through it all, my marriage is strong, my family is incredible, and I wouldn’t have started this journey without them.

Resilience, at its core, isn’t about toughness. It’s about belief. Belief that failures aren’t the end, that struggles have meaning, that even when everything is falling apart, something valuable is being built. That belief is what keeps me going. And maybe, just maybe, it’s what makes me resilient.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

The Story Behind iLOLA

I’m Tim Hill, and I’m the co-founder of iLOLA, a company redefining the tea experience through innovation, quality, and sustainability.
Our journey started with a questions: how do we make loose leaf tea as easy as a tea bag—without the waste, microplastics, or compromise in quality? The answer was the iLOLA Tea Disc, a world-first innovation that compresses premium loose leaf tea into a single-serve disc held together with probiotics. No measuring, no mess—just drop it in and brew.

What’s Next? The iLOLA Duo (Coming 2025)

Now, we’re taking things to the next level with the iLOLA Duo, launching in 2025. This smart tea and coffee machine, in partnership with iLOLA Tea Discs, uses water pressure flavor extraction to pull every bit of taste and aroma from our Tea Discs, creating the perfect cup at the press of a button. Whether you’re steeping a delicate green tea or brewing a robust black, the Duo ensures optimal extraction for maximum flavor. And for coffee lovers? It also brews Nespresso-compatible pods—so no one has to choose between tea or coffee.

Luxury Without the Hassle

At iLOLA, we believe in experience and ritual. We love luxury products and incredible moments, but without the barriers of complexity or education that often come with them. Tea shouldn’t feel intimidating. It should feel effortless, indulgent, and enjoyable. Our goal is to help people rediscover tea—not just as a drink, but as an experience worth savoring.

What’s Next for iLOLA?

As we prepare for 2025, we’re focused on:
• The iLOLA Duo Kickstarter Campaign – Bringing this revolutionary tea and coffee machine to market.
• Expanding Our B2B Partnerships – Partnering with luxury home and kitchen stores, high-end grocery retailers, and premium hospitality brands to introduce iLOLA to more homes, hotels, and cafés.
• New Tea Collections & Seasonal Releases – We are working to create another 40 innovative flavors. From limited-edition blends to wellness-focused flavors, we’re always innovating to elevate the tea experience.

At iLOLA, we’re not just creating products—we’re reshaping the way people experience tea.

Want to be part of the movement? Visit iLOLA.com or follow us on social media for the latest updates.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The Three Most Important Qualities in My Journey

Looking back, one of the best lessons I’ve learned is one that surrounds us everywhere: life starts with a seed.

You can look at a forest and wish to have it immediately, but each tree started as a seed. It had to fight for its place, stretch toward the sun, and withstand storms before it became something strong and lasting. The same is true in business, in family, and in life. Success doesn’t happen overnight—it grows through resilience, adaptability, and vision.

1. Resilience – Weathering the Storms

Just like a tree growing from a seed, resilience is about standing firm despite the storms. I’ve faced near-bankruptcy, business failures, personal loss, and relentless criticism. There have been many times I wanted to stop, to find something easier, to walk away. But resilience isn’t about never wanting to quit—it’s about choosing to keep going anyway.

How to Develop It:
• Expect Struggles: Growth requires resistance. Every challenge is a storm shaping your strength.
• Find Your ‘Why’: A deep purpose will keep you going when motivation runs out.
• Focus on the Long Game: The forest doesn’t appear overnight, and neither does success. Keep planting, watering, and growing.

2. Adaptability – Growing Toward the Light

A tree doesn’t grow in a straight line—it bends and shifts toward the light. That’s adaptability. I’ve had to adjust my business model, rethink strategies, and embrace new opportunities—because success isn’t about sticking to a rigid plan, it’s about growing where the conditions allow.

How to Develop It:
• Stay Curious: Keep learning, experimenting, and evolving.
• Be Willing to Pivot: If something isn’t working, don’t force it—adjust.
• Detach from Ego: Your original plan might not be the best one. The strongest people—and trees—are flexible.

3. Vision – Seeing Beyond the Seed

A seed doesn’t look like a forest. When you plant it, you don’t see immediate results. But you have to trust that growth is happening underground. That’s vision. You have to see beyond today’s struggles and believe in what’s coming. When we started iLOLA, it wasn’t just about launching a product—it was about changing the way people experience tea. When we started homeschooling, it wasn’t just about avoiding bullying—it was about creating a thriving environment for our kids.

How to Develop It:
• Dream Beyond the Present: Your current reality isn’t your final destination.
• Start Small, Think Big: A seed doesn’t become a tree overnight, but every step matters.
• Believe in the Process: Growth takes time. Keep nurturing the seed.

Final Thoughts

If you’re at the beginning of your journey, plant the seed and trust the process. Growth won’t always be visible, and storms will come, but every great thing—whether in business, family, or life—starts the same way: small, uncertain, and full of potential.

Keep planting. Keep growing. One day, you’ll have your forest.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

When I was younger, I often found myself in difficult situations at school—usually involving money and some form of conflict. I’d be terrified of what would happen and would only tell my mum part of the story. But she had a way of making me deal with the consequences. Since I had to travel an hour each way to school, she couldn’t step in and fix things for me. Instead, she would send me with a letter to the teachers, and I had to walk into school and face the mess myself.

It always ended up okay, but that experience taught me one of the most valuable lessons of my life: resilience. It showed me that you don’t run from problems—you face them. That mindset has carried me through the hardest moments in business and life. Whether it was being days away from bankruptcy, dealing with personal loss, or launching something new only to be met with criticism, I’ve learned to walk through the discomfort instead of avoiding it.

That lesson, learned as a kid, still shapes me today. When things get tough, I remind myself that avoidance makes things worse. Facing the hard conversations, the difficult decisions, and the unknown is the only way forward.

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