HAMPTON, Va. – Mango Mangeaux Bistro in the Phoebus community of Hampton opened in 2016, but it has already become such an iconic restaurant that the makers of the board game Monopoly included it in its Hampton-themed version.
“It felt historic,” said Lakesha Brown-Renfro, co-owner and founder of Simply Panache Groupe, the parent company of Mango Mangeaux.
“It was an amazing blessing and surprise,” said Tanecia Willis, co-owner and founder of Simply Panache Groupe.
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The world was introduced to the three women who would change the face of Phoebus during a 2013 episode of Shark Tank.
Simply Panache Groupe co-owners and co-founders Brown-Renfro, Willis, and Nzinga Teule-Hekima pitched their Mango Mango Preserves to a board of celebrity entrepreneurs. The friends hoped to secure funding to help them market and mass produce their versatile sweet treat that had already become a hit at farmers markets in the Hampton Roads area.
They did not get the deal, but the exposure from the show made them a household name.
“We like to say the Sharks said no, but God said yes,” said Brown-Renfro during our conversation about Simply Panache Groupe’s meteoric rise.
Brown-Renfro told me after the episode aired, “The orders went crazy. They went mango!”
She continued, “[We received] 15,000 orders in 48 hours. That’s like 70,000 jars.”
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Brown-Renfro said the rush of orders after the Shark Tank episode raked in roughly $300,000, and instead of pocketing the money, they chose to pour it back into the business so they could expand and employ more people in the community.
“We decided to… create a production facility and have a little small little bistro in the front,” said Willis.
I laughed when she told me, just as the affectionately known “Mango Ladies” did at Willis’ recollection.
I said, “We’re [all] laughing because we know that’s no longer a small restaurant!”
“We never knew that we were going to be serving 150,000, upwards of 250,00 people, a year,” Brown-Renfro said.
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The delicious food and exciting vibes landed the ladies and their bistro on television shows far and wide.
“When we’re 80, we’ll be able to look at this and say ‘Look at what we did!’”
What the friends-turned-business owners have done is change the face of the Phoebus business community. Since the Shark Tank episode, they’ve opened nearly ten businesses in Phoebus — all within a third-of-a-mile stretch from East Mellen Street to South Mallory Street.
In addition to the preserves and the bistro, they also opened Simply Panache Nail Bar and Medi Spa, Simply Panache Place: A Boutique Hotel, The Hampton: A Simply Panache Venue, Noir: A Simply Panache Lounge, Charlotte’s: A Simply Panache Cafeteria, and Mango Medical: Direct Patient Care.
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The medical practice may seem out of their scope, but Nzinga is a physician and Willis is a registered nurse.
“The focus of [our practice] … is to heal people,” said Dr. Teule-Hekima, who is excited about the direct patient care practice model that will give her more time with patients. “When we opened our doors on January 25, 2024, the whole day I felt like I was walking on air.”
The “Mango Ladies” also released a book this year. “Are You Ready for this Jelly?” is filled with recipes and candid stories about the ups and downs of their entrepreneurial journey.
“There were so many times, especially being women — African American women entrepreneurs — we would go to ask someone something and they would not give us information,” Brown-Renfro said.
“We want to be the help and guidance that we wish we had,” Willis said.
