We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Raymond J. Spence a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Spence, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Spence_START came to be out of necessity. In the late 2010’s I was forging the idea of what my creative “thing” would be. Music has been a foundation of my creativity for over half of my life, but I was discovering that I was a very talented story teller. I’d had a brief run as a social media personality and realized that I needed to figure out how to get a fuller representation of all of my creativity. Before I knew it, years had passed and I still hadn’t started anything.

I find this is the case with so many creatives. So, I decided to develop a business with the sole focus of starting creative ideas. Spence_START is akin to the tutorial level of a video game. You learn the essentials of how to begin your creative journey and when you’re ready, you go out on your own.

Spence, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I view myself as a creative shape shifter of sorts. I studied Music Education with an emphasis in percussion at Norfolk State University, so that’s where a ton of my teaching and management skills come from. Then, I took a detour into the financial world for 11 years, where I got to learn the ins and outs of the banking world, making it as far as Regional sales and Banking Officer at BB&T, now Truist. So it’s fair to say, I acquired and retained a fair amount of my business acumen from this period of my life.

Throughout the entirety of that 11 year stint in finance, I was a gigging musician playing the drums in several ensembles and creating successful bands that were getting booked consistently. Eventually, one of those bookings led me to Motor House, a non-profit art gallery and event space in Baltimore. I created The Vibe Check Open Jam Session at Motor House with my music collective “The Storage Unit Collective.” After just 3 months of successful events, I leveraged that opportunity into becoming the Marketing and Communications Manager at Motor House. From my work at Motor House, I’ve learned how to grow a social media platform from a modest 7,400 followers to over 11,600. I also oversee the creation of professional EPKs through their DAP program, which cultivates local artists in hopes of giving them a more professional appeal.

Being able to effectively traverse the creative and business realms is what makes Spence_START such a unique force. Typically, one has to chose between being really creative or really business savy, and I find that I’ve found a perfect marriage of the two in my business. Instead of hoarding this skill for myself and keeping all of the opportunities that come my way, I’ve created a business that allows other creatives to utilize me to help them successfully start their journey.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Historically, we were taught “Go to school. Find a job. Work that job until you die.” I was so hellbent on following that schematic that I never stopped to think if thats what I really wanted. It wasn’t until I ran out of money for college and had to dropout that I realized “Well, this plan is going to have to change.” I still wanted to be a musician, but I knew I didn’t want to be a music teacher full time. I also knew I needed money, so quite literally I thought to go where the money is, finance. Spending those years learning money management while also learning how to create bands so I could gig really shaped me into who I am today. Had it not been for the “setback” of dropping out of school, I don’t know how I would’ve got to the success and autonomy I currently have. I don’t know many teachers that have the free time to teach and manage bands and gig. So I’m thankful that I was forced to unlearn “Go to school. Get a job. Work that job until you die.”

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I feel like I live by the principal of your job is meant to fund your passion; and my passion is creativity. Before I left the banking world for good. I had 3 goal posts to achieve: 1) Get married 2) Have a child 3) Buy a house. My wife (Erin Spence) and I had a our son Reyes in 2019. We then bought our house in 2020. Finally, we got married in 2021. Backwards I know but nonetheless, I achieved all three of my goals. The next step for me was to find a way for my creativity to fund those 3 things. In 2022 I was in the process of developing a gigging schedule that would provide that stability when I learned that Motor House was hiring a Marketing Manager. Once I got that position and gained enough footing in the role to feel like it was a sure thing, I began to gig much more. My job sustains my 3 priorities, so I can allow my business/passion to grow authentically; and it has been growing beautifully.

So many people believe that you have to quit your job and go 100% into your business in order for it to be successful. I disagree with this sentiment. I think stability is paramount to growing your business/passion authentically. If a job provides that stability, then learn how to do both really well. I’m in a position where I can turn down business that doesn’t match my creative ethos. I believe this allows you to protect and develop business integrity. For example: many bands are hired to play cover music and they agree to it not because they love playing covers, but because they need the money. I’ve turned down cover band gigs because I don’t want to play covers so much now. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a cover band, it’s just not where I’m at right now. In doing so, I’ve been allowed to grow The Storage Unit Collective into a force that gets booked based on our original music. We recently played an hour and a half show at Keystone Korner, Baltimore’s premiere jazz venue.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @spence_START

Image Credits
@Jazzy Studios @Photophonzo @feelinfluid