Pavilion Member Spotlight: Jo Rousseau, Founder of Nara Matcha
Jo, short for Joanne, grew up in Edmonton and spent her summers in Vancouver, creating a strong connection to both cities from a young age.
After earning her CPA, she built her career in accounting and finance while maintaining a lifelong passion for food, wellness, and healthy living.
In 2025, she stepped away from her 9-to-5 and began working with a holistic nutritionist to focus on restoring her health, which had taken a back seat to her career over the past year. As a long-time matcha drinker of more than a decade, she had always been mindful of her health and wellness.
While reviewing her diet, her coach noted that she ate fairly clean, but one of the few processed products she consumed regularly was the oat milk in her daily matcha. This led Jo to look into the seed oils, gums, and fillers commonly found in commercial oat milk products, and how regular consumption could be contributing to her chronic inflammation, bloating, fatigue, and brain fog from blood sugar spikes and crashes. It was a realization that prompted her to consider a change in her daily habit and explore alternative options.
As she struggled to find a healthy, yet delicious, alternative that met her standards, Jo found the need to create one herself. She wanted to achieve something nice and creamy but not heavy, with a subtle sweetness that would complement the matcha rather than overpower it – and without relying on added sugars or thickeners to get there. After much experimentation, she landed on a perfect blend of high-quality, clean ingredients that checked every box.
Eventually, her custom blend made its debut at a home pop-up café hosted by her brother, where she spent the afternoon preparing matcha for friends. The response was so positive they were asked if they could cater an upcoming event for a local, highly-established business, giving her 6 weeks to create her brand, perfect recipes, and launch Nara Matcha to the public.
After spending years helping business owners solve problems and develop creative solutions, Jo felt inspired to share one of her own. Launching Nara Matcha allowed her to embrace her creative and entrepreneurial side, while introducing an option where people could treat themselves to a good matcha latte without having to compromise how they felt afterwards. Seeing customers return again and again remains one of the most rewarding parts of her journey.
If you see Jo in the lounge, don’t hesitate to introduce yourself and say hi!
Pavilion Fun Fact Questions
Q: What is your guilty pleasure song?
A: Bon Jovi – Always (my favorite karaoke song)
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I love a good farmer’s market. I also love to walk everywhere with a podcast or audiobook in the background, exploring different businesses and shops that I wouldn’t have otherwise come across.
Q: Do you have a book recommendation?
A: The Pivot Year by Brianna Wiest.
Q: What was your first job?
A: When I was in grade 4, I would make $6/hour to tutor my friend before we could play.
Q: Do you have a neighborhood business you would recommend?
A: One of my favourite random discoveries is Green Bliss on Main Street. They grind their own organic black sesame paste behind the counter. I would also recommend getting their organic ginger syrup. You can use it in dressings, sauces or just drizzle in hot water with lemon as a tea. A little goes a long way!
