Café Owner

As the pandemic throttled NYC, no one was hiring professional home organizers. For Allison Dunn, who had spent most of 2019 striving to be a Brooklyn version of Marie Kondo after losing her job in the marketing department of a Manhattan architectural firm, COVID-19 killed her second career. Dunn, a married mother-of-one, refunded deposits to clients, finished a children’s book she had begun writing (“Khison is Having Company,” with organization as its plot) and happened to spot an empty Prospect Lefferts Garden storefront that looked perfect for a coffee shop. “I’ve always wanted to own a café!” said Dunn, who recruited a friend as a co-owner. “Everything for me is about happiness and joy. I thought this could do it.” But Dunn needed a signature beverage. She retooled a tangy sorrel drink, from her homeland of Jamaica, into a more American-style hibiscus tea and named her new venture Hibiscus Brew. Brooklyn-made baked goods and six smoothies round out the menu. With reggae on the sound system, a casual vibe and a riot of pink flowers out front, Dunn feels thrown back to the island she left 10 years ago. Business is going so well that she ditched a more extensive food menu. “We were running out of space and getting too busy for food — that’s a good problem,” she said. “The pandemic gave me a third occupation. Isn’t that amazing?”