What does the resume of a successful restaurateur, real estate investor and philanthropist look like? For Atlanta’s Ebony Austin, it looks like working her way up the ladder at Godiva for 12 years, moving from manager to corporate specialist to overseeing store operations. She later became a business development manager for 1-800-Flowers, overseeing all the Fannie May chocolate shops in the Chicago area.
After attending the Your House Academy, she says she bought her first property for $30,000, then flipped it for $300,000. Her real estate investments allowed her to open her first restaurant in 2019, and now she owns five: Georgia-based Cliché Restaurant and Wine Bar in College Park, Stir House in Atlanta, Nouveau Bar and Grill with locations in both College Park and Jonesboro, and Nouveau Noir in Dallas, Texas.
She was a millionaire by the time she was 35 and has given away more than $1 million in scholarships to students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Every year, she creates a Christmas experience for thousands of families in need and says she has never spent less than $250,000. Her biggest event was at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park in 2024.
Most people would collapse under the weight of responsibility Austin carries, but for this committed entrepreneur, discipline allows her to stay focused on her goals.
“I come from a place of understanding that if you really want something, to dream it is fine, but discipline will always be that bridge between hard work and your dreams and where you are now…. I’ve always had grit and grind about myself, and I’ve always liked nice things, and I understood that in order to keep them, I needed to put in the work,” she says. “And most importantly, I always knew that at some point, I wanted to be in a place where I could actually help people. That was more of my motivation than anything: How do I get in a place where I’m effective in communities that were like mine?”
Having grown up in a tight-knit neighborhood in Chicago, Austin says that she felt rich because of the love that surrounded her.
“You can go to your neighbor’s house and have dinner and have a good time, and they would make sure you got back home safe,” she says. “So it all felt like family. So I understood that it was bigger than a dollar amount. It was really more of how do you be of service to people and how do you help and what does impact look like in your community?… That’s what keeps me going, to say, ‘Ebony, you still haven’t done enough. Ebony, you got to keep going. Ebony, you gotta see what’s next. How do you get there? How do you help? We help 50 people this year. How do we help 300 people next year?’”
This mindset drove her to devote a significant part of her mission to uplifting and financially supporting Black scholars at HBCUs. As a student at Langston University, Austin struggled financially and knew she wanted to help other students avoid the challenges she faced.
According to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, 94% of all HBCU students are awarded some type of financial assistance, yet HBCUs have one-eighth the average endowments of predominantly white institutions.
This reality is what led to Nouveau Creations, a line of stone-ground grits Austin launched in 2023, on March 12, her grandmother’s birthday.
“That’s who actually raised me as a little girl,” Austin shares. “She died when I was nine, and I lived with her. So that was our thing was grits. And so that’s why that’s the only signature item that we have on our menu [at Nouveau Bar and Grill].”
She knew that a product focused on things that really mattered—family and education—would give her the winning formula for success.
The importance of giving back
“I went to an HBCU,” she says. “I understood the struggle. I understood the lack of financial aid. And, so, I just kind of combined the two things. It was the start of the person that raised me. And then it was also the best years of my life… if I could help students get to where they’re trying to go through education, for me, that was huge. And so that’s why 100% of those [grits] proceeds [go] to HBCU students. And then I match whatever that looks like on the end. So if we raise $150,000, then personally, I’ll match the $150,000. And, because of that, we haven’t been able to tell a student no.”
Since she started selling the grits in 2021—available online and in 180 Publix and 45 Food Lion locations across Georgia—Austin has given more than $1 million in scholarships to HBCU students. She also conducts an HBCU tour every year and has been known to show up on campuses with a DJ and 18-wheeler stocked with groceries so students can fill their pantries.
With so much money already given away, you’d think there would be a stopping point, but Austin has no off switch for her generosity.
In her latest philanthropic endeavor, the real estate investments that allowed her to buy her first restaurant are going to allow others to buy their first home. And the full circle cherry on top? Her restaurant team gets first dibs.
“It’s a beautiful thing when people can pour into their team,” Austin says, sharing, “we’ve helped a lot of them build their credit. We’ve helped them be able to go and buy cars. We’ve helped some of them now have their own house… so now we’re getting ready to go into a phase where we’re getting ready to actually build homes. And I’m excited about that.”
She says she aims to create affordable housing for her team as well as police officers, educators and other vital members of the community.
The goal, she says, is to set the people she cares about up for success.
Austin learned long ago that being a part of your community is more than just lip service. It’s more than just a restaurant in a neighborhood. It’s showing up. It’s doing the work. It’s making profound connections that impact things in powerful ways. It’s believing in the people around you and inviting them to join you at your table.
“I enjoy making people happy,” she says, always staying true to that voice inside that told her, “Ebony, you still haven’t done enough. Ebony, you got to keep going.”
Photo by Mel B. Photography
