The boss collection profiles special business leaders from round the world. This week we talk to pernell cezar and rod johnson, founders of us coffee and tea agency blk & bold speciality beverages. Pernell cezar jokes that if he also his enterprise associate rod johnson ever fall out. He’ll telephone rod’s mother to invite her to inform him off.
“if rod receives too far out of line, i will simply call his mother,” says pernell. “not too many commercial enterprise relationships where you get a risk to try this.” Pernell and rod, both 33, are formative years pals who grew up at the same block in the blue-collar town of gary, Indiana.
Two years in the past they installation a espresso and tea commercial enterprise collectively – blk & bold. Nowadays it’s miles believed to be the first nationally allotted black-owned espresso emblem inside the us.
Each passionate about espresso, the 2 friends determined to release blk & bold in june 2018, after spending a decade in one of a kind industries. Rod become previously a professional fundraiser for faculties, universities and hospitals, at the same time as pernell had worked for goal.
They commenced the business at pernell’s domestic in des moines, iowa, with the aim of now not simply promoting fine coffee and tea, but additionally of doing suitable. They could donate a number of their earnings to charity.
“the concept turned into to take the affinity for this day by day ritual of coffee or tea ingesting, and make it so that all people ought to participate inside the social effect version,” says rod. “it truly is on the core of what we do. We supply 5% of our earnings to corporations that assist at-chance youngsters.”
Pulling collectively their financial savings, the two former schoolmates bought a espresso roaster, and started out manufacturing in pernell’s garage.
“it was numerous hours within the storage, burning beans, having the neighbours call my spouse to permit her recognise that the storage might be on fire,” says pernell. “it changed into a number of trial and errors that came with that.” The friends then attended 14 exchange indicates inside eight months of launching the logo, and slowly constructed up a devoted customer base.