Today we’d like to introduce you to Ibrahim Mohmed.
Hi Ibrahim, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started CourtSide Media as a junior at Ohio State. I took a class with Eddie George as the professor which taught the business of sports. Through that class, I got an internship with the NFL and was the only student that brought in other guests such as Michael Redd. Eddie took notice and wanted me to create a marketing campaign for his wealth management firm at the time. That turned out to be my first content project with Eddie George teaching then soon-to-be rookie Jerome Baker how to be smart with his money. Through that I built continued to build my relationship with Eddie creating more projects with him which lead to me building more relationships in the media industry.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been very tough. In media, it is extremely difficult to get your foot in the door and stay there. The game moves very fast and you have to be able to keep up with things and adapt. I self-funded my projects with Eddie in exchange I used him as talent and build relationships with people in the industry. To self-fund, I took over my dad’s job while he went overseas to visit his family in Sudan. I used to get up at 4 am, drive a truck from Columbus to Detroit, pick up produce from different warehouses, drive back to Columbus, and distribute and finish around 10 pm. I did this for four consecutive weeks, during finals week, and had enough to pay half the project. The other half I would make during the summer when I worked at a warehouse with my friend Gonzo and we would package meat into boxes. Birthing my baby this way has allowed me to endure any hardship along the way because that shit sucked, so I am very grateful this is how it turned out.
Adding on to that, this company was being built in Columbus, Ohio. The one thing about Ohio is media is not a domain expertise of the area, so I had no one in the community I could go to for guidance on how to do things. I have been very lucky and fortunate with the timing of everything aligning for this to work. This includes Eddie only teaching the class while I was there and meeting and working with Ross Smith for the past three years, a social media creator with over 75 million followers across all platforms.
We’ve been impressed with Courtside Media Group, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
CourtSide Media is a digital media management agency for influencers. We help influencers grow across all social channels. Our influencers range from 1 million to 75 million followers across all platforms. We specialize in growing people’s channels with content strategy as well as coordinating, shooting, and editing. We have done deals for our clients with brands such as eBay, AT&T, and SLAM. We recently got a deal with Snapchat to have shows on their discover platform. Our show is growing rapidly being 9 episodes in and over 56,000 subscribers.
I am most proud of the fact that this has all been done from Ohio. The team assembled to make things happen is a team of hustlers. COVID was a blessing in disguise. Although naive to the landscape of the media industry, COVID shut a lot of media companies down. We would reach out to different media outlets and fielded calls with brands such as ESPN, Complex, Uninterrupted, and SLAM to find ways to work together. Those calls were crucial because they educated us on how these companies operate and how they sell their content to various brand partners. We took that game and ran with it in 2021 generating over six figures in revenue.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
I am easily accessible. People can reach out to me via IG or email on the company website. We are looking for more videographers to work with as we scale as well as creators with over 1 million followers across all platforms. We do prefer social media comedians but are open to other forms of creators.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.courtsidegroup.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ibrahim1mohmed/
