La Create Sp_ce Creates Community Wealth Under One Roof
April 22, 2021
By Betti Halsell
Contributing Writer
Working as the foundation for many Black-owned businesses is the co-working facility La Create Sp_ce. Located in Inglewood, California, sits a two-story building with 2,600 square feet of innovation and productivity. Owners, Marisa and Terrell Johnson, break down the values of La Create Sp_ce and the significance of creating a supportive environment for people of color and their businesses.
“One of the main things that we do is provide businesses and entrepreneurs a place to work - a place to create and get access to various types of resources that are centered around digital tooling and giving small businesses space,” Co-founder Terrell Johnson as he explained the bones of the operation.
He elaborated on the La Create Sp_ce headquarters, and that the company looks to bring attention to the firms that are being developed locally in South Los Angeles.
As a membership-based service located in Downtown Inglewood, California, business owners from every background commune and breathe in like-minded productive energy. La Create Sp_ce is framed around shared workspaces, conference rooms, varied production studios, and additional resources to nourish the growth of various businesses.
La Create Sp_ce houses designers, copywriters, and production specialists; according to a review on Black Enterprise, the co-working lab looks to “build a place where small business owners, artists, techies, social media influencers, and content creators could come together, grow ideas and bring projects to life.”
The synergy that fills this building produces motivation to construct and fortify confidence in one’s business. The mission of La Create Sp_ce is “to provide a productive and inspiring environment where innovation, creativity, and originality bring together community.” According to Terrell and Marisa, at create Sp_ce its “all about meeting, creating, and taking advantage of any and all new opportunities.” Being in the prime area for entertainment media, La Create Sp_ce specializes in video production, podcast services, and event coordination. They have curated an environment that is especially geared for shooting social media content, interviewing, commercials, and full broadcast production.
Brands looking to hold a conversation with a professional finish are able to take advantage of the La Create Sp_ce podcasting service; it harnesses a professional tone and provides excellent quality over recorded dialogue.
Some of the interpersonal services available at La Create Sp_ce include management and consulting for businesses that have recently sprouted up or working at the incubated level. La Create Sp_ce is more than walls and desks, they look to be a part of business success stories by providing the knowledge and a customized pathway to reach the next level.
The La Create Sp_ce has an area for event production; they can house virtual performances, webinars, panels, livestreams, and broadcasting. The space embodies an atmosphere of inspiration,taking the vision of a business and providing the space, knowledge, and equipment to bring it to reality.
With the new challenge of COVID-19, La Create Sp_ce began to build businesses in the virtual world; with a digital network of entrepreneurs, creatives, and tech-driven specialists, La Create Sp_ce built a support system for their members and provided them with a symbol of resiliency that can be forged into future business models.
The Johnson Partner Group developed this central hub for successful businesses with the people in mind; the focus has always been locked into “building a community by bringing like-minded creatives and businesses together to exchange ideas and services.”
La Create Sp_ce tapped into a channel of resources that are of premium quality; they have joined the conversation with multi-million-dollar companies and funneled their knowledge back to the businesses that are coming out of Black and Brown communities in Inglewood and beyond.
Recently, the co-working-based company partnered with Square, a financial service and digital payment company and Shopify, an e-commerce company that works as a shopping platform for varied companies.
These partnerships have worked in benefit of the La Create members, delivering rich information on how to grow their business digitally and be formidable among their competition.
La Create Sp_ce Co-founder, Marisa dissected recent testimonials related to these relationships, “What I mostly see is people trying to get started, that’s where I feel there is a benefit in these introduction classes—like how do you just get started, how do you take the normal person that’s at home and want to start their business—they’re not exactly tech savvy— these introduction classes have been able to get people off that hump; we been really focused on the introduction level on how to just do it.”
Co-founder, Terrell expanded on the Shopify collaboration, “Shopify is one of the largest e-commerce platforms—if not the largest ecommerce platform in the world and they were able to come and provide training for us, teach people the fundamentals of what their product offers, how to create a store, and how to sell your products—how to market it …”
Generating wealth within the community calls for strong alliances and support, La Create Sp_ce works as a station to meet individuals that may hold a piece of advice or foster talent that propels local businesses to new heights. Their virtual directory showcases firms that are knitted into the Create Sp_ce community, looking to build each other up and bring prosperity to everyone involved.
The Johnsons are individually vetted in the field of business. Marisa studied business marketing at San Jose University. As a Silicon Valley native, she found herself calling in “unique branding and innovation” resources within the entertainment and tech industry.
Marisa uses her knowledge and experience to bring out the confidence in her clients, forging a realistic pathway for their vision to take on a life of its own. She has cultivated her experience from working with companies like Apple, Beats by Dre, and BET.
Terell is from South Los Angeles and held a video infrastructure and collaboration engineer position at Facebook. He is also San Jose State alum, specializing in technology. He built his skills while working as a technical director in the live entertainment industry.
His career led him to opportunities to work for Snapchat, Cisco Systems, and Applied Materials.
In unity, Marisa and Terrell developed a multi-dimensional conglomerate where La Create Sp_ce sits under the Johnson Partners Group umbrella.
Reflecting on what this environment means to the community, Marisa said, “Connecting with people has been the most important part for me, insuring that Black and Brown businesses have a fair chance in staying in Inglewood and however we can do our part to help with that, I think that’s the most important part.”
To learn more, isitlacreatespace.com or find them on social media at @lacreatespace , @tbyrdyun, and @sheismarisaj.