I chose to interview Chris Butterfield from ProsperUS Detroit for this blog post. Chris handles business services for entrepreneurs who use ProsperUS as an outlet. Chris has always had a strong connection to the Detroit community because he grew up very close by, always envisioning himself living there someday. He began his occupational career working at a record store. He felt this would be a very temporary component of his life because the store in which was employed at was on the verge of closing down. It took an unlikely encounter with a patron in the store during one of his left days of employment that would change that. This individual asked Chris if would be interested in running a new record store himself instead of working part time at one. Chris initially thought the man was out of his mind and passed this information on to his friend who was another employee at the record store. It turned out to be a very genuine offer from a well-established lawyer that would eventually turn into Found Sound. This record store is located in Ferndale and was run by Chris and his friend for a couple of years. This is when the urge for Chris to take his talents to the nonprofit sector began to overpower him. Upon a little bit of research, he felt like ProsperUS Detroit would be the perfect destination for him. He started out by just volunteering one day a week and producing very meaningful product for ProsperUS to utilize. He proved his worth and was eventually given the full time job in which he still has to this day. When discussing the biggest road blocks he has faced on his occupational path, it was more of a discussion about an imagined mental inadequacy. Chris never fully finished college and felt like that meant he could not at first pursue the job he has now. When he finally overcame this mental block and realized he could do his job just as well if not better than anyone who had finished college, then he felt nothing could stop him from bettering his community. Chris has a very unique perspective of what social entrepreneurship means to him. He admires individuals who create these incredibly creative products that for example give the homeless warm clothes or provide clean water for lower income families, but that is not all that social entrepreneurship is. According to Chris, social entrepreneurship includes that mother who wants to open up a bake shop to provide for her family but also donates a batch of cookies to a homeless shelter at the end of the week. Or that chef who just opened his restaurant and teaches local high school students every other week how to cook simple and affordable meals. Chris feels that using the success of your business to help someone else out in any way possible is a good thing. This is what has kept him in Detroit for so long. He genuinely cares for the people intends on continuing to devote his life to helping repair all parts of the community, not just the flashy portions of downtown.
Photo courtesy of prosperusdetroit.org
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