In this week’s Micronesian Monday Feature we get to know the brilliant Jasmine Muneca Botlang Henry, the Marshallese and Puerto Rican CEO and founder of Lazy Jays Cafe.

Once in Majuro, head toward the bridge, drive over it and keep going until you see a blue building on the left, that’s the attorney general’s office. But you’re not looking for that. You’re looking for an open space next to it and a beige building. That’s where you’ll find Lazy Jays Cafe, a Marshallese-owned, Marshallese-operated, Marshallese-built coffee shop with impeccable vibes.

Jasmine Muneca Botlang Henry is the CEO and founder of Lazy Jays Inc. She’s an absolute superwoman. She’s a Gates Millennium Scholar, a YouTuber, and a lawyer, which is admittedly a demanding career. But she’s also a pioneer and in her free time, despite some murmurs and misgivings about the market for mochas in Majuro, Jasmine opened her own cafe.

_jasminnie_

A post shared by Jasmine Loeak Henry (@_jasminnie_)

A creative outlet, for most people with a full-time career, might be journaling, maybe painting, or taking up a new exercise program. But not for Jasmine. 

"I don't know what I'm thinking for myself, but I must not want to sleep ever,” she joked.

Jasmine, who is deliberate in her introduction, providing her whole name, Jasmine Muneca Botlang Henry, has a way of speaking with intention and with humility.

“I say all of it because the middle names, they go with my cultures,” she said. “‘Jasmine Henry’ sounds basic. I’m glad my parents at least gave me middle names that go with the culture.”

Her mom is Marshallese and her dad is Puerto Rican. They met in the army. 

“A lot of people think I'm black. And the explanation for that is because my dad's dad is Afro Caribbean from St. Croix. So I also have Virgin Islander blood,” Jasmine said.

She grew up going back and forth between New Jersey and the Marshall Islands. She went to college in North Carolina and then went to law school in Australia and has since set up shop at home in the Marshall Islands.

Jasmine has always wanted to have a bakery. Since she was seven years old, she and her grandmother would bake together. She kept her bakery dream in her heart as she grew older and navigated school and then pursued her law career.

“Law is a way that I know I can contribute to the society positively because we don’t have a lot of lawyers,” she explained. “I’ve always been more creative, an artistically inclined person. So that’s why the cafe. It was more to keep my sanity.” 

Lazy Jays Cafe opened at the end of January 2021 but she’s been conceptualizing and working on the shop for years.

Standard coffee shops that people in America are familiar with weren’t impressive to Jasmine.

But when she went to school in Australia and she saw the cafes down under, it all fell into place.

"When I went to Australia, I saw the cafe culture there, which is so different than America,” Jasmine recalled. “The Gold Coast is like a hub of cafes. And each one is so unique. They might all serve coffee, but they also serve things in a different way. The vibes are different. 

“The creativity is just so amazing and that's what really inspired me I'm like, 'Yep, we need this at home. I want to do this.’”

The name  “Lazy Jays Cafe” stems from Jasmine’s previous business venture an e-commerce website of the same name. “Jays” is a combination of Jasmine and her siblings’ initials and “lazy” is really more associated with being chill, laidback, and living in that islander way.

She had a specific vision for the cafe’s look and she knew she wanted it to be 100% Marshallese.

That meant hiring Marshallese baristas and staff and hiring a Marshallese contractor to build the coffee shop. 

"I wanted to have like a clean, modern, island feel to it,” Jasmine said. There’s a lot of bright white elements in the coffee shop, punctuated with wood furniture. Adding the islander touch, she had Marshallese artists paint the interior with designs featuring breadfruit leaves scaling the walls.

_jasminnie_

A post shared by Jasmine Loeak Henry (@_jasminnie_)

The cafe sells espresso-based drinks, milkshakes, smoothies, and more. When Jasmine hinted about future menu items, she couldn’t hide the dreamy, optimistic look on her face. 

People questioned whether there was a market for coffee that’d be sold for $5. Five dollars in Majuro could get you a barbecue plate complete with hot dogs, rice and sides. A whole meal.

But Jasmine’s vision remained unchanged. 

“I'm like, ‘Trust me,’” she insisted. 

Since she’s embarked on opening and operating Lazy Jays Cafe, she said she’s learned a lot about herself. In the beginning, she moved forward, unsure of what it all entailed and as she progressed she found out there is so much more to opening this business. While it was daunting, Jasmine didn’t let that prevent her from forging ahead.

“Now I can’t just not do it,” she said, adding that she enjoys feeling like she’s outside her comfort zone.

“Because I know that means I’m growing.”

“So I've been outside of my comfort zone a lot this past year. And that self-discovery has been the most rewarding,” Jasmine said. 

To other aspiring Micronesian entrepreneurs, Jasmine cautions them to keep their ideas to themselves—only at first.

“Don't really share it with anybody, just write it down and sit with it. And if you're really sure about it, share it with the people closest to you, who will encourage you and be excited for you and help build your confidence in your idea before you share it with the world, where you'll definitely get backlash.

“There'll be a lot of noise. But by then, hopefully, you're so secure in your idea already and confident in its success that you can just cancel out the noise and keep pushing forward,” she said. 

Since Lazy Jays Cafe opened, three other coffee shops popped up in the area. 

It seems there was a market for $5 coffees and it just took one Caribbean-Micronesian woman to cancel out the noise, keep pushing forward and create it herself. ◉

lazy.jays

A post shared by Lazy Jays (@lazy.jays)

Find and follow Lazy Jays Cafe online at lazyjayscafe.com, on Facebook, and on Instagram. 

For those of us outside of the Marshall Islands who want to support the shop, we can buy Lazy Jays Cafe merch online at lazyjayscafe.com.  

lazy.jays

A post shared by Lazy Jays (@lazy.jays)

I am still buzzing from speaking with Jasmine. I find her to be so inspirational. It was an absolute honor to learn about her achievements and her background. What a wonderful human. Thank you SO MUCH, Jasmine!

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