Rising Stars: Meet Lori Jones

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Jones.

Lori, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hi, my name is Lori Jones and I am the owner of Black ology coffee company. We are a minority woman-owned company and we are here to cultivate a love of black coffee through community, education, and the development of relationships.

I am a coffee enthusiast, chef, a baker, idea generator, and single mother of two. As a chef, my passion has been creating and experiencing through flavor, tools, and ambiance. I’ve also had a passion for coffee that has only grown immensely since then. After being laid off from my job as head chef at a sorority house at UNC, I took two things that I love, stirred in a little of my creativity, and voila Black ology Coffee Company created (a four year cultivation finally became a reality and in the midst of a pandemic!).

The name Black ology was birthed back in May of 2019. It was not the time to launch a business with a name to disrupt the nation just yet. Low and behold the Black Lives Matter movement came about and it was time. Black ology… the study of black… what does that mean? For me, it is the study of black coffee, chasing those natural flavors of citrus, floral, caramel, chocolates, and vanilla. To others, it’s the study of all things black.

Black ology is also about education. Teaching our consumers how to brew a perfect cup of coffee, social justice issues in the coffee community, health benefits, and creative ways to use coffee and the grounds they use daily. Going out into the community and providing coffee education while developing new relationships and building a network that we call our family.

So what do we offer? We offer coffees from Africa, Indonesia, and Latin America, cocoa, apparel, and merchandise. We will be incorporating coffee equipment soon to allow you the consumer to create the ultimate black coffee experience in your home.

We support minority-owned coffee businesses and are also building a network of minority women-owned entrepreneurs.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Wow, this has been a journey of extreme ups and downs, pivots, left turns, and roundabouts. The pandemic presented both a challenge and opportunity, an opportunity to launch a successful business, to short supply and high demand from our suppliers. Being a single mother of two during the virtual learning phase and running a business and working a job became extremely challenging. By the grace of God, we have been able to overcome every obstacle put in our way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Blackology was created to cultivate a love of black coffee through community, education, and the development of relationships. We have been connecting with non-profits like our friends at Year of the Black Entrepreneur, Webb Squared, A Place at the Table, and BloomHere as well as other organizations in our Southeast Raleigh Community.

We look to leave people better than we found them and focus on building confidence, creating a positive environment, and social justice issues surrounding black women in coffee.

As we continue to grow, we are continuing to build up to add additional ways to serve our community.

What makes you happy?
There are a few things that make me happy: Making people smile -because that means I left them better than I found them.

Coffee- it’s my woo-sah.

Cooking/Baking is my therapy.

Pricing:

• Our coffees range from $15-17 per 12 oz bag

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.black-ology.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/blackologycoffeecompany
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/blackologycoffeecompany

Image Credits
Amy B Paulson and Em Bateman