From Bartender to Business Owner: How Lovejoy's is Redefining the Bloody Mary Experience and Giving Back

Bloody Mary, Bloody Roman, Bloody Maria, and Red Snapper—what do they all have in common? While the names might not be familiar to the everyday cocktail lover, they’re second nature to Charles Lovejoy, founder of Lovejoy's and a former bartender-turned-mixologist. Each is a unique spin on the classic Bloody Mary, created by simply swapping the base spirit—a craft Charles has perfected over the years while starting as a bartender in a St. Paul establishment called the “Happy Gnome”. But the story behind Lovejoy's is about more than just a great Bloody Mary mix. It’s a story of passion, family, and local impact. We knew there was more to uncover, so we met with Charles virtually to hear it firsthand.

Read the full Q and A session below to know more about Charles…

Neighborly: Can you share the story behind Lovejoy's? Why do you want to start the business?

Charles: "I can start by saying, there are so many reasons I wanted to start the business, and so many reasons I didn't want to start this, but the reasons to start outweighed the other. So I was a bartender in the Twin Cities for about 25 years. Spent a lot of time making a lot of different cocktails, and curating cocktail menus. I landed at a place called the Happy Gnome in St. Paul, which was a fairly popular beer bar. So when I was able to get a hold of the cocktail menu, I was given pretty much free rein.

In 2009 or 2010, brunch was not a huge deal as it is now. Today, it’s like the new Saturday night. It was common for restaurants to do brunch, not restaurants/bars. Anyways, there was an article in a paper that named a restaurant/bar the “Best Bloody Mary” in town. I thought we had a pretty good one...I mean, I was making it. So one Sunday when I was off, I went to go try that Bloody Mary. I didn't think it was that great. I thought, if this is the best, I can go back and make ours better. 

I went back to my restaurant and tweaked the recipe we had used before, tweaking it a lot over the course of a year or two. I also used the guests who were coming in as guinea pigs to see what they thought. This allowed me to have a captive audience who didn't know I was making the mix. I received a lot of feedback, and eventually, we landed on some of the flavors that we currently use for Lovejoy's Bloody Mary mix today. That's how it got started."

Neighborly: Was bartending and serving guests a way to connect with your community? 

Charles: "I've always looked for a way to connect my community. Throughout my whole career as a bartender, there just were not a lot of black faces, not a lot of people that looked like me, especially in the front of the house. So a way to connect with my community was through my mom’s nonprofit that she ran for homeless families in St. Paul."

Neighborly: How did you connect with your community?

Charles: "I was always looking for a way to connect what I was doing to, you know, helping my community one way or another, whether it was going to some kind of jobs program where I could help be a liaison to get kids from either culinary school or if they were interested in being a server or bartender, just to open some doors for them.

Once these Bloody Marys became popular, I saw an opportunity to package them in a bottle or to-go format so we could sell them or add them to gift baskets for my mother's charities. I thought we could use the profits to help these families. It was always about community for us and still is."

Neighborly: What have you learned over the years while producing and selling your bloody mary mixes? 

Charles: "It turns out you need a lot of capital to give away or to sell a product and give away all the profit. So, right now, we do a 5% giveback. I also learned that when you are in the product development phase, it always takes double the time you expect."

Neighborly: Can you tell me more about the 5% giveback? Do you still contribute to your mom’s organization, or does this money go towards something else? 

Charles: "She retired about 10 years ago, so we pivoted to organizations similar to hers. Right now, we give back to an organization called Face to Face. They are a young adult, teenage outreach center based on the east side of St Paul. They offer mental health professional services, dentistry services, a free store and more. They do a lot of work that is needed by young people in the community. We also donate to a place called C2I which stands for Connections to Independence, which helps young women who are transitioning out of foster care to help that bridge from 18 to like 23."

Neighborly: What are some of your hopes or goals right now? 

Charles: "So my goals now are to just show people that it's possible to have a successful business from whatever background you have. It can come from a restaurant background or whatever you want. You should be utilizing the skills that you have, you know, coming from where you're at. There are going to be barriers and obstacles in your way, but take this stage in your life and find what you love, do what you want with it, and share it with the world. Just go for it!"

Neighborly: What's the most rewarding part about owning a business or doing what you love every day? 

Charles: "That's that's a great question. There are so many things. One is the freedom to be able to raise my kids and be able to see them. I have two daughters that are home with me and my wife, Sara. They're ten and eight. I also have my son, who is a wonderful young man. He's 30, though, and an educator in the Twin Cities. But throughout his life, when he was the same age as my daughters, I was working in restaurants. I didn’t work a lot of hours but I worked odd hours on the weekends and nights so I wasn't able to attend all those games or play dates or any of that kind of stuff.  I get to do that now as someone who makes my own schedule...although I work like 80 hours a week, I just get to pick with 80 I get to work.

