We were lucky to catch up with Sharon Raijman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Sharon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.
beTRUE Los Angeles is a creative space that allows anyone that walks through our doors to be true to who they are! It is a space that provides opportunities to create content, connect with like-minded people and feel inspired to be your authentic self no matter who you love or where you come from.
We are a safe space for under-represented communities to come and create the content they want and host the events they want without any judgement or feelings of insecurity!
In our first year of opening, we hosted an open mic night, Holi Festival, eight Pride parties and more!
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?
I am the CEO/Founder of beTRUE Group. I started this creative, entrepreneurial journey three years ago after leaving my life in the medical world and graduating from medical school. I made the decision to take my compassion and commitment to helping people in a new creative direction.
beTRUE Los Angeles has close to 7,000 square feet of space located in the heart of Hollywood and the opportunities are endless — we have three fully equipped studios, a podcast studio, two design-inspired lounges, private offices and a fully transformable 4,500 square foot paved outdoor space – perfect for creating memorable experiences at large and small events.
Our motto is “Feel Inspired. Get Creative. Be True.” We love offering a space where creatives from all avenues of art can come and be true to the content they create, the events they host and the people they connect with. The space is so transformable that every event has a different look/vibe when you see it come to life! From music events and art galleries to Pride parties and weddings, you can do it all at beTRUE!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Everyone told me that it barely rains in LA when I moved here two years ago to start this business, but of course a few months into opening, the heavy rainstorms from January 2023 came and caused water damage to all three of our studios. I was able to pivot studio rentals into larger event rentals by draping any damaged walls and transforming the space to fit events instead! It was a long, tough process with renovations and keeping some of my regular studio clients happy with what there was to offer, but I made it work! beTRUE LA has since become a great event venue because of this resiliance!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Word of mouth! Hosting large scale events that bring in a big crowd usually sources a few more clients from each event as well!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.betruegrp.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betrue.losangeles
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betrue-group/
Image Credits
@dreamgirlscarlet @chasebergey @swallowshow @ax.orlando @puffdao / @lovesquish