Eat, Network and Party are words that highlight the Thank You LA bottomless mimosa brunch experience, founded by moguls Kenneth Wilson and Alexander McChester. I had the pleasure of meeting them and hearing about their journey toward establishing their brand.
Alex — a Howard University alum — worked in finance prior to moving to LA in 2014, where he met Kenneth on top of a roof while he was DJ’ing for an event. Kenneth — a DePaul University alum — who’s been DJ’ing since the age of 15, earned the name “DJ Kenway” for being known as the DJ running the street named Kenway. The two hustled and ironed out a genius concept that would prove very successful in the Los Angeles market.
“Thank You LA” was originally founded after McChester, when Wilson noticed a gap in the market for entertainment for black professionals. Los Angeles is only roughly 9 percent black, and black professionals were struggling to find events in the city. Wilson and McChester decided to start 88thx11mile and hosted several events, leveraging TYLA as their final customer appreciation party. The final event was tremendously successful and has since become a reoccurring event.
TYLA now takes place at The Exchange — the largest club in Los Angeles — and is ranked as the 27th largest club in the world. The exchange is a four story, 25,000 square foot venue with a stage and state of the art audio, with a visual and lighting system, in Downtown Los Angeles. TYLA brings young professionals together to create a memorable experience by bringing likeminded people together to party. TYLA fuses modern hip hop music and culture, with the rising millennial brunch trend, in order to provide a unique and exciting experience to their guests.
The event has become wildly popular and attracts an attendance of over 1,000 people. Because the event draws such a large crowd, the founders of TYLA have created opportunities for brands and companies to joint venture as vendors for the event. Guests can purchase a ticket to enjoy a full brunch buffet with bottomless mimosas, as well a day party. Kenneth and Alex ensure that their guests feel at home by tailoring each element of the party to their guests’ tastes, which also ties into their motto:“Home is where the party is.”
This is a perfect example of two moguls taking advantage of a need in their community and building an empire around that need. African Americans and other minorities have opportunities within their communities to create change. The only thing required to manifest a vision is finding your passion, building a team, and dedicating time to execute your plan.
Let Kenneth and Alexander’s success motivate and empower you to follow your dreams create the change that you would like to see in your community.
