We recently connected with Adrian Tonon and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Adrian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

Ever since I was ten years old I have used my privilege, access and relationships to serve my community and peers, who many came from underserved circumstances. As a first generation American, my Italian immigrant parents opened a restaurant named Cafe | Cortina where I hosted thousands of people over the years to gather around the table, break bread, discuss area issues and later implement solutions. As a public servant and entrepreneur I continue to do the work I have been doing since my childhood.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My passion for customer service and music lead me to start a customer service training platform and music label with my best friends who were aspiring artists at the time and now recognized international artists.

After joining the current Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s campaign team, I was later appointed the founding Director of Customer Service for the City of Detroit. Today 8k City employees live the Above and Beyond customer service culture that we introduced to municipal government.

As a music label owner and a member of the creative community, I organically started to champion creatives within city government. I was then appointed Detroit’s first ever Night Time Mayor, where I was at the helm of the economy
from 7:00 p.m.-7:00 a,m.

Five years later with a push from the creative community, I ran for Congress (August 2022) with the intention to secure a seat at the table for the underserved.

After ten years of public service, I am currently back in the private sector focused on family business, the label that now has an impact on music globally, while doing my part to re-establish Detroit as a world class creative economy. We are striving to champion a thriving environment where creatives can sustainably work, live and play.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When City’s grow and develop the first displacement traditionally happens w/ marginalized communities (Creatives and artists being amongst those communities.). Whether it is music, storytelling, visual arts, or tech, as Detroiters creativity is in our DNA. No matter how much I was forced, pushed or ridiculed regarding the music business, I never gave up on the dream of partnering on a label and championing independent entrepreneur’s.

I believe that displacing ‘the culture’ in the name of capitalism is a crucial mistake many growing cities make.

My resilience and relentlessness put me in a position today to have an opportunity to champion change and progress within a $3billion GDP economy. With other resilient Detroiters and other global leaders, we have organized, mobilized and unified in order to create a seat at the table for creatives to be heard, included and celebrated.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I grew up around artists, mostly hip hop. One of my best friends @Royce59 became a global touring and Grammy nominated artist. We all moved around together. His younger brother Kid Vishis was always on the mic and aspiring to follow in his big brothers footsteps.

Being a mentor to many young men, I would sit with Vishis and talk music and life. He said to me one day. ‘”I am going to use my platform to help others and be the change.” It sounded very familiar to me in my own life. From that day I was committed to partnering with Vish.

Over the years I grew very close to Vishis. Our vision of artists owning their intellectual property and being recognized as independent entreprenuers was aligned, even when the industry was not talking about independence as a viable option.

We eventually united and co founded a record label @SickEmRecords. Kid Vishis is the first artist signed to the label. There are several emerging artists we are currently developing through our many partnerships.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AdrianTonon.com
• Instagram: @AdrianTonon
• Facebook: @AdrianTonon
• Linkedin: @AdrianTonon
• Twitter: @AdrianTonon

Image Credits
@BarleyHispanic @JasonLorimor @JacobLekow