Brittney Michael plans to make history next year when she opens St. Paul’s Bubble Line Brewing Company, the Twin Cities’ first Black woman-owned brewery. As part of her entrepreneurial journey, Michael enrolled in the University of St. Thomas’ Community Entrepreneurship Program, working side by side with business students to help her work through some of the challenges of building a business.

His passion for beer finally grew so strong that Michael left pharmacy to work as an assistant brewer at La Doña Cerveceria in Minneapolis, and joined the University of St. Thomas’ Community Entrepreneurship Program, where he was paired with a student consultant who helped him structure and develop a crowdfunding strategy for opening a brewery.
Lila Franklin, a recent graduate from the University of St. Thomas, was one of two students who paired with Michael to help with the crowdfunding campaign.
“I was so grateful to have Brittany in my care because she’s such an incredible person,” Franklin said. “As a woman of color myself, I was so inspired by her words and all that she’s trying to do for the Rondo community.”
Franklin, 22, has sampled the beer, and she said future patrons have a lot to look forward to.