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Feature Profile - Fran Lovell


Fran Lovell – A long-term relationship with Mojo Coffee

A long-term relationship with Mojo Coffee

A proud born and bred Wellingtonian, Fran Lovell was working in a café near Wellington Hospital in May 2003 when she met a rather cheerful man one morning, “I made a comment about him being very excitable for so early in the morning and he proudly told me his wife was having a baby. He then went on to tell me that he was opening a roastery in Wellington and was going to call it Mojo.” Steve and Julie Gianoutsos gave birth to their first child on May 3, 2003 and two days later, the first Mojo store and roastery opened on Wakefield St. “It’s very cool. It was great to see that the enthusiastic guy I’d met with the great idea had made it all happen.”

Ever since, Fran’s had a long-standing relationship with Mojo coffee. “I started working on Victoria Street in 2004 and Mojo Old Bank opened. I was scouting for some good coffee in the area, so I went over there and gave it a try. The staff signed me up for a Mojo VIP card and it was the start of a long and happy relationship – 3 solid years of morning Mojo.”

Over the next few years, Fran moved a number of buildings around Wellington, but had always found a Mojo nearby to maintain her love affair. “In 2007 I moved to the parliament end of town where there weren’t any Mojo locations and when I next bumped into Steve I told him that he needed to open a Mojo in that neck of the woods.” It took another building move for Fran to wander down to the Mojo on The Terrace in the PricewaterhouseCoopers building to establish another long-term relationship.

Fran has very fond memories of Jason Moore when he was based in Wellington and managing Mojo Old Bank. “I’d been going there for a while and had gotten to know the staff and then along comes this cheeky young guy, who turned out to have such a great understanding of how to work hard, deliver great coffee, build a solid base of dedicated regular customers and have fun at the same time. I remember him telling me about the opportunity to open Mojo in Dunedin, and it’s great to see he’s made such a success of it.”

These days, Fran is a passionate supporter of Tom Williams and his team in the PricewaterhouseCoopers building. “Tom and his team there are amazing – hand’s down my favourite Mojo store. The consistency and quality of their coffee is exceptional.”

When she isn’t working in town and enjoying a delicious Long Black, Fran and her husband walk their dog along the Hutt River, tend to their massive vegetable garden and feed their chickens. Thanks for being part of our amazing journey Fran, we’re looking forward to sharing many more years together.

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