Táche Founder Roxana Saidi on the Latte She Goes to Sleep Dreaming About and the One Word Guiding Her Year

ROXANA SAIDI |Founder and CEO of Táche

Roxana Saidi's coffee ritual began early. Growing up in San Francisco, she spent her mornings walking to a local French café with her mom, who would order a cappuccino every time. She’d let Roxana sip the cocoa-dusted foam off the top. It was a small ritual, but it stuck.

Today, Saidi is a mother of two, a wife, and the founder and CEO of Táche, the pistachio milk company she first built from her tiny West Village kitchen with the goal of creating a better-tasting, clean-ingredient plant milk. A first-generation Iranian-American, Saidi grew up with pistachios as part of daily life: set out with tea, displayed at weddings, woven into gestures of hospitality and care. With Táche, she found a way to connect that inheritance to the coffee ritual she has loved since childhood.

Before Táche, Saidi founded Rx Social, a social media and brand strategy agency, in 2011. It was through that work that she met her now-husband, Kyle Henry. Early on, Saidi worked with two executive coaches to become the strongest CEO she could be. An unexpected bonus: both also ran businesses with their husbands, bringing added perspective to building a company alongside a partner.

These days, mornings with two young kids can be loud, messy, and unpredictable. Someone is devastated by the wrong color cup, the baby needs to eat again immediately, a shoe has vanished, and somehow everyone is already covered in something. But there is real joy woven through the frenzy, and she has grown to love this version of the morning just as much as the serene ones that came before.

Motherhood has softened Saidi, but it has also made her more exacting about what matters. She no longer expects perfection from the first hours of the day. If her kids feel loved, she’s had a good coffee, everyone is fed, and she leaves the house feeling relatively grounded, Saidi considers that a huge success.

6:00 a.m.

I’m usually up without an alarm around 6:00 a.m., before the apartment fully comes to life. For a few minutes, everything is still. The light is soft, the kids are asleep, and you can practically hear a pin drop (which, in New York, always feels like a tiny miracle!). But even in the quiet, there’s still that big-city feeling outside, like the day could become anything. I love that.

I ran a marketing agency for several years, so I know that a “quick scroll” at 6:00 a.m. is a fantastic way to destroy your mental health. These days, I’ll take one glance at the Nanit app (a baby monitor platform) and make sure there haven’t been any emergency texts, calls, or emails. Then the phone goes back down.

Before kids, my barometer for a “successful” morning was how productive I could be. Not intentionally, but because I had the space and time. Up before the rest of the world, inbox at zero, workout done, already mentally ahead of the day.

Now, success feels much broader and much less rigid.

6:10 a.m.

I have a glass of water (at room-temperature with lemon) and then prepare the kids’ bottles while they’re still asleep. I think about what I want to accomplish on three fronts: for my family, for my business, and for myself.

The pace picks up quickly after that, so having that brief period of calm creates a transition before the rest of my day begins.

6:30 a.m.

This is my every-morning non-negotiable (and favorite moment of the day): five minutes of me time with a latte (made with Táche Original Barista) in hand. Usually, right as I settle in, our two kids jump into our bed to join me, and suddenly it becomes this perfect mix of calm and chaos: quiet coffee time, two small children piled into Mom and Dad’s bed, everyone still a little sleepy. All my favorite things in one 30-minute block.

I love it so much that I go to sleep looking forward to that first coffee the next morning.

7:00 a.m.

I love making an elevated protein shake with Táche Three-Ingredient Pistachio Milk. The emphasis is on functional benefits, ingredient integrity, simplicity, and taste. (Her go-to recipe, below.)

7:15 a.m.

I do my best to get in some type of movement every day, but I give myself the grace to know it's okay when I don’t. In other chapters of my life, I loved the four-workout-per-week structure. Right now, that’s not always realistic, and I’m okay with that. I know those chapters will come back around.

On the days when I can work out, I love to do pilates, a weight-lifting class, or a session with my trainer. I’ve been doing pilates for almost 20 years and still love it.

Overall, it’s about easing into my body before moving into the rest of the day. As my executive coach says, “the body keeps the score,” and in order to show up as a strong CEO, mom, wife, daughter, friend, etc. I have to show up for myself first.

8:00 a.m.

I always listen to a podcast while getting ready—often The Daily or one of my girlfriends’ podcasts, like Morgan Stewart or Dianna Cohen.

The other ritual I’ve had for years is what I call “Three Things.” I determine the three most important things that I need to accomplish. Not 10 things, not a running list—just three.

The shower is usually where I think through those three things. There’s something about the sound and repetition of a running shower that quiets everything else—it’s a natural filter for my thoughts. I think about what needs my attention, what obstacles need solving, and where I can have the most impact. At a startup, there is never a shortage of obstacles, so that little pocket of time without input is where I can actually connect the dots. That practice has been consistent for years, and honestly, there were long stretches where one of my three things was the same: refining our Three-Ingredient Pistachio Milk.

In the shower, I use Sangre de Fruta body wash, which I discovered at The Chelsea Hotel spa. You can feel the care put into their products. After the shower, I love applying the Crown Affair or RŌZ leave-in conditioner before drying my hair with the Crown Affair hair towel.

8:15 a.m.

I developed a deep appreciation for skincare while running my marketing agency and working with legacy, science-backed skincare brands like Biologique Recherche.

