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Educating the community through bubble tea

Uni Uni in Appleton promotes the power of culture through drinks and desserts

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October 3, 2023

APPLETON – For Fanni Xie, the path to becoming a small business owner was a journey within itself – filled with several twists and turns.

A winding road, Xie said, that she is grateful for, because it got her to where she is today.

Xie is the owner of Uni Uni (823 W. College Ave.), an anime- and manga-themed bubble tea shop – the first of its kind in the area. 

Bubble tea, also known as boba, has grown in popularity throughout the U.S. in recent years, though Xie said tea was ingrained in the culture she grew up in.

“I was born and raised in China,” she said. “Tea is an important part of Asian culture. When you welcome someone, when you’re going away, when you have a party or when you have family time, (there’s) always tea.”

From the beginning
Xie said there’s much more to the story behind Uni Uni – which all starts with her life experience and line of work.

As a teenager, Xie said she traveled to the U.S. as an international student.

But, when unexpected circumstances with her family left Xie without a plan to pay for her tuition, she said she had to pivot fast.

“I could not legally work as an international student in America,” she said. “So, I decided to join the U.S. Army. My friend recommended I do that since the Army would pay my tuition fees.”

In order to enlist in the military as a non-U.S. citizen, one must have a Green Card and be able to read, write and speak English fluently. 

Xie said she joined the reserves, which meant she would go to training and do work with the Army once a month while going to school.

At least, that’s what she said she imagined her time in the Army would look like.

Instead, however, soon after training, Xie found herself being deployed.

“Because I joined during the time of the Afghanistan War and Iraqi War… I was deployed right after my training,” she said. “I was sent to Afghanistan for a year.”

Fanni Xie

Xie, who was working on her psychology degree at the time, said she worked as a behavioral health specialist during her deployment.

And though Xie said she dealt with traumatic events while she was in Afghanistan, it provided great experience for her.

“We would go out (into the warzone) to do debriefs, individual counseling and group counseling,” she said. “I learned a lot in that year because it’s all real cases, real people you talk to and you’ve seen a lot and you feel that situation. You can find the understanding between you and those soldiers who are out in the field. That gave me a lot of fulfillment, helping and healing other people in that same situation.”

When she returned back to the U.S., Xie said she finished her degree and continued to work in the mental health field, specifically with children and veterans.

Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the organization Xie was working for dissolved, and once again, she was forced to pivot.

“It was a great opportunity for me to find my path,” she said. “So, I decided first that I wanted to go back to school. I enrolled in the social work program at UWGB (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay) for my master’s degree.”

The extra time, Xie said, also gave her an opportunity to think about a dream of hers – owning her own tea shop in the area and being a small business owner.

The idea, she said, partially came from the experience she had in her social work program at UWGB.

“I found out that a lot of my classmates and friends who (were in) the program learn about cultural competencies,” she said. “They learn about the vocabularies, but a lot of the time they don’t understand the true meaning behind (the culture). And, I don’t blame them because they never had the experience to deal with someone from a different culture when they grew up, or they don’t have a similar experience with someone from another country or immigrants… it’s harder for them to truly understand their family backgrounds, their cultural dynamic and why they are doing what they do.”

And, since Xie said she thinks food and drink are the easiest ways to learn about a new culture, she thought opening a bubble tea shop would be a great way to do that in the Fox Valley.

Following a dream
Xie said when she was sure opening her own business was the next stage of life she wanted to step into, she enrolled in Fox Valley Technical College Venture Center’s entrepreneur program, which she said she was able to attend at no cost because she is a veteran.

Throughout the program, which Xie said took about half a year, she learned how to come up with a business idea and model, how to do all the accounting responsibilities associated with business ownership, how to handle marketing and more.

At the end, Xie said she received $1,000 in seed funding to start her business.

Uni Uni is located at 823 W. College Ave. and is open seven days a week. Rachel Sankey Photo

“Before I started the program, I wrote a business plan for myself,” she said. “It was six pages long. After the program, I wrote a 60-page business plan, with a three- to five-year financial projection.”

Part of starting the shop, Xie said, involved doing extensive research, both on tea and the Fox Valley area, in order to make sure it would be a good fit.

“Bubble tea is something new to the area, and I wanted to do my homework before I opened (a business) to see if it was going to work here,” she said. 

Overcoming obstacles
As Xie continued on her business journey, she said she struggled to receive funding from banks due to a lack of collateral and the newness and trendiness of bubble tea.

When people started to suggest Xie try partnering with another business to introduce the tea drinks to the area, she said she held her ground.

“I told them, ‘no,’” she said. “It’s not the same because I wanted to create a space and experience that would be different.”

Eventually, the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) reached out to Xie and granted her the funding she needed.

“(WWBIC) focuses on small business owners who are women, veterans, those in low-income areas or minorities,” she said.

Thankfully, Xie said, the process of finding a brick-and-mortar location to move into was fairly easy.

“It was COVID time, and a lot of buildings were empty,” she said. “At the same time, Appleton Downtown, Inc. was trying to expand the downtown more (our) way.”

In May 2022, Xie said she and her business partner, Amber Lee, opened Uni Uni.

A plethora of options
Bubble tea was invented in Taiwan in the 1980s, and in its most basic form, was made up of either a black tea or green tea base with toppings.

