We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Bunnett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I decided to name my coffee shop, Kunjani, which means “how is it?” or “how is it going?” in Zulu. This is a really common phrase and greeting used in my home country, Zimbabwe, similarly how “what’s up?” is used here. The mission for Kunjani has always been to provide our community with specialty coffee, while making a positive impact along the way. I thought it only fitting to name the business a friendly greeting.

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 back background and context?

We are a mother-daughter team from Zimbabwe with a shared passion for entrepreneurship and helping people.

Kunjani was born when my mother and I decided that we wanted to open a coffee shop together. But, we wanted it to be more than just a coffee shop, we wanted to provide our community with specialty coffee, while making a positive impact along the way.

Our journey began in 2016 when we opened the doors to our coffee shop, but our goal has always been to be more than that. I believe what sets us apart is the fact that we aren’t just a coffee shop. We also have a retail space where we sell handmade fair trade items from Africa. We host pop up shops for local vendors and entrepreneurs. We also support different local non profit organizations every month by spreading awareness and fundraising. In addition to that we have our own non profit organization and through generous donations from our customers have been able to provide access to clean water to villages in Africa.

We believe in bringing people together through coffee and are committed to fostering a sense of community in every aspect of our business.

When our customers first come into our store they all have said that they feel as though they have come home. They feel such a welcoming, calming vibe that just makes them feel at peace. This is so special to us, since this was the goal when we first opened. We wanted to create an environment where everyone could feel welcome and accepted, along with serving delicious freshly roasted coffee.

Not only do we have a coffee shop where customers can physically come and enjoy our coffee, we also sell our beans online. Customers can easily purchase any of our beans directly from the website. We source our coffee from trusted import partners to ensure that it meets our sustainability, transparency, and high quality standards. We are committed to paying our producer partners above fair trade prices. We also support them directly by donating an additional $0.20 for every pound of coffee roasted.

Customers can also sign up for a subscription and get freshly roasted coffee delivered on a personalized schedule.

Bonus – save 15% off all of our coffee when you subscribe and FREE shipping on subscriptions over $35.
Plus exclusive member discounts on coffee merch.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Although this might sound a bit cliche, I truly believe in creating a close nit “family” atmosphere within the workplace. Yes, at times this has been tricky to navigate, especially once close friendships are established, and the work/personal lines get blurry, but in my business the good has outweighed the bad. Treating each employee as a valuable member of the family unit fosters a sense of responsibility and a desire to do their best for the good of the business. I also believe in taking the time to get to know each person and what they respond to and what they don’t. We’ve been able to gain a greater understanding through personality tests, love language assessments and various team bonding exercises. I believe this is important in managing a team and maintaining morale overall, especially since what might work for one person, might not work for another.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I would definitely say top notch customer service as well as placing a main focus on serving our local community. The majority of our customers are regulars who visit our shop every single day, sometimes even twice a day. One of the main reasons we opened was to provide a safe, welcoming space for everyone and I truly believe this has been felt by most people as they come through our doors. Our motto is “lifting each other up with love,” and we strive to do this during every customer interaction.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kunjaninaples.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kunjaninaples/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kunjaninaples

Image Credits
Melissa Neubek Hans Hamann