Transcript
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Podcast Host (0:46)
Decoded and today I am excited because we're not just talking business, we are talking coffee. You all know I love coffee, community and women founders who are making an impact. And today our guest is one of my dear friends. Her name is Chris Christian. She is the powerhouse behind Chicago French Press, a woman owned coffee brand that's not only elevating the way we sip our morning brew, but also supporting communities with every cup. And there's something extra special about today's episode. Chicago French Press is the official coffee sponsor of our upcoming Elevate and empower live on November 1st. That means everyone in the room will be fueled by her incredible blends as we network, connect and elevate together. I am so excited. Chris, welcome to the show. How are you doing today?
Chris Christian (1:39)
Thank you for having me. Aw, it's great to be here. I'm good, I'm good. How are you?
Podcast Host (1:45)
Yes, y', all, we had a great like pre show. Glad we didn't record that because it was tears shed, but it was good tears. But Chris, I would love if you can share your story and what inspired you to start Chicago French Press.
Chris Christian (2:00)
Yes. So I my story is long. I'm gonna try to give you the redacted story. Long story short, people don't realize I was born in Memphis. I'm a Memphis girl. But I've been in Chicago for, you know, 14 years. I've graduated from Howard University. I come from a lineage of HBCU graduates. My parents met at Central State in Wilberforce. My brother went to Morehouse, my sister went to Clark Atlanta, and I went to Howard. So black excellence and being, you know, focusing on community and building black community and black generational wealth has always been instilled in me. It's in my DNA. And community in terms of giving back is something that, you know, I've been doing from a very young age. And so being entrepreneurial came from just my upbringing. I was raised next door to McDonald's franchise own. My aunt was a beautician, had her own salon in her basement. And just, you know, surrounded by really great examples of black professional people. And so it wasn't, you know, out of line for me to start my first business at Howard. Started it Couture by Kristen was the name of it is an online jewelry store. And then from there, I started building my skill set in Christ. Creative production. So taught myself Photoshop, taught myself how to create a commercial, you know, using all of these different tools. Video production, video editing. Just taught myself everything. And then naturally, my friends started to ask, could I do it for them? And they were starting businesses. And so meanwhile, I was working full time on Wall Street. Have you. And I looked up, stopped, you know, I was working there for about two and a half years, and I had or whole clients, and I was like, hey, I'm going to jump and start my marketing agency called Fame Production Group. And so I focused on that for, I think about four or five years. I was able to do so much in multicultural marketing and took those same skill sets that I built from my own and. And started offering them as services. Social media, web development, video production, event management, like, all in one house. And of course, you have plenty of agencies like this now, but back then, in 2011, it was kind of one of a kind, and I was able to learn so much through those clients. And I hit a Point in 2017 where I was like, well, I think it was like 2016. And I was like, you know what? I've gathered this information, this experience, you know, these skill sets. But I really want to focus on my community, going back to my roots, focusing on my community. How do I build up the women of Chicago? I was always doing events for women. I had Maeve Maven and Maeve magazine, which I started in 2015. And so I had this community, and I wanted to do more, being more of a significant impact, providing resources, working with nonprofits. And so I got to a point where I was like, okay, how can I marry my passion for doing things within my community and for my community with a true problem that I was having as a consumer. And so because I know that the formula to success is having skills, having your passion, and then having a solution to a problem, when all of those things match up, that's when you know you. And also being in an industry that's Thriving. And so I'm like, what do I love? I do love coffee. I wouldn't say I was passionate about coffee, but I loved it as a consumer. And I was facing this thing where I was just doctoring my coffee up every day with sugar and cream. And it was good, but I was like, this. This is so unhealthy. So I started toying around with the idea of flavored coffee and flavoring the beans that were flavored, freshly roasted with real ingredients like nuts and coconut shavings and pecans and cocoa powder on the beans. And it took some time to really, you know, get it good. It honestly wasn't that good at first, but eventually I was thinking, okay, how can I marry the solution of coffee with this problem? Or really contribution I was trying to make to. To my community. So in 2017, I rolled out nine flavors that were connected to nine different causes and nine nonprofits. That's how Chicago Flinchworth started. Eventually, we kind of evolved it into the Grinding for a Cause initiative where we create scholarships and internships. And one internship that I absolutely love that we do is we work with the Gray Matter Experience. And they work with young people to be become entrepreneurs, high school people, students all around the city, and we have two every summer. And they create these ideas that are basically influenced by who they are. So their drinks that they create, and we actually put them on the menu, and proceeds from those drinks go to the Gray Matter experience. So, for instance, Yaritza, last summer, she told us about her story being her and her grandmother used to make tres leches cakes in the kitchen. That was kind of remind her of these, you know, warm feelings of love and all of this. And we now have that on the featured on Roosevelt Collections menu, Tres leches latte. And it's our number one drink. And so to be able to kind of do the same thing with, you know, young people in the community, taking their ideas, taking our creativity and monetizing that to give back. And that's what Grinding for a Cause is about. I get to do that every day and make people happy with coffee. So I'm happy at this point. But we've been able to really grow over the last five years, particularly. We started at Roosevelt Collection with our a pop up that then turned into a permanent location. And then that permanent location turned into two more locations down the street at UIC. We have a location in UChicago and then a location at McCormick Place and the coffee cart there as well. And we are now available at Midway and o' Hare airports In the gift shops, all around the airports. So that's really exciting. We have so much to do. But it's different when you're working hard, and you know that that hard work is connected to your community and fueling an impact. I really love that is amazing.