Hello Sellers — On April 6th, Melvin “Boots” Johnson and Warren Satchell, co-owners of Harlem Biscuit Company in New York City, hosted a Q&A on the topic of resiliency.
In March of 2020, Chef Melvin “Boots” Johnson couldn’t get unemployment benefits. “So I took my skills and just said, ‘Alright, I’m going to do something,’” he says. “And I started cooking fried chicken and biscuits, right out my garage.” His leap of faith turned into a leap of certainty. “Next thing you know I have 30 orders from moms that are just excited to not be cooking on a Friday night.”
That was the first unofficial day of Harlem Biscuit Company and since then they’ve sold over 7,000 biscuit sandwiches. Boots teamed up with his business partner Warren Satchell and together they are rapidly building their business, looking for a permanent brick-and-mortar location, and tackling any challenges that come their way.
Boots and Warren talked about starting a new business, taking risks, connecting with the community, and managing quick growth. Read more about Harlem Biscuit Company, and other resilient business owners like them, in Square’s Stronger Than Before whitepaper.
