Meet Mo Shabazz: Brand Manager & Community Engagement

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mo Shabazz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mo, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Communicate clearly and frequently. It’s important to be upfront and avoid sending mixed signals. Leading firms will communicate internally and externally often to minimize misinformation and prevent organizational paralysis: Stakeholders need to know what they should do and how the crisis could affect the business. Understand and respond to customers’ new needs. Smart businesses are reaching out to customers and distributors to find out where they’re feeling pain because of the crisis and what will help them. The best companies will naturally be taking steps to help society and get the economy back on track. For instance, they may be providing services and products (not just monetary donations) to affected people.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve always seen it as my purpose in life to compel those from underrepresented communities to push beyond what they thought were their limits to reach higher levels of excellence. My volunteer position as membership and public relations chair for the Metropolitan Board of Chicago Urban League required me to recruit young professionals to join the organization and participate in community service events which include building relationships with nonprofits and community-based organizations to execute Hackathons and recruit for Coding Cohorts. This was all to expose students to STEM disciplines and develop a workforce pipeline to erase the digital divide. This prompted me to be part of the development of ATX in Color and join the DivInc family as a way to galvanize my fellow professionals to play the role of stakeholders in the global economy. For Founders in the start-up economy, the launch is a vital stage in their journey. While stories of successful entrepreneurs self-funding with small amounts of capital make for inspiring stories, the reality is that they are the exception, not the rule. This narrative usually doesn’t tell the story of how much more runway is needed to get wind beneath the wings of any entrepreneur, nonetheless of unrepresented founders who are up against more challenges.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to Midtown to see The Ion which is collaboration center designed to house startups, corporations, venture capitalists and business accelerator programs.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Preston James II of DivInc.org

Website: https://www.divinc.org
Instagram: Moshabazz
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muhammadshabazz
Twitter: Moshabazz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muhammad.shabazz.14

Image Credits
Jerell Photography