We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shawn Mangenje a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Shawn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

As a freelance photographer and artist, I traveled to various gigs, including schools. I noticed the aching financial gap and disinterest within art departments here locally and across the nation. It hit home when kids would come up to me asking: “how are you shooting this celebrity right now?” “I wish our school had an art department.” or “can you help me start photography?” These things led me to start our community organization RAWDetroit back in 2016.

Shawn, 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?

My story begins in the UK when I first discovered photography. I’ve been interested in creative arts such as acting and photography since I was 16 years old, living in England and attending a creative arts school.

I moved to the US about five years ago and took photos alongside some local creators I met in Detroit, Michigan. I quickly noticed a significant gap in the creative community. Photographers shed a raw and natural light on the city’s magic but were often isolated from each other; this sparked the beginning of RAWDetroit. I thought it would be good to build something where other creatives could collaborate and network; this went from a small community to a large one very quickly. Soon we had a team and began hosting photography meetups and workshops. In 2020 we were able to get our 501(c)(3) non-profit status to become an official non-profit organization. We are now raising money towards creative initiatives such as getting art supplies for schools in underprivileged areas and helping young creatives learn more about their creative craft through workshops. I’m able to simultaneously run this innovative non-profit while also providing local businesses with photography services.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

RAWDetroit has always been for the community. Our platform launched in May 2016 focused on bringing like-minded creatives (photographers) together for one thing, to create art. We hosted various events focused on community building, networking, and photography. As our events progressed, we started partnering with local businesses. Doing so helped RAWDetroit excel as we were able to host local giveaways and find new creative ways to give back to the community.

The advice I would give for building a social channel would be consistency and finding your niche and community. Once you discover that, stick to it and provide as much value as possible.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As I’m sure for most businesses, Covid-19 was a sad time, especially for an event-hosting organization. Our entire company is structured around the community and bringing people together to create an experience. We had to pivot, cancel upcoming events, and cut costs during that time. We turned all our focus on social media and started thinking of ways we could unite people online as well as help artists in need.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rawdetroit.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/rawdetroit
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/rawdetroit
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rawdetroit/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/rawdetroit

Image Credits
RAWDetroit