We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daphne Davalie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Daphne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Zansette Home is the premiere home decor brand of the Majority Minority generation. Zanset is a Kreyol word for “ancestors.” As an African-American woman, my ancestors were transported here from Africa; thus, we have the beginning of the African Diaspora. Zansette Home sells African Disaspora inspired home decor, primarily pillow cases and candles.
My deep connection to home decor begins with my Grandmother, Annabelle, who was a Pastor’s wife that loved to entertain guests. Her dining table was always formally adorned in embroidered and lace table cloths (and plastic for easy cleanup). The table settings included only cloth napkins, which were washed and ironed before they hit the large 8 seater dining table. Dinners were themed and immaculately catered by her bare hands. The uniquely Southern aromas filled the air with scents of Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, seafood dressing, stuffed bell peppers, ham, turkey, and red rice. Similarly, my mother commissioned a seamstress who custom made my bedding and drapery. The carnation pink drapery and comforter complete with purple bows perfectly offset my all white, gold trimmed furniture. Behby, my bedroom put the best magazine spreads to shame!
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that my second business is in home decor. Oh, I forgot to mention that in that same all pink room is where I started my first business at 7 years old. My father would take me to Michael’s to buy ribbon, needle, thread, and buttons to make chokers. I would sell them to my Mom and Dad’s friends. However, I had a major product-market fit problem as I used my 7 year old neck to measure the chokers; but, then tried to sell them to adults. Don’t you just love well-earned lessons?!
I am a New Orleans native who spent her entire adulthood between the unforgiving lifestyle of New York City, and the laid back wellness of the wonderful city of Los Angeles, As I’ve built a career in Finance, I was forced to navigate the highs and lows of Corporate life. There, I learned that my identity, self-worth, and beauty lies within my roots; not in job titles or political affiliations. Increasingly, homes are the safe spaces we return to after we survive the day both in and out of the office. Home is where we recharge, reconnect, and renew our sense of self. To that end, it should reflect the complexities and uniqueness of our identity across the Diaspora. Yes, your skin may be Sepia but your roots are in St. Kits. Another person’s chocolate skin could very well lead you to believe they’re Nigerian until you speak to them in Spanish only to discover they are Dominican. Lastly, my Creole roots are reflected in the red undertones of my skin while my Southern roots are evidenced by the 4C texture of my hair.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I got into the industry through entrepreneurship. I am such a consumer when it comes to products, and I absolutely love to take candle lit bubble baths, So, I started making candles myself after I took a candle making class in 2024. Smilarly, I love cleaning and have earned the nickname “Infection Control Specialist” from my mother. Home organization is another specialty of mine as well. Just late last year, we expanded into cleaning and, now home organization as of 2026.
Zansette Home porducts are uniquely connected to identities across the Diaspora. Everyone has a lavender, vanilla, and pine scent. But, how many of them actually represent us?
What I’m most proud of is our in-store pop up at Nordstrom Chicago where we sold out of all candles during a Black History Month feature. Of course, this led to us becoming a vendor on Nordstrom.com and we will soon be a vendor on MathisHome.com as well. Adding cleaning and home organization services to our consumer products line just represents the many passions we’ve birthed through the Zansette Home brand!
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
Yes! In 2025, I received an email from a scammer claiming to be the buyer for a store that actually existed in Barbados. The address for the store was familiar to me as I vacationed in Barbados and partied in that area. I asked a couple Bajan friends if they heard of the store and they confirmed they did. What we didn’t know is the store had closed years ago, and this scammer was using it to solicit orders from small Shopify brands.
Here’s how the scam works. They send an invoice to you and insist you submit through a popular online accounting service. That accounting software then fronts the money to you and it hits your bank account. For whatever reason, the accouting software’s checks and balances on the back end did not work properly as they attempted to retrive funds from the fake store’s account unsuccessfully multiple times. Instead of confirming this before the funds hit my business account, they sent the funds ahead of this check. Therefore, I started ordering supplies and materials to fulfill the order. Then, they had a fraudulent shipping company contact me requesting I send them a sizable portion of the invoice to cover shipping costs. Needless to say, once it was discovered this was a scam I reported the scammers to the local police and FBI in both California and Florida.
Beause the accounting software has a clause in their contract that you become personally liable for outstanding funds, they attempted to come after me and my credit to retrieve the funds. Luckily, we ended up settling for the remaining funds and all was cleared.
This was certainly a near death moment for the business that I will never forget. Now, I don’t pick up phone numbers I don’t recognize. Nor do I respond to emails I don’t recognize. Unless I can get someone on a Zoom call or arrange to visit the store in person, I do not take any of these inquiries seriously. Especially if it’s from an international vendor you’ve never met who has never purchased nor sampled your product, I wouldn’t trust it. Stay woke good businesspeople!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn is “Launch when everything is perfect, and all your paperwork is in order.”
This is so not true, and you would be surprised how far you will get with pre-orders and a small opening balance in a business checking account. The largest companies both private and public unicorns have glitches in their systems. Do not let perfectionism stop you. Get out there and test the market. Consumers will give you the most valuable feedback you need to gradually improve the product. I did a launch party with candles in tins and laser printer labels. I used my own savings to fund initial inventory, and held the launch party in the clubhouse of my apartment building. You do not need anything fancy. Have the fancy party when you hit $1M in revenue!
However, do not neglect paperwork. Set up your business properly with an EIN, business bank account, entity formation, and financial statements. During COVID, alot of Black Businesses complained they did not receive PPP Loan funds. One of the main requirements was accounting statements and records. Therefore, those without proper documentation missed out. PPP Loan scammers face the consequences of their false documentation to this day. So, it’s best to keep your books straight from the beginning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nordstrom.com/browse/home?filterByBrand=zansette-home&srsltid=AfmBOooP5ky0EC0LqqG-xhRsVcxOrBSBA4Tr1I3kgatwm5kQcywTa849
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zansettehome/
Image Credits
N/A. These are all either AI generated or taken using my iPhone.