When she talks about her work, she does so as if she were talking about life itself: calmly, attentively and with a warmth that cannot be learnt on a management course. Perhaps that is why her story is so different from the typical business narrative.

Rather than conquests and brutal decisions, hers features people, emotions and everyday rituals. Instead of cold strategy, there is mindfulness. Instead of loud declarations, there is consistent, soft self-confidence.

And yet hardly anyone in the Polish FMCG industry has such a significant influence on what and how we drink at home. Sylwia Mokrysz, a proxy of Mokate SA, the Mokrysz family business, is a woman who has managed to combine marketing with sensitivity, family with career and a flair for observation with the world of science. When she talks about tea, it sounds a bit like a conversation about life. When she talks about advertising, it sounds like a story about sensitivity. And when she talks about women, it sounds like an intimate confession about strength that does not require armour.

It all began with courage, which came before experience.

The early 1990s was a time when everything, including advertising, was just taking shape. It was during that time that Mokate launched cappuccino in sachets – a completely different product to anything we were used to. Polish homes smelled of coffee made by pouring boiling water over coffee grounds in a glass. And suddenly, something light, fluffy and foreign, yet appealing, appeared. How could the new taste be understood? Someone was needed to explain that it was not an addition to traditional Polish coffee, but rather a completely new ritual.

It was in this uncertain space that twenty-year-old Sylwia Mokrysz appeared. Still a student with a head full of plans and questions, she set up her own advertising agency to create the first major campaign in her life. She had no experience or big names on the location. However, she had something more important: courage and intuition. And she also knew that, in order for a product to come into being, it must first be understood.

This is how an advertisement was created that would become a milestone for both Mokate and Polish advertising. Rather than using a flashy tone, she opted for a friendly, instructional rhythm. Rather than being intrusive, she offered a warm invitation. The focus was not on coffee, but on people and their everyday lives. Millions of Poles still remember the advert today. It was then that Sylwia understood something that would later become the foundation of her work: marketing is not a battle for attention, but a relationship.

Tea as a second language.

Years later, when the company took over a large tea producer, Sylwia found herself in a completely new reality. Rather than entering it with feigned confidence, she started with humility. She went to London to learn about tea from the experts at the Thompson Lloyd & Ewart tea house – people who could talk about tea leaves the way others talk about wine, music or literature.

This stage of her life was more than just training. It was the moment when tea became a metaphor for her. She learnt that a tea’s taste is the sum of its history: the plantation, the weather, the harvesting and drying methods, and the gesture of the person who puts the teabag in the cup. That tea is not just a drink, but a ritual, a moment of reflection and a way to create relationships.

She began to build a team that shared her vision: not only of the product, but of the atmosphere too. This is how LOYD evolved – an elegant and moody brand that is full of symbols. Its campaign with the Polish singer Justyna Steczkowska was not a traditional advertisement, but a short film. Lanterns, soft light and a fairy-tale narrative were all intended to convey the delicacy of the moment when someone reaches for a cup of good tea.

However, Sylwia also knew how to keep her feet on the ground. When creating marketing materials for Minutka tea, she knew it was an everyday, familiar and family brand. She did not need fireworks. She needed authenticity. That is why she opted for product placement in the TV series ‘Ranczo’ (The Ranch) – simple, unobtrusive and very Polish. And to this day, it remains one of the most effective examples of this type of promotion.

Family and motherhood as invisible driving forces.

At that time, her personal life was changing as dynamically as her professional life. Motherhood was not a ‘break’ or a ‘joint’ between the two stages of her career. Rather, it was an event that made her re-evaluate everything she did. Sylwia often said that it was only as a mother that she discovered the true meaning of the word ‘mindfulness’. She realised that it is impossible to be everywhere at once, and that this is not necessary. That the pace of life does not have to be constant. That sometimes it is worth putting something aside in order to return to it with more energy.

These experiences strengthened her empathy and influenced the way she runs the company. She understood that people are not machines designed to generate results. They have their own lives, weaknesses and moments of doubt. Thanks to this understanding, she was able to foster an environment in which employees feel part of a greater whole, rather than being mere cogs in a corporate machine.

The family spirit – both in life, and in business – became her greatest source of strength.

Women who need space, not pressure.

At some point, she began to notice that many young, talented women with great potential had nowhere to spread their wings. This is why she became involved in mentorship projects and organisations that support women’s entrepreneurship, as well as initiatives that encourage girls to enter the world of science, technology and business.

She does not give speeches from a podium or create loud campaigns about empowerment. Her approach is quiet but consistent. She meets with women in small groups and talks to them about their fears, ambitions and plans. She asks questions that help them to understand themselves. She does not promise success, but shows them that everyone’s path may look different. And that the strength of women does not have to resemble the strength of men.

Doctorate, which became a symbol of a different kind of courage.

There is also a part of her story that she rarely talks about, even though it could be a source of pride. When she decided to do her PhD, many people wondered how she would balance her family responsibilities, her job in a large company and the demands of academia. Where would she find the time and concentration?

She approached it in her own way: calmly and consistently. She was the first doctoral student at her university to defend her thesis online, and she did so with distinction. In an academic world that was just beginning to embrace new possibilities, this was an exceptional event. It showed that science could also be done differently: with flexibility and openness, and in harmony with one’s own rhythm.

However, this was not about setting a record or achieving a breakthrough. It was about her ability to find time for learning amidst her many responsibilities, and she approached that in the same way as anything else that is important to her.

The Institute –  a place that connects generations.

The establishment of the Coffee and Tea Market Research Institute was a natural step. It is a place where Sylwia brings together all the different aspects of her life: her love of tea and coffee, her passion for research, her business experience and her desire to support young people. The Institute operates in Ustron, Poland, and London, Great Britain – two places that symbolise her path: locality and cosmopolitanism, tradition and modernity.

The Institute conducts research into consumer trends, produces analyses, provides training and publishes its own journal. However, above all, it provides people with the opportunity to develop. Just as someone once opened the door for her, she is now opening it for future generations.

Tea as a metaphor for life.

When asked what is most important to her about coffee and tea, Sylwia does not talk about products, raw materials or strategies. She talks about moments. About how each cup offers a brief respite from the world. About conversations at the table, the silence of the morning and the tender rituals that shape us more than spectacular decisions.

This philosophy permeates her entire life and work. Because Sylwia Mokrysz does not talk about success in terms of charts and reports. She talks about it through the prisms of mindfulness, relationships and emotions. In her world, strength is not the opposite of sensitivity, but its natural extension.

At the end of this story is…

The woman who inspired Sylwia Mokrysz throughout her life was her mother, Teresa Mokrysz. She was not a heroine of business textbooks, but a practitioner who consistently and calmly built a brand recognised far beyond Poland. Sylwia learnt from her that in business, it is not just the idea that counts, but also the daily work and responsibility towards others. As Teresa Mokrysz used to say, ‘Success is not given once and for all’.

Today, Sylwia is building her own leadership style based on this foundation: modern and data-driven, yet still rooted in the values her mother taught her. Because, at Mokate, the most significant changes emerge not from grand announcements, but from quiet moments of reflection, when a cup of tea or coffee offers an opportunity to gain perspective and plan the next step.