We recently connected with de Laurence Burnes and have shared our conversation below.
de Laurence, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
In April of 2o2o (during COVID-19) when my chess company, The Knight School Dallas, was slow because schools were shut down, I was trying to figure out other ways to make money. I figured since I had always wanted a second business, this would be the best time to create it because I had so much free time. Many business ideas went through my head, but I had to find one that I was passionate about. As I was sitting on the sofa, one night, I realized how much I love going to brunch. Brunch is a social outlet that allows me and my friends to catch up, enjoy the food, and enjoy each others company.
Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, brunch was not a popular occurrence. It only took a single experience, when I was a kid, to know that this would quickly become a favorite past time. After relocating to the big city of Dallas, I was able to see brunch in a way that I never expected and this helped enhance my foodie nature. I realized that people would go to brunch every weekend and that many restaurants offered brunch specials, therefore, I knew that this is one reason that Dallas was the place for me. Brunch was not simply a combination meal between breakfast and dinner, but a community of people that enjoyed a variety of dining without limitations. The great thing about brunch is that since it is in a little bit of a gray area for meal-time, it allows you to be flexible with the menu. It does not matter if you are looking for some kind of fancy chef creation or a mom & pop hole in the wall establishment, there is a brunch-style for everyone.
Like many others, during my time in quarantine, I used the time for retrospection. During this retrospection, I would always think fondly on my brunch-time experiences and the culture one becomes a part of in that community. I thought what better way to express my passion for brunch and for being part of a community than through fashion. Brunch Empire is here to make sure you arrive in style. Our superior style is tailored to the inclusive brunching community, and will help you showcase your excitement for brunch.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Foodie. Jet Setter. Entrepreneur. That is me! I also love to empower others, spend time with family and friends, and go to brunch. In my Voyage Dallas article, I was featured for my company that teaches kids how to play chess. The Knight School Dallas brings our chess program into scores of schools each week. During our allotted weekly chess time, we initiate a unique, party-based, kid-focused, high-octane approach to help kids learn chess. We have fun movies, exciting driving music that accompanies our challenging chess puzzlers for candy prizes, our colorful silicone wristbands system in which each color connotes mastery of a different chess tactic, and daily chess tournaments where we actually play for each other’s Mardi Gras beads!
Within the last year, I have also created a brand new company. Brunch Empire is an online retail store that blends fun and fashion with the brunch time experience. Our goal is to create an inclusive brunch community and to help you stand out while having brunch on the town. The product line consists of shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, hats, totes, and many more items for the brunch lover. All of our items are unisex so anybody can get anything they want. No judgement here.
Dallas has the best brunches and they tend to last all day, not just between the hours of 10am-1:00pm. Brunch is a party in Dallas and my friends, family, and I always wear our Brunch Empire attire to any brunch that we attend. I love “Sunday Funday” because, for me, it always starts off with brunch, followed by bar hopping, grabbing dinner, and maybe even more bar hopping. I think I speak for a lot of young “Dallasites” who share that same sentiment for Sundays. On the Brunch Empire website, I even created a special “Sunday Funday” t-shirt to wear for this occasion and it’s actually one of my best sellers.
Building businesses is a way for me to share my passions with others and if done correctly, create a lasting footprint for years to come. For example, one of my goals with The Knight School is to help kids have fun and gain confidence through playing chess. Kids who play chess have greater logic and strategy skills, higher SAT/ACT scores, go to better colleges, get better jobs, and we also say they get “lake houses”! I feel like all kids should have access to our awesome curriculum and exciting way of thinking.
Since Brunch Empire is still in the infancy stage, I have several goals that I want to accomplish. One major goal is to create a series of inclusive brunches for people to come together, share ideas, and build community. I would love to create partnerships with local restaurants and host Brunch Empire brunches at their establishments; I see it as two local companies supporting each other. I also want the Brunch Empire social media to be a one stop shop that will help people figure out where to go for brunch in Dallas, and maybe even beyond Dallas. Lastly, I want to see people wearing Brunch Empire merchandise all over town and across the world. Remember, going to brunch in style is a must!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
On March 13, 2020 The Knight School came to an abrupt halt because of COVID-19. I will never forget that all of our schools shut down on that day. I was scared, unsure about my future, and unsure about the future of my company. That day I went into panic mode. But I realized that I didn’t have time to wallow in these emotions, I had to be creative and pivot to do things differently if I wanted to survive. And let me tell you that I am a “survivor”! On Saturday March 14, 2020 I got on a Zoom call with other City Coaches in The Knight School, and we decided to offer virtual chess classes to all of our students. However, we did not know how to make this happen so we stayed on Zoom for several hours, creating a plan. That night we found a chess app to use, and figured out how to use Zoom to fit our needs. Now I knew nothing about Zoom before March 14, 2020 but I knew I had to learn about it, so my mom and I practiced with Zoom on March 15, 2020 because she also had to start using it for work. Also on this day, the Coaches and I filmed our first virtual chess class, so the kids would have access to it on Monday March 16, 2020. We would film once per week, on weekends, and kids could click the link and watch it during their regularly scheduled class time. Even though enrollment dropped, many kids stayed because it kept them busy while the parents worked, gave them a sense of normalcy, and it was a brilliant idea. Another great thing is that I was able to maintain a decent income through May 2020 because of the active enrollments. However, I did have to let my staff of 10 go at the end of April 2020 because I could no longer afford to pay them.
All of our summer chess camps were virtual during the summer of 2020, and instead of filming once a week, I decided to host live Zoom classes each chess day. The kids loved this because it gave them a chance to interact with each other. Even though, the number of students attending our chess camps was small compared to other years, I was so thankful that I was able to still work with the kids and earn money. Also during this time we started offering virtual private chess lessons, which also helped to expand our portfolio and increase revenue.
Moreover, I’m so happy to say that we are back in schools, thriving, and teaching kids how to play chess. We are still offering virtual chess classes and virtual private chess lessons because these opportunities definitely help us reach a wider audience of kids.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
Before I created Brunch Empire, I knew nothing about manufacturers. I used Google so much during the beginning stages, of the company, because I wanted to find a manufacturer that offered a variety of quality products at a decent price. There were so many different choices, until I decided to do drop shipping. I feel like the drop shipping option narrowed my choices from hundreds to only a few.
Drop shipping is a retail fulfillment method in which a business doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. For example, when I sell a product, that product automatically comes from a third party (a manufacturer, wholesaler, or another retailer) that ships the product directly to the customer. Once I discovered drop shipping companies that I was interested in working with, I created and ordered sample products to get an idea of how they would look and feel. If the products met my expectations, then that’s the company that I would choose to do business with. Ultimately, I currently work with two drop shipping companies.
Drop shipping has proven effective for my business because I don’t have to deal with the shipping process, however, I feel like it cuts into my profit because Brunch Empire has to pay a small (drop shipping) company fee for each item that is purchased and shipped. Recently I have been thinking of stopping the drop shipping process all together or doing a mixture of drop shipping and having products on hand, for me to ship to customers. One of the reasons is because I want to be a vendor at multiple events around DFW and drop shipping doesn’t allow me to have Brunch Empire merchandise on hand. A major change like this requires more research because if I do away with drop shipping, I will need to find a local manufacturer/s to make the Brunch Empire products. I also feel like getting rid of drop shipping will allow me to work with local vendors that make more products that are unique to my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theknightschool.com and www.brunchempire.com
- Instagram: @brunchempire @princedlux
- Tiktok: @brunchempire
Image Credits
Kwame Burton Cai