Marcus McNeil always loved brunch. But when he was a student at Texas State University, brunch culture felt nonexistent in the Austin area.
Starting in 2018, he invited his friends to his apartment every Sunday and had brunch. He went from brunch in his apartment to brunch at Industry, a restaurant in San Marcos and Austin.
“It was less than ten people inside our apartment,” McNeil said. “We continued to have the event and it just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger each time, but the key component to it was it was a Black event that was ran by Black students.”
Dubbed Brunch Club & Co., the events were off-campus, fun, fashionable, and where Black people could truly enjoy themselves.
There have been many creative names for its events, including The Blueprint, Brunch on Bourbon, Brunch Nation and many more. They hold events during Texas State University’s Black Homecoming, and this year’s theme is called Black Rodeo.
“My job is to maintain the image and relationships that we have in the community as well as really push it forward,” McNeil, now founder and CEO of Brunch Club & Co., said. “My goal always is to outdo ourselves every single time when it comes to themes, when it comes to marketing, when it comes to creating.”
McNeil is not alone. He has a whole team behind Brunch Club & Co. There are over 15 team members. One of the members is Asanti Wiley, the creative director for Brunch Club & Co. She has been friends with McNeil for years. Wiley is behind all of the photos, videos and much more.
