Trell Thomas is the founder of the Black Excellence Brunch, a signature event celebrating Black creatives, entrepreneurs, and leaders through community, culture, and conversation. With a background in media and events, Thomas has cultivated spaces that empower and uplift Black voices. His work continues to bridge inspiration and opportunity, making room for authentic storytelling and meaningful connections.
Storytelling has always been a central thread in your journey. From personal projects like ”Friend Fridays” to “Share Black Stories Live”, you've consistently shown a passion for uncovering and amplifying stories. What first sparked your interest in storytelling as a form of connection and advocacy? And how do you think your approach to storytelling has evolved over the years?
TT: I've always felt like a storyteller since I was a very small child. I can remember telling stories to my sister and family, and I've always just been that type of person. I also love to listen to stories. I would ask my grandmother questions; I was always curious about history and why things happened the way they did, and so I feel like it has been me from the beginning. Once I went to school for Broadcast Journalism, even that was really based off that love of storytelling and also the desire to learn and uncover and know things. So for me, it was just making sure I use my passion and wove it in with my responsibility and my purpose. So for me, telling stories as a form of advocacy really just came from, 'This is something that I'm passionate about and that I love.' Also, it feels like it's directly tied to my purpose, so that was a piece of discovering what I felt like my purpose was.
Black Excellence Brunch honoring the Color Purple cast (All rights reserved to owner)
The Black Excellence Brunch was inspired by the spirit of your Sunday dinners back home in South Carolina, gatherings rooted in love, culture, and connection. Can you take us back to that very first brunch? What did the experience look like, and what emotions came up as you watched your vision take shape?
TT: I tell people the story all the time, the first time I ever called this a Black Excellence Brunch. I was literally doing what my mother had done for me growing up—creating this safe, uplifting, and affirming space with my friends. We would go to church, come back to my apartment, and we'd all have food and we'd be talking. One day I looked around the room and I just started speaking to people and affirming people, “All of y'all are Black, excellent, and just dope.” And I toasted, “Cheers to Black excellence, this is Black excellence, a brunch about Black excellence,” and when I said it out loud, it still wasn't in that kind of way that people see it now. So I didn't even realize what was happening, I was just doing what felt natural to me.
Then when I got ready to move to LA, that was the first time that it took a more formalized shape, if you will. I'd done the going-away brunch on a rooftop, and I was like, “Okay, I want us to look nice,” so I asked everybody if they could wear all white. I pulled together this section, and when I looked around the table I saw everybody smiling and looking so beautiful and surrounded by this ambiance, and I mean, it was so much. People were coming to our table asking to take pictures with us, sending us food, paying for our drinks. I just thought to myself, “If only I could give us this feeling all the time.” I think all of those pieces were a part of that feeling—the way people looked, the ambiance, the energy of the people around the table—all those played a role, and so I just repeated that.
I can't even pinpoint the exact feeling. I guess if I had to dwindle it down to a feeling, I just felt overwhelmingly proud, happy, and gratitude. There was an immense amount of gratitude, because I just remember being so thankful for everything from the weather that day to the people that were sitting around the table, to the food that we had, to even being able to afford it. I just felt this overwhelming sense of, “I'm so grateful.”
“They started to have the appreciation for making sure that they show up and they're able to put people in luxury. It wasn't through me begging, it was through me becoming the example.”
- Trell Thomas
Creating space for Black luxury is both a powerful act of celebration and, at times, one that can be met with resistance. What obstacles have you encountered while growing the Black Excellence Brunch, and in what ways have those experiences influenced your approach to staying committed to your purpose?
TT: Seating us figuratively and quite literally in luxury is so important to me, because we deserve that. Period, end of sentence. Some of the resistance that I've faced is fighting for budget. It's almost feeling like I have to prove why we deserve the nice things, why we deserve to have a family-style meal versus buffet, because waitstaff—that's another element of luxury. For people to be able to come sit down at a table and have their food served to them instead of having to wait in a line and go through a buffet—I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, but there's a clear difference. Thankfully, I've gotten to a space where I don't have as much of that today, but I can just remember in the beginning begging for an extra $700 even when I had brand partnerships. I would spend my own money still. So I would have a budget from a brand, but I still would spend an extra couple thousand dollars for going from buffet to family style, or being able to pay for valet. I wanted people to be able to come and show up, and then have their car parked for them, as opposed to finding a park and then walking to the venue. Those small touches and elements of luxury that I feel like we deserve—down to paying for my own glassware because I didn't want to serve people out of plastic cups.
I'm so grateful because I stayed committed to the cause and to the purpose of the event. Because when brands started to see, “Oh, he's gonna pay for it himself,” they start to feel like, “Well, dang.” They started to have the appreciation for making sure that they show up and they're able to put people in luxury. It wasn't through me begging; it was through me becoming the example.
Black excellence brunch (All rights reserved to owner)
You've spoken about the impact of having Tina Knowles as a mentor. Someone who not only believed in your vision but actively supported it. What did that kind of affirmation mean to you at that stage in your journey? And how has her guidance influenced the way you show up for others now stepping into their purpose?
TT: I can't say enough amazing things about Ms. Tina. She has been a mentor, a friend, a mom away from my mom for me. Even at this stage and phase of her life, Ms. Tina is willing to get in there and get her hands dirty. She's gonna do the work. She leads by example, and that is just something that I try to do as well. Even with the brunches—we've been doing this since 2017—I'm there setting the tables still, I'm there figuring out the creative with the companies that I hire, not because I don't trust them to do the work, but it's because I care about what it is. And that's one of the biggest things that I've been able to see and learn from Ms. Tina. When you care about something, get in at the ground level of it, and be willing to do all the positions and know all of the positions. I feel just being around her energy in general, you can learn so much, but I'm blessed to have her as a mentor. She gave me my first venue space to use, she gave me dishes from her home—her own personal collection—to use. She helped me draw the floor plan and everything, so she's been a very important part of this journey. I can't say enough amazing things about who she is, not only to me, but who she has been to so many people. She’s a guiding force and just a force in general to be reckoned with.
What role does representation play in helping the next generation believe that their dreams and aspirations are truly possible?
TT: Oh man, it plays such a big role. I'm from a very small town called Casta, South Carolina—one stoplight, everybody knew everybody—and so for me, I take that even more seriously. I always have this mentality: I might be the first to do something, but I want to make sure that I'm not the last, and that is the feeling that I have even from being from that small town.
I went to my niece's graduation recently and just seeing all of my family and stuff, and they would come and say, “We're so proud of you and your goal,” I’m grateful for their pride and their appreciation for me, but I look at my nephews and I look at my nieces, and I'm just like, “This is possible for you.” Because for me, I saw somebody that made it possible for me. To be able to sit in rooms with people or to share space with people that you look up to—it's a game changer. One of the number one things I actually tell people when it comes to representation: put yourself in a space, even if you don't feel like you belong there, even if you have imposter syndrome, just put yourself in the space. Even if you're just sitting on the wall in that space—those things, they make a difference, and they allow you to envision something for yourself. Because we create our own future, we create our own destiny, and once you can envision it being possible for you, then it's gonna happen.
Want to hear more amazing stories like this? Check out our “More of Us” series! If you want to connect with Trell and support the work he is doing, follow him on social @trellworld and his business @blackexcellencebrunch.