Join us for this episode with Efrem Fesaha, founder and CEO of Boon Boona Coffee, a brand that started out by selling green beans at soccer tournaments and grew into a coffee business with cafes and corporate deals. This episode was recorded in Seattle, where Boon Boona was born. It’s our first ever live episode outside Ethiopia. In this conversation: jumping from finance to coffee, starting Boon Boona in the diaspora, building a brand with East African identity, opening the first cafe, partnerships with Amazon, Microsoft, Adobe, and Hyatt, and the resilience and purpose behind it all. More from our partners: Dashen Bank Website: https://dashenbanksc.com Telegram: https://t.me/DashenBankEthiopia Noah Real Estate Website: https://noahrealestateplc.com/ EthioTelecom Download Telebirr Remit App on Playstore : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ethiotelecom.telebirr.remit&hl=en&pli=1 Appstore: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/telebirr-remit/id6642675033 Website: https://www.ethiotelecom.et/ BPO Partnership Form: https://forms.gle/PsAVBP1vXCvhKXFP6 00:00 - Introduction 03:44 - Opening 07:41 - Journey 17:28 - Educational background 25:09 - Working in finance 32:10: - getting into the coffee business 45:15 - Resigning and working on the cafe full time 47:28 - Challenges 50:47 - Getting the keys to the cafe 01:02:09 - The next milestone 01:04:33 - COVID 01:10:08 - Surviving COVID 301:18:51 - New locations and success 01:20:17 - Management style 01:30:03 - Things you would have done differently 01:38:24 - Advice for entrepreneurs 01:40:26 - Aspirations 01:46:20 - Financing the business 01:50:23 - Family 01:55:15 - The coffee business 02:01:10 - Life wisdom Social Links https://t.me/MERI_PODCAST https://twitter.com/MERI_Podcast https://www.instagram.com/meripodcast/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzKNuQ80qNSpt2x-7dsazJg https://youtube.com/@Meriwoch?si=yIpJ3byprnVNwKi1 https://youtube.com/@mericlipset?si=wwa0KeQ_Nv2aPy9l https://www.tiktok.com/@meripodcast https://www.linkedin.com/company/meriethiopian/ Copyright Notice for Meri Podcast: All rights reserved. The content featured in this podcast is protected by copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or modification of any portion of this podcast is strictly prohibited. For permission to use our content, please contact us at info@meri.et Thank you for respecting our copyright.