A collaborative space, nestled in the heart of Inglewood, dedicated to the complete journey of the entrepreneur.
By Tracy Edwards
As the revitalization of Inglewood continues with the city becoming not only a sports and entertainment destination, but also tech hub, there is a need for local entrepreneurs to have a place to work and collaborate.
Coworking places have become common place in more affluent communities, and over the last couple of years, Black owned coworking spaces have launched in South Los Angeles and Inglewood, giving locals a place to work and network with other business owners in their own community.
Inglewood resident Matthew Newman opened ALL IN Coworking of Inglewood on Crenshaw Boulevard, just south of 110th Street. This venue has office space for their members, and the WiFi, printing, copying, scanning, and coffee are all complementary. This is ideal for business owners who do not want to take on the cost of leasing out an individual office, and it was personally important to Newman to open this business in a Black community.
“It was important to nestle a space, in a community that is a part of me, that I’m a part of, that you can have an affordable space and still work on your craft,” he said. “This is an affordable option versus paying $40,000 a year for a private office. You can have a seat right here for $150 a month and you would have access to all of the resources that you would have access to in an office building.”
Networking wise, coworking spaces are beneficial to entrepreneurs who utilize the services of other small-business owners to bring their projects to life. It is also great for motivation.
“You’re around other people who are inspired and motivated to work on a craft; to work on their dream,” Newman said. “You’re coming into a space like this that invokes inspiration for you to be great and productive in your craft.
“We have members who want a creative and collaborative space to work in. Especially people who are tired from working at home. They can come into a space that is safe and free of distractions to be productive in their craft, whatever that may be.”
ALL IN Coworking has a multipurpose video conference room where business owners and community groups can host meetings and give presentations.
As the technology wave continues, many Black people and groups are ensuring that Black communities are not left behind. Newman is one of them as ALL IN Coworking utilized the latest technology in every aspect of this workspace, and it has a partnership with Hollywood Park to bring STEM programs to Inglewood.
“My past experience and current experience is working with a huge telecom company,” Newman said. “So the first thing that I wanted to do here was automate everything. And we’re bringing in people who know tech to teach tech to the underserved youth within our communities.”
Newman has a major tech venture that is taking off soon. He is the CEO of TruSo, which is a social network that goes a step beyond audio-only apps such as Clubhouse. TruSo will also include video. It’s noteworthy that this is a Black-owned app, because many of the social media platforms that Black people have helped make extremely popular, and investors extremely wealthy, are not Black-owned or designed for a Black user experience.
“I believe in the power of community; especially cultural communities,” Newman said. “As it relates to the Black community, the entire world has witnessed what we can accomplish when we join together behind a cause; we create a phenomenon. Now we are introducing a social community that is built and funded by Blacks for Blacks and has monetization built-in so that everyone wins. Those who use the app should also benefit financially. That’s what we’ve built.”
ALL IN Coworking is located at 11011 Crenshaw Boulevard. Visit their website at www.inglewoodcoworking.com and follow them on social media. Join the waitlist for the TruSo app at www.jointruso.com and enter the referral code TruSoPR21.
