ST PAUL, Minnesota — On Valentine's Day, Shaunie Grigsby is busy at her coffee shop in St. Paul. There's a group of students from Canada, folks busy getting work done, and families enjoying brunch.
"Folks have responded quite well to having a place where they can just come and relax, and a place that is centered around joy and community," Grigsby said.
Flava Coffee & Café opened its doors in August 2022 on the corner of University & Dale in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood.
"Flava Café is beautiful. It has a good ambience. The playlist is always hitting. I'm bound to see someone I know. I'm bound to see someone that I love. I'm bound to get at least three or four hugs here," said Deja Joelle, a healing artist and cultural healing curator in the Twin Cities.
What comes in, gets poured back into the community.
"Our focus is around supporting the development — both personally and professionally — of young women of color and gender expansive youth through our work opportunities, as well as programming," Grigsby said.
Grigsby has a background in nonprofit work and youth development. When she left the nonprofit world, she looked into social enterprise businesses and decided to focus on coffee.
"I just wanted to do my youth work in a way that felt authentic to me and allowed me to connect with young people in a way that was meaningful," Grigsby said. "That's kind of how we landed on this youth development work inside the café."
Flava Café partners with programs like St. Paul's youth employment initiative Right Track.
"I learn customer service, how to make coffee. I didn't even know that before. I'm so glad that I got this opportunity just to learn a lot of things," said Mae Paw, 19, who has worked at the shop for almost a year.
Paw dreams of having her own business one day.
Grigsby said, "I had a circle of Black women who helped guide me on my journey, both personally and professionally. I felt it was only right to do the same for the next generation of young people."
Flava Café
623 University Ave W
Saint Paul, MN 55104
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