Meet Ceris Christopher of The Belle and The Bear

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ceris Christopher.

Hi Ceris, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started working in the hospitality industry when I was 18 back in Toronto, at this point I was already living on my own and working 2 other jobs. I was forced to grow up at a very young age.

I started taking a few vacations with friends that ended up with me staying for months on end or moving to different countries or Islands and bartending my way through my travels.

I ended up meeting my now ex husband on my travels to Australia and he was an American from Ohio, we fell in love and eventually moved here.

That didn’t last but I fell in love with Cincinnati and decided to stay. I had wonderful friends and built a pretty great life, bartending with 4EG all over the city.

I had always told myself that if I was still bartending at the age of 40 that it would need to be at my own bar, so by 38, I opened The Belle and The Bear in Montgomery. The name comes from Belle, a woman and Bear her soul dog. If you go to the pool room you will see the most incredible piece of art done by Jessica Florer, its a arge image of Mr. Bear made out of bottle caps. it’s crazy. I love it!

We opened right around Covid so we had a whole lot against us but I decided to take our once a week of music to 5 nights a week which 100% put us on the map as a fun music venue in this great city. We were one of the only places still doing live music at that time, so It also gave musicians a place to play while covid was going on. Let’s face it, music can soothe the soul and we all needed some extra love.

From there, The Belle and The Bear has grown to be a very special place, not just for me, but for the musicians, the community and many more. We have raised, with the help of some incredibly generous people and foundations, over half a million dollars for local animal rescues and our biggest charity event of the year, Women who Rock which has supported Women Helping Women and the YWCA Mission Forward Campaign.

To add to the fun, I also got my real estate license in 2025, working for Comey & Shepherd, and have been loving that, I’d say 99% of my clients have been friends/customers from the bar which is great!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been as smooth as it could be with getting started around Covid. We had to deal with all of the closures etc… but we figured out ways to make the best of it and used that time to build our community and because a fantastic place for musicians to play and for people to enjoy.

I’d say we are now currently dealing with the lack of drinking thats taking place, thats coming in hot for a lot of us bars, so leaning to navigate through that has been interesting.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a Dive bar/music venue.
I like to think we stand out a little based on how huge our community is here. I’ve been in the industry for almost 30 years and I’ve never seen something like this.

I feel very lucky to have so many good people that come see us and choose us to spend their time with.

We never take for granted how lucky we are to have so many incredible local musicians call our stage home and so many customers who walk through our door every week.

I hope when people think of us they see us as a place that not only knows how to throw a party but also has also raised ove half a million dollars for local animal rescues and charities like Women helping Women and YWCA Mission Forward Campaign.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Don’t really have one, wasn’t a typical childhood experience.
It was not a home of love. filled with anger and abuse.
But it helped shape the woman I am today so I’m truly thankful for not just the good in my life but the bad too.

I moved out around 14/15 and worked 3 jobs while going to school. around 19/20, I packed a bag, took off and traveled the world while bartending and started living. I’ve never looked back.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thebelleandthebear.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebelleandthebear
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBelleandTheBearBar
• Other: https://cerischristopher.comey.com