Atlanta’s Black-Owned Stanley’s Cigar Lounge is More Than a Hangout, It’s a Legacy

“On the core, I’m an expertise creator,” Stanley’s Cigar Lounge proprietor Monica Coleman shares with EBONY. “What I spotted from that, is that like to sit down again and watch individuals have a superb time. This place is an area the place I get to create experiences for individuals; I get to program it and resolve how I would like individuals to really feel once they come right here. I would like them to really feel relaxed, to get pleasure from themselves, to neglect about the rest they might have happening—even it is whereas they’re simply having fun with a cigar.”

Positioned in Atlanta, Coleman opened the doorways to her lounge in September 2021. Utilizing her background in advertising and marketing coupled together with her considerably secret love for premium cigars, she’s now gone on to function one of many metropolis’s most sought-after hangout spots. And, she’s doing all of it as a Black lady in an area that is usually reserved for males.

“I’ve loved cigars for nearly 13 years now. Humorous sufficient, I loved them in secret since there was such a giant stigma round girls and cigars. Previous to me proudly owning it, this constructing was one other cigar bar, and I might frequent it usually. So, I take this chance very critical. For me, that is larger than me. I hope to empower different Black companies, particularly different Black woman-owned companies.”

For Coleman, the entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in her veins. Her grandfather, Stanley Franklin, was the primary entrepreneur of their household greater than 50 years in the past. Franklin opened his personal insurance coverage agency throughout a time when the American South was closely segregated. On the suggestion of his household, he left the enterprise and went on to enlist within the Marines earlier than working for the US Postal Service—and in keeping with Coleman, he was one of many first Black postal service staff in Memphis, Tennessee.

“After I study extra about his story, I all the time take into consideration what he may have completed had he remained an entrepreneur, and what that would have meant for our household,” she shares. “So, that is an homage to him, and others like him, who paved the best way for a girl to be in an area like this. I’ve pictures of him on the wall, in addition to different members of our household. That is about legacy for me. I am a mom, and I take into consideration the instance that I am setting for my daughter, and my daughter’s daughter.”

Past the legacy, Stanley’s Cigar Lounge prides itself on offering a top quality expertise for friends. Not solely does Coleman take her time sourcing among the world’s finest sticks, however she additionally makes positive that the accompanying meals and beverage menu match up.

“Now we have among the finest wings on this a part of Atlanta. Individuals will actually come of their pajamas simply to get an order. Now we have a drunken wing, that’s actually good, the place we use a whiskey within the sauce. We additionally serve nice fried catfish, and folks actually get pleasure from our smoked Previous-Normal.”

As for her recommendation to different Black entrepreneurs on the market, Monica Coleman presents the next.

“Look inward to your validation. It may be a lonely highway. However there comes some extent when individuals understand that regardless of how they really feel about you or your small business, you are not stopping. It’s a must to all the time know that you’re the place you’re, as a result of that was meant for you. The most effective factor you are able to do along with your time is to concentrate on issues which can be productive and join with individuals who wish to see you win.”