The second most rewarding part was recently being named on Oprah’s Favorite Things. It was really exciting and super cool. I don’t love attention all the time but you know, you kind of need it for this business. It’s a communal feeling. Unfortunately, what I found that was missing from that whole experience was being able to share it with my restaurant partners, Neighborly Gifts, and others. It woke me up and realized that community is really important to me, and then being able to lift up other businesses and share the joy with them is the most rewarding part of having a business. Being able to share those wins and bring other people with me."

Neighborly: How does your family support you?

Charles: "They do everything, especially during the Oprah promotion. We were kind of taken by surprise by how many orders we got on our own website and had to pivot quickly. My warehouse, my garage, and my living room were turned into packing rooms, and our house was taken over with products and boxes. My family was all over here every day! My mom winters in Arizona, and she came back a month and a half early to help out. My wife is amazing and would come home from work and go straight into the garage and start packing orders.  It was definitely a family affair, and it always has been. My sister, Suzanne, is my business manager and was the first investor in Lovejoy's so family is everything."

Neighborly: How did this recognition help you grow?

Charles: "We saw a significant boost in sales, and we are growing every day by shipping orders out all over the country—from Virginia to Florida to Washington State. It's like they're just all over. Seeing this online success for a small business like mine makes me realize that we could probably tap into the online market a little bit more instead of concentrating so heavily on retail. So, we're exploring that area of growth."

Neighborly: What does being a black-owned business owner mean to you?

Charles: "It's a combination of my whole family's history. My grandparents migrated from the South in the 30s and 40s and did not have many opportunities, so I'm standing on their shoulders. It's a big responsibility, but it's due. 

It's time, it's time for us, especially in my category. I'm in the Bloody Mary category and I'm out here trying to show people that you can do whatever you have your passion for, whatever you think will work. It doesn't have to be a culturally specific application. Whenever you find your niche, you go for it, and hopefully, people will see that."

Neighborly: What advice would you give to another aspiring black entrepreneur? 

Charles: "1. Find your niche, find your passion, and share it with others. 2. Work the system as much as you can with programming, grants, and other resources. You have to connect and you have to seek things out. 3. Lean on your community and try to establish a network of peers. When you go to the markets and you see somebody who may have the same product, don't look at them as a competition or adversary. Maybe try to connect with them just to pick their brains a bit and use the community as a resource. 4. Don't, don't, don't take no for an answer. If you really want to get something done, you can. There are other avenues and the traditional routes don't always work for us so you have to shift constantly."

Neighborly: What would you say is your favorite Bloody Mary mix that you make currently?

Charles: "It kind of goes by season, so in the cold months I really love the Thai Basil. It's got those warm spices, the cinnamon notes, and it really warms you up. Then the Chimichurri is fantastic in the spring and summer months. With the bright notes, you start feeling like nature's coming back, and you get these little pops of mid-summer. Then the Original is your classic Bloody Mary. So you're feeling that cabin vibe and it’s just a really nice and smooth with a horseradish bite. So it's really based on season, for me. It varies but right now, the Thai Basil. Short answer."

Neighborly: Who or what keeps you motivated every day? 

Charles: "Oh, it's the kids. I know they're watching. My beautiful wife keeps me motivated because she's always so positive. When I don't believe in whatever it is I'm doing for myself that I can accomplish any of this, she's there telling me that I can. Lastly, the community. Even though you don't always get that immediate gratification like you do online, people are out there watching, and you feel it."

Neighborly: Do you have any exciting plans for the future? Or what are you most looking forward to this year?

Charles: "The first thing I am excited about is we’re launching with Johnson Brothers. They are going to help us get into other areas out of state, hopefully, more of Rochester and more coverage than we have had in the past. 

Second, we are working on a line of Mimosa Mixers. We plan on having a 12oz semi-concentrate bottle with notes of tangerine, vanilla, and a little bit of jalapeño, which is a really nice, super smooth, and silky mouthful. Then, we'll create another one based more on sangria. Hopefully, we'll have both out in 2025 and featured at Neighborly Gifts."

Charles Lovejoy’s journey is very special and all about passion, creativity, and community. Lovejoy's isn’t just about what’s in the bottle—it’s about the stories, the shared moments with his family and the neighbors around him. You can support Lovejoy's by going to his website lovejoysbrand.com or giving him a follow on social media. (Facebook or Instagram)