Nancy Kunkel, a Round Top Original

In this monthly series, local realtor Andrea Schutter Riebeling does a Q & A with local business leaders about what inspires them. This month’s interview is with Nancy Kunkel of Round Top Originals.

1.) What is your business?

Round Top Originals shares Round Top love with the World by providing a hug and memories with our merchandise.

2.) How did you get started?

The idea of Round Top Originals had been on my mind for a long time. When COVID visited our nook of the world, I was reminded how short life can be. So, I purchased a new computer and began making my ideas become reality. During the Fall Show of 2021, Cam Le-Pee, our blacksmith at the World Famous Blacksmith Shop of Round Top (Moonlight Forge), provided a space for our first show tent and the rest is history

3.) How long have you been in business?

2.5 years

4.) Is this a family or female business?

Round Top Originals is a female business.

5.) What kind of service do you provide?

Round Top Originals provides merchandise focusing on Round Top, for all ages. Currently, we have shirts, caps, and our official Small Town Charm of Round Top available in the gift shops of both Blue Mule Wines and Busted Oak Cellars. During the Spring and Fall Shows in Round Top, you can find us selling our wares at the World Famous Blacksmith Shop of Round Top, at 101 E. Austin St., Round Top, Texas.

6.) Tell me something unique about your business?

Round Top Originals is not only a woman owned small business, but also a veteran owned business.

7.) What is your background?

Upon high school graduation, I went to boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, for the United States Marine Corps. After Desert Storm, I returned home and worked various jobs. When widowed at 26 years of age with two small children, I began college at Blinn. Subsequently, graduating from Texas A&M with a B. S., and becoming a middle school science teacher, I eventually gained an M.Ed.. To this day, I continue to work full time as a middle school science teacher and part-time as a HSE/GED (night school) teacher, in addition to Round Top Originals.

8.) What do you suggest to others who want to venture out and take a leap of action in the future of their career?

Life is what you choose daily. If there is something you desire in your heart, do it! Make sure to research your interested venture. Remain a lifelong learner. Be flexible. Most of all, be genuine to yourself and your endeavor. If you never knock on the door of opportunity, it will never open.

9.) Do you believe in college, trade school, or any training?

Being an educator by trade, I do believe in education. Although, education looks different for everyone. For some, it is formal college in class, while for others it is online. Yet, we need more people attaining the trades that have made our country functional today with electricity, HVAC, plumbing, ect..

10.) How did you decide to make Round Top your home? Are you from Fayette County?

In 1994, my late husband brought me out to view the family property. Immediately, there was a magical feeling... it was home. Although not originally from Fayette county, (I graduated high school from Columbus, and he from Burton), Round Top has been, and continues, to be home ever since.