Owner of Lokal Artisan Foods and French Toast Bites, Charisse McGill has made headlines as the first Black woman to own and operate a business in Spruce Street Harbor Park, as well as the first Black woman to create her own beer in Pennsylvania, and so much more. As she prepares to participate in Homecoming and Family Weekend as a vendor for the third time, here's a look back at how it all began and why she chooses to stay close to the Temple community.
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harisse McGill, STH '03 has been blazing trails since her early days of party promoting while earning her sports and recreation management degree. Today, this entrepreneur has built a local street food empire, a delicious reputation, and a number of "firsts" for Black women in Pennsylvania. As we look forward to Homecoming and Family Weekend 2022, McGill's journey is coming full circle as she once again attends the event as a proud Temple alumni-owned business vendor. McGill credits her success to her Temple-Made resilience, industriousness, and a life-long connection with the Temple community.
McGill came from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to attend Temple and never looked back. She decided to stay because of the opportunities and the relationships as well as the hands-on industry experience from Temple's School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM) that made it possible to reach for them. "I was offered a job on the day I graduated because of a referral from another Temple Owl. That is when I knew Temple was something special for alumni," said McGill. McGill was always an entrepreneur in some fashion. While attending Temple, she and her friends promoted legendary parties under the name "Chocolate Milk Entertainment." Although she didn't know it yet, this was her first taste of entrepreneurship and some of her first experience with customer service, event planning, marketing and most importantly, networking. "One of the biggest things I learned at Temple, outside of my textbooks, was the power of networking. Relationships are more valuable than money. I formed connections with people from different majors and backgrounds and today those former classmates from different academic backgrounds are pursuing different professional backgrounds. Now my lawyer is a Temple alum, and my accountant is a Temple alum too," said McGill
After graduating, McGill had the unique opportunity to manage a suburban farmers' market for 7 years. In fact, she was the first Black woman in the state of PA to manage a farmers' market and in her time there, grew that market from twenty-two vendors to the second largest in Philadelphia. This is where she became inspired to become an entrepreneur in the local food category. "I got to see independent food and beverage producers live their dream under a ten-by-ten white tent. The ones that were doing it right were earning six-figures and many of them were hiring me to do their marketing. I thought to myself that I was on the wrong side of the tent," said McGill. McGill's daughter first displayed the spirit of entrepreneurship by creating a lemonade mixed with local fruits and herbs and earning $6000 in 14 days at the same farmers' market. Seeing this success helped McGill quickly realize the value of the local food ecosystem, the meaning behind keeping the dollars within the local economy and how her strengths could add to this market.
McGill conducted her own market research by going to every event, festival, market, and concert in Pennsylvania to see which vendors had the longest lines. She landed on creating a viral sweet sensation, and after toying with ideas of funnel cake, chicken and waffles and portable pancakes, created a perfect bite-size French toast treat. In an early article with The Philadelphia Inquirer, she mentioned her dream to become the Auntie Anne of French toast. Similar to the pretzel giant, McGill's business model was in being where the people are and letting them smell the cinnamon sugar and nutmeg treats before they even see them. In 2018, McGill borrowed her daughter's lemonade money to start French Toast Bites at Philadelphia's annual Christmas Village Market. In the first 45 days, her gross sales totaled 75% of the annual salary she left behind from a director-level position at a local college. She was able to give her daughter's money back, plus some, and set the trajectory for what was to come.
"One of the biggest things I learned at Temple, outside of my textbooks, was the power of networking. Relationships are more valuable than money. I formed connections with people from different majors and backgrounds and today those former classmates from different academic backgrounds are pursuing different professional backgrounds. Now my lawyer is a Temple alum, and my accountant is a Temple alum too," said McGill
In 2019, Lokal Artisan food participated in over 189 days of concerts, festivals, seasonal pop-ups, private catered celebrations, and public events and built a popular reputation. Before McGill had the chance to travel to larger events across the country in 2020, the pandemic hit, leaving McGill to assume that the "no more large gatherings" protocol would put an end to her business. McGill was panicked at first, but then she pivoted. When she received a call about an open space in Spruce Street Harbor Park, she had her French toast bites on location before she could even hang up the phone. That move made her the first Black woman to own and operate a food establishment in Spruce Street Harbor Park and it made headlines. Lokal Artisan Food then caught the attention of Yards Brewing Co., which wanted to brew a beer using French toast bites and French toast spice. This collaboration helped grow Lokal Artisan Food into an entire product line and made McGill the first Black woman in the state to have her own beer. This also led to a relationship with Gopuff who committed to purchasing half of the first batch before it was even canned. More recently, McGill also collaborated with another Temple Alumnus, Obel Hernandez, STHM '16, and his business Bean 2 Bean Coffee Co. to create French Toast Bites Coffee. Today you can find Lokal Artisan Food's French toast bites, spice, coffee and gelato at their locations in Spruce Street Harbor Park, Cherry Street Pier, various events and online. There are even vegan options now! French Toast Bites beer can be found at Yard's Brewing Company and some markets.
McGill credits maximizing relationships for helping propel her business. That includes the relationships she holds with her close friends and family, who supported her when others tried to marginalize her business and the connections she's made through the Temple community. "Since I dropped my first French toast bite in the deep fryer, Temple has been there to support me. Whether they were my former professors, deans, or program directors, they came to support the business without me even asking. Temple has booked me for events at least five times, and I was even covered in Temple's media when we accomplished my goal of being a vendor for Made in America the first year. To this day, I just have a lot of great relationships from Temple, and I remember the power of networking from what I learned at Temple. The university serves as an advocate and a voice for your business, helps raise the profile of your business and taking advantage of their resources is huge. They say it takes a small village to raise a child, I say it takes a small village to grow a small business and I am grateful to be a part of Temple's Village," says McGill. Be sure to visit Lokal Artisan Foods at Homecoming and Family Weekend. Want to learn about more alumni-owned businesses? Check out our Alumni Business Directory.
