When Landon Ramos walked into the Camden Social in Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon, he expected nothing more than to have a drink and relax. Then he looked over and noticed a large gathering of people in one corner of the dimly lit building.
“It looked interesting, so I had to check it out,” he said. Drink still in hand, he stood in line. By 6 p.m., assured that even though 40 people already had RSVP’d, there still was room for Ramos. He filled out a name tag, walked to a seat and introduced himself: “Hey, I’m Landon.”
A 10-minute timer started.
Thus began the Black Business Exchange, a speed mentoring event hosted by West Broadway Business and Area Coalition during Minneapolis’ Black Business Week.
Julia Moturi, the event’s planner, said after four years, she wanted to highlight something different for Black Business Week than the usual panel discussion.
“You go to so many panels, and you hear the people speak, but you never get that back-and-forth engagement that people are really seeking,” Moturi said.
Thursday’s evening event at the Camden Social was broken up into two sessions. From 6-7 p.m. attendees had 10-minute sessions like the one Ramos did, where they got to learn from experts about different topics related to running a business. Ramos said he decided to use the opportunity to pick the brains of the smart people in the room.
The experts were all volunteers and featured Black professionals working in business development, legal aid, credit and financing, marketing, and business insurance.
“There is representation in that, to see that someone that looks like you can do it as well,” Moturi said.
For the last hour of the event, the doors were open to an additional 50 people for a networking happy hour. The experts were still around, but attendees would have the chance to not only talk with them, but meet each other.
“Mentoring helps, because it just gives you that intimate, more interpersonal relationship with someone,” Moturi said. “Seeing someone that looks like you, that has the same experiences that you do, makes it feel like it’s more in grasp, you can reach that goal as well.”
Cedric Taylor, an insurance agent, volunteered at the event. He said he’s only been in the industry for about four years but cherished the opportunity to educate entrepreneurs and business owners about the importance of being properly insured.
Taylor said it was his first time being a mentor, and that there were few mentorship opportunities available for him when he began working.
For Thursday’s event, his goal was to meet new people and make sure everybody went home knowing a little more about business issuance.
“It’s better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it,” Taylor said.
Among the people that visited Taylor’s table was Maggie Wallace, who recently started attending networking events and hopes one day to open a women-only gym.
“It’s a way to kind of get out of my shell and get to know people, and opportunities that I could possibly miss out on,” Wallace said. She judged the evening a success.
“I didn’t have any expectations; just getting information. I learned more and more and hopefully I can keep in mind for when I need it or I can reach out to that person for help,” Wallace said. “I’m trying to start a business, just meet people and learn.”
“It’s baby steps, you learn as much as you can here,” she said.
Other attendees on Thursday already have established businesses.
Elizabeth Robinson is involved in rental real estate but also recently opened an online store selling artisan products.
Opening a business had been a goal of hers for the last 12 years.
She signed up for speed mentoring, interested in learning how to build business credit and learn about other resources available to her.
“I wanted to find out what I could tap into to help support the growth of my business,” she said. “It was fantastic. The conversations I had were really rich, and I was able to take some great notes that I’m looking forward to following.”
Robinson said she walked into the event with an empty notepad and business cards, but left feeling inspired with pages full of notes.
Everyone’s timeline is different. Robinson said the best thing to do is continue learning and working.
“Keep going toward your dream, however big it is, keep going toward it and be willing to grow into whatever you need to do to launch the dream,” she said.
Moturi noted Black-owned businesses are growing in Minneapolis. While working with the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition she’s noticed entrepreneurs both going online and opening more physical store fronts.
“There’s a lot of excitement around entrepreneurship,” she said, adding that the number of participants in events her organization sponsors doubled from last year.
Given the success of Thursday’s event, Moturi said it’s likely similar events will be hosted in the future.
“it’s clear we’re gonna need to keep getting bigger space,” she said. “From last year to this year, we’re just seeing an explosion and interest.”
