Frank & Kimberly Broz in their Tokyo Pen Shop in Fairfield, Iowa

Serendipity shapes lives. As teenagers Frank Broz and and his future wife Kimberly toured Iowa’s Sister State, the Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan, with a community group. In a Tokyo stationery store, Kimberly admired the exquisite quality of fine Japanese pens. Today she and Frank import and sell Japanese pens, washi tape, stickers, mechanical pencils, journals, and other niche merchandise online and inside their Tokyo Pen Shop near the Fairfield, Iowa town square. Formerly high-tech workers in Apple’s Cupertino, California headquarters, the couple enjoys operating a business that allows them to use their technological skills to enhance the merchandising of fine Japanese stationery. Below they describe their journey from hobbyists to full-time entrepreneurs.