In Good Co. Detroit reminds us that entrepreneurs are not alone on their journey. Southeast Michigan is home to an entire ecosystem of business support organizations and people waiting to help. Quickly connect and search an ever-growing database of resources and practical tools to help you get started on your own journey—or find solutions to the problems you’re facing right now.
Developed by the New Economy Initiative (NEI), with support from the Knight Foundation, In Good Co. is a living platform, connecting inspirational stories with practical tools to empower entrepreneurs at every age and every stage of business.
People with big ideas, start-ups working hard to stay up, sons and daughters keeping the family legacy alive, entrepreneurs doing the only thing they know, people worried about what comes next, successful businesses, growing enterprises, and the ecosystem of business support organizations waiting to help. In short, everyone in Detroit who’s thought about starting or growing a business.
Because, when small business succeeds and entrepreneurship is accessible, our community thrives.
Over the next year, some of Detroit’s finest storytellers will help you understand the passion, duty, and purpose that drives every Detroit entrepreneur by introducing you to local people who are meeting the everyday challenges of owning and operating a business.
Shannon Cason has shared his stories all over the country. Shannon is a host, MainStage storyteller and GrandSlam champion with The Moth. He is a regular on NPR’s Snap Judgment; awarded their Best Performance Award. Shannon has appeared on countless podcasts and storytelling stages, including TEDx, RISK!, Third Coast Festival, Podcast Movement, and an upcoming television pilot.
He also hosts his own long-standing storytelling podcast, Shannon Cason’s Homemade Stories and launched a podcast with WBEZ Chicago called The Trouble with Shannon Cason. His storytelling is featured in the anthology, The Moth Presents: All These Wonders. Shannon serves as the chief educator for the Brutally Honest Storytelling workshop series, where he has helped companies, pro athletes, celebrities, and everyday people tell their stories more honestly.
Serena Maria Daniels is an award-winning freelance journalist based in Detroit, by way of Chicago, by way of Southern California. Her reporting on the intersection of culture, immigration, politics and food can be found in Reuters, NPR’s The Salt, Extra Crispy (a Time publication), Lucky Peach, Chicago Tribune and others.
Serena is also the co-founder and publisher of the blog tostadamagazine.com and was a 2017-2018 Next City equitable cities fellow.
Stephen McGee is a two time Emmy Award winning filmmaker living in Detroit working with commercial clients, non-profit groups, journalism outlets and foundations and recently gave a TED talk on drone cinematography and imagination. McGee has traveled to 30 countries for his film work.
Over the past four years McGee has produced, shot and directed and edited 115 2-3 minute films for The Kresge Arts in Detroit for artists who received grants from the foundation. In 2014, McGee produced “One Day in Detroit,” which was the largest documentation of Detroit on a single day in Detroit’s history with over 350 individuals and 103 partner organizations contributing footage to make a single episode focusing on Detroit.
Ali Lapetina is a documentary photographer and educator based in Detroit, Michigan. With a sensitive approach and long term dedication, her personal work explores stories of immigrant and underrepresented communities navigating daily life in America.
She is also the founder and director of Women of Banglatown, an all women’s community arts organization that offers free programing for neighborhood girls and income generating activities for immigrant women in Hamtramck, Michigan.
Alex Trajano started his love affair with audio after buying a 4 track recorder in the 80s. Later, as owner of Thrilla Park Studios, he worked with artists such as Marcus Belgrave and Iggy Pop & The Stooges. He’s won multiple awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters and some have called his work “The New Sound of Public Radio.”
Trajano also hosts of The Moth in Detroit and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s, “Live From Orchestra Hall,” and produced the first WDET podcast, “The Beginning of the End.”
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