If I have time, I love to start with a quick five-minute gua sha using Sangre de Fruta’s Flower Nectar Face Oil. Most mornings, though, I go straight into a gentle cleanser, usually Macrene Actives High Performance Cleanser, which I’ve been obsessed with for a couple of years. It was actually gifted to me at a goop beauty event, which feels very full circle.

From there, I’ll use goop Beauty’s Youth-Boost Peptide Serum. I have normal-to-dry skin, so I like pressing serum in while my skin is still slightly damp. Then I’ll moisturize with goop Beauty’s Youth-Boost NAD+ Peptide Rich Cream, depending on the weather and how my skin is feeling.

Growing up in California and spending my twenties in LA, SPF has been non-negotiable for years. A tinted sunscreen that can do double duty as SPF and tinted moisturizer—and actually leave your skin glowy and protected—is rare.

8:20 a.m.

I might blame this on occupational hazard, but ingredient integrity and quality really do show up in my makeup routine too. I deeply appreciate how many brands now exist that take performance, formulation, and feel seriously.

My goal with makeup is always fresh, glowy, slightly dewy skin, and to have fun with it. That’s probably why no two days are exactly the same; I like changing things up depending on my mood, the day, or how much time I have.

I typically don't layer anything on top of a tinted SPF, but if I do, it's a simple lightweight skin tint. I like letting my skin be visible (mostly, ha!). For concealer, I love Kosas when I want a bit more coverage.

For bronzer, Westman Atelier is unbeatable. I love all of Gucci’s products. For blush, I rotate between Tower 28, and Saie depending on how much color I want. A little blush across the bridge of the nose, high on the cheekbones, and lightly toward the temples goes a long way if you want that natural, sun-touched glow. For highlighter, I dab some Westman Atelier.

On lips, I love Summer Fridays lip pencils with our Táche x iota lip treatment on top. It’s the perfect duo for everything from school drop-off to date night. For lashes, I use the Shiseido Eyelash Curler, and I’m very much a brown mascara girl. For brows, I like to use a pencil and brow gel for a natural look with tiny, hair-like strokes.

8:45 a.m.

My mom turned me on to two of my greatest loves in life earlier than was probably advisable: coffee and fashion. I’m a firm believer that adult passions are an absolute must, and fashion is definitely one of mine.

I need to feel comfortable enough to move through a full founder day, but I still want things to feel considered. I would describe my style as classic with an unexpected element of interest. It’s French-leaning and timeless, but usually with an edgier or slightly masculine twist. I also love tension: something really feminine with a boyish nod, or something polished with a slightly undone element. 

Truthfully, I want to be someone who has a weekday uniform, but I’m not ready for that kind of commitment. Instead, I return to the same brands and silhouettes over and over. I’m extremely loyal. I like a mix of high and low—some of my favorites include Phoebe Philo, Cos, Dries Van Noten, Leset, and Levi’s for vintage denim.

10:00 a.m.

Persian culture shaped the way I understand food long before I had language for it. In Persian culture, food is never just functional—it’s a way of expressing love, hospitality, and care. That's why my breakfast is built with intention.

I’m really into high-protein, high-fiber breakfasts to start the day. They also have to be efficient, because I don’t have a lot of time in the mornings.

Right now, my breakfast hyper-fixation that checks all those boxes is basil seeds soaked in Three-Ingredient Táche with Greek yogurt. Basil seeds are similar to chia seeds, but have more fiber, potassium, calcium, and iron.

I use about a tablespoon of Zen Basil Seeds soaked for five minutes in a quarter cup of Three-Ingredient Táche, then add Greek yogurt, fresh fruit—usually blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries—a tablespoon of pistachio or almond butter, and a sprinkle of granola.

It comes together in less than 10 minutes and keeps me fueled for hours. The basil seed-Táche combination also works beautifully as a chia-style pudding, layered into a parfait, or blended into a smoothie.

10:15 a.m.

Office routines are key to me and feel like a continuation of starting the day with intention. Over the years, I’ve realized I’m much better—creatively, strategically, and emotionally—when I protect the parts of the day where I do my best thinking.

That’s why I keep my mornings almost entirely free of meetings. Typically, I’m in the office five days a week. I take the ferry to work, from Dumbo to the Financial District. Once I get to the office, I settle in and reflect on the three things that matter most that day.

Last year, my word for Táche was Impact. This year, it’s Opportunity. I like having a single idea that anchors the season I’m in. Building a company taught me that highs and lows can exist at the exact same time. A huge win can happen alongside a major setback. Learning how to hold both without becoming consumed by either has probably been one of the biggest shifts for me. I care deeply about what I’m building, but I’ve also learned that not everything deserves my nervous system.

11:00 a.m

My role extends beyond traditional CEO responsibilities, especially when it comes to the creative expression of the brand. I work closely with our marketing and creative teams on launches, campaigns, partnerships, product storytelling, and the overall world we’re building around Táche. In these meetings, we review campaign concepts, social ideas, retail moments, packaging, creative tests, and bigger brand storytelling. 

For a long time, I thought being a “good founder” meant saying yes to everything: every meeting, every dinner, every opportunity, every event. I could easily do eight meetings a day under the guise of being a committed leader.

Now, feeling ready for the day looks much more like balance. A morning latte, a great outfit, meaningful time with my kids, and real clarity around what actually matters that day. Not a packed calendar.

It sounds cliché, but becoming more intentional about where I spend my time and attention has probably changed my life more than any productivity system ever could.