We were lucky to catch up with Mohamoud Mohamed recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mohamoud, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

As a little boy, I was always sitting somewhere away from everybody and writing short plays on my notebook. I knew I wanted to be in the performing arts world at the age of 6 if not before. Around the age of 6, I was already considering some important contexts for my short skits and plays like the setting, plot, characters (played by my siblings and cousins) and theme of each play. My purpose was bringing joy to my audience who were my family and neighbors. This idea of creating a play was inspired by watching recorded theatre plays on VHS with my family and witnessing how good it made my family feel. As many non Somalis don’t know, theatre and poetry played a crucial role in Somalia’s history and a lot of times, that’s the kind of entertainment Somali families enjoyed watching in almost every household in the 1990’s.

Mohamoud, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Although I’ve written and produced a few stage plays and organized many community events; I am mostly known for my role as the manager of the Somali Museum Dance Troupe which is a youth program that I’ve developed for the Somali Museum of MN in 2015. It all started with a couple of high school and college students and I who voluntarily traveled from one event to the other sharing our rich culture through traditional Somali dance performances. All this time we’ve had limited access to recourses and I remember paying out of pocket with the little money I had to buy audio equipment, dance customs, gas and food for the dancers. It was real hard getting to do what we loved but having little or no money to continue sharing our arts and creativity with the community. What kept me on my feet and going strong is the believe in the Somali Museum’s mission in that these Somali youth will be able to study and embrace their culture and roots, will have an opportunity to share their talents and be seen by the wider community and for non-Somali Americans to learn about their neighbors bridging the gap between communities. I have many duties as the manager of this amazing youth program. Among them are, the dance instructor/coach teaching Somali traditional dances in our weekly dance classes and workshops, oversee technology needs for events, coordinate preparation for performances, set up rehearsal space for practice, be the MC for dance performances at events and more. I believe that there is no way a person can manage this program without having skills in communication, empathy, and most importantly patience. Our shows are one of the most in-demand shows in Minnesota. We’ve performed over 500 times all across Minnesota and the United States. At each of our performances, we create a space that is compassionate, caring and a joy to the whole community. My favorite part of this job is getting to see the smiles on the face of our audiences at the end of each show. I also love to see the joy on the dancers’ faces each time they realize how their talent and abilities brought happiness to people from all walks of life.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The Somali Museum’s online audience is massive. The videos from the past years’ events draw thousands of viewers. We have over 100K subscribers on YouTube and over 15k followers on Facebook. It could be different for every organization or business on how to built audiences on social media. What works for me might not work for you and it’s important to find how to reach out to your targeted audience. What worked for us at the Somali Museum is documenting some of our main events and uploading it on YouTube. Many of these contents are music, theatre plays, poetry and dance videos from live shows we produced. We will then promote it on other social media platforms. When a post is out on Facebook usually staff members and anyone who supports our work will share the post and from there their followers will share. Much of my trick is including a captivating visual with every post I make. Good visuals will always draw an audience to your organization. At times I’ll tag an artist who is included in the post to draw his followers to the post.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to make someone feel good. People go through much pain in this world and when we entertain them, it numbs their pain and gives them time for their mind to recover from all the stress. Witnessing people happy with the art and creativity we share with them brings us (artists) happiness as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.somalimuseum.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomaliMuseum/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SomaliMuseumMN