Then, Xie said, people started to get creative with the beverage.

Black and green tea are still options for a base, but now, Xie said, people also choose other options, such as juice or yogurt.

Some of the different toppings people can choose from are jellies, popping boba or the classic tapioca boba.

Customers at Uni Uni can choose from:

Classic milk teas, such as taro milk tea with tapiocaFresh fruit teas, such as lemon jasmine green teaFlavored milk, such as banana milk with vanilla puddingFlavored yogurt with crystal bobaFlavored Yakult, which is a sweetened probiotic milkSmoothiesUni special drinks
“People can choose whatever they want to add to whatever drink they want,” she said. 

Lee also makes moon cakes and other bakery items for the shop, which Xie said have been a hit.

“My business partner is an amazing baker,” she said. “She handmakes our moon cakes. The first round we sold out.”

For new customers who may be unsure of what they want, Xie said all baristas have tasted every item on the menu to be able to help customers make a decision.

Amber Lee, Fanni Xie’s business partner, hand makes moon cakes for the shop. Xie said the first round of moon cakes sold out quickly. Photo Courtesy of Uni Uni

For customers who may be uncomfortable ordering at the counter, Xie said Uni Uni also offers the option for people to order from a kiosk.

It’s all about the culture
As bubble tea has grown in popularity, Xie said the trendy focus wasn’t something she wanted to follow when she opened Uni Uni.

“(Boba) came to America in bigger cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles,” she said. “Every step of the street, you can find a boba stand over there. I think, in my opinion, a lot of them are opening their market mostly for Asian populations in the area, because in those cities, there’s a lot of Asian populations occupying the city and that’s their focus.”

At Uni Uni Appleton, Xie said she wanted to have a different focus.

“I want to bring the whole culture – something new – to this area, and my customers will be everybody,” she said.

Xie said for her, it’s important that Uni Uni creates a safe atmosphere for people to come in and experience all the shop has to offer.

“I wanted to create a space (where) people can come in, enjoy the culture and be educated about the culture,” she said. “I want (them) to have an immersive experience when they walk in here.”

Part of that immersive experience, she said, is centered around anime and manga – another important part of Asian culture. 

“I grew up watching those,” she said. “I know a lot of people around here are interested in manga and anime.”

When it comes to anime cons and comic cons – conventions focused on anime, manga and comic culture – Xie said attendees have grown exponentially over the last few years in the area.

“Asian culture – Asian pop culture especially – has been (growing) here and being accepted by a lot of people,” she said. “I don’t think we have anything here in the valley for people to enjoy that. That’s why I want to create a space for everybody to enjoy it.”

The boba shop also features anime wallpaper, which Xie said she and Lee installed themselves.

Another important aspect to Uni Uni, Xie said, is creating a positive energy around the culture when customers learn more about it.

“When people think about diversity and cultural education, they’re more focused on the trauma, the obstacles and the barriers,” she said. “But my focus is to bring something fun, interesting and delicious. (People) are more accepting about the culture and willing to learn more about the culture.”

Supporting others
While Xie stressed the importance of learning about culture through bubble tea and dessert at Uni Uni, she said, “our shop is not only for food and drinks.”

Inside Uni Uni, there’s an area where baristas can sell items they make, such as crochet animals, buttons and keychains.

“The idea of (Uni Uni) is that it’s not only my shop – I’m supporting other small businesses and I’m supporting my baristas’ small businesses,” she said. “I encourage them to start something for themselves because as a small business owner, I know the struggle of getting a business started. I want to use my experience to help them – if we thrive, we want everybody to thrive together.”

Xie said this also means supporting other local businesses and artists. 

For example, the back wall of Uni Uni features a mural painted by local artist Spencer Young.

After a call for artists to paint a mural that represents both Uni Uni and the Northeast Wisconsin area, Xie said Young reached out.

Customers can choose from a variety of different drinks, from milk teas, to fresh fruit teas and flavored yogurt. Photo Courtesy of Uni Uni

“He said, ‘I’m always into bubble tea,’” she said. “And he worked for an animation company before, so he’s into anime and manga. So that was perfect.”

Young, Xie said, has also hosted events at the shop since its opening.

“We create a lot of fun events to invite people in,” she said. “We have cosplay events. I know we have a lot of cosplayers in this area, but they don’t have a lot of events to attend. Those clothes are expensive… so we wish to create those events to invite those who are interested in this culture to participate and come in. Usually, all events are free.”

Xie said Uni Uni has also hosted business meetings, LGBTQ+ gatherings and even a Girl Scout meeting where the scouts learned about tea and earned their food badge.

A bright future ahead
Already, Xie said she and Lee have talked about a potential rebrand of the bubble tea shop.

“Uni Uni is more like a bubble tea brand,” she said. “Amber is contributing a lot on the dessert side, and her dessert – we will never find anything similar in this area. We want to focus on introducing more desserts and Asian-style small bites.”

The duo also purchased a food truck.

“In our business plan, we always wanted to open another location, but we think the food truck is a better choice for us to research before we have a brick-and-mortar store.”

Uni Uni is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday-Sunday.

The shop is closed on Sundays.

Check out Uni Uni Appleton’s Facebook page for more information.

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