In July 2020, Graduate Coffee stepped into the Southlake scene, providing delicious bites and a hub for locals to collaborate. Behind it all is owner Brandon Freeman. As a pastor, Brandon says building community has always been very important to him.
“I’m a community-driven type of person,” Brandon says. “I feel like the reality of life is you do life in a circle. Life is not meant to be lived alone, so I wanted to have a beacon and open up something where people can come together.”
Before opening up Graduate Coffee, Brandon sold his own cold brew to family and friends. And though he aspired to start his own business, he didn’t seriously entertain the idea of opening a brick and mortar due to the financial obligations. But when the opportunity to have a physical location presented itself, he put faith above fear.
“It was still a hard thing that I had to decide that I want to take this chance,” Brandon says. “I took the risk to do it.”
In the spring of 2020, Brandon started forging the path toward opening. After securing his location in June, Brandon pushed past the fear to follow his dreams.
“It was scary because being a young Black man trying to open up a business in the middle of a pandemic knowing I don’t have a lot of cushion financially, didn’t have a lot of support,” Brandon says. “I was nervous. I was scared. And I just said, ‘Hey, we’re in it. We can’t back out of it now. We gotta go for it.’”
Graduate Coffee has indeed become a community hub in its first seven months of business. Brandon says school board members and city councilmembers are among those who often meet there.
And as for being Black-owned, Brandon says it means everything.
“It means possibility for my children,” Brandon says. “It means possibility for my culture...it means possibility for our city. It’s a big deal.”
When he first opened Graduate Coffee, Brandon didn’t want to be labeled as a Black-owned business, scared it would hinder his growth.
“But I had to realize the reality of it is I’m Black, and I come from poverty. I come from nothing. And to be in this space that I am right now is nothing short of amazing and a miracle,” Brandon says. “People don’t understand how hard I had to work to get to where I am where another person may not have to work as hard.”