Exploring Life & Business with Blu Erran of NUE

Today we’d like to introduce you to Blu Erran.

Hi Blu, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always been around the art community my entire life. Going to different art-related events & concerts since high school, but in 2017 I decided that this is the life path I wanted to follow and started curating my own events.

Since then I have organized a multitude of art shows, music events, and brand releases, and created marketing plans for businesses. It’s something that feels so natural and I love that I can build up my community and bring people together in safe spaces. Now I’m at a point where I’m starting my coffee shop which feels like it’s been years in the making.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For the most part, things have gone well, I’ve faced diversity throughout the years of working with different personalities but have always learned how to work with whomever I am organizing with.

This past year was the first time that I was faced with conflict which is strange because it was also the first time I was hired to organize for larger corporations. I found myself in discussions that were trying to get the most out of me without being treated fairly or compensated at all. I put my entire existence into anything I am organizing and curating no matter the scale so it was difficult having to separate myself and my work and knowing when to step away from projects that were trying to take advantage of me.

I think I learned a lot from these experiences and they helped me trust myself that I am making the right choices.

There was an instance where I had to leave a situation that I was contracted for as an coordinator because they were fighting to not compensate me but were demanding that I gave all my resources and contacts. Leaving that space was hard because at that time I was event coordinating for them, sourcing high fashion brands, and redesigning their aesthetic/storefront. It was my dream job but I was being taken advantage of. When I left I didn’t know what was going to happen and how long it would be until I had another opportunity like this one, but a few months later things aligned and I was able to open up my coffee shop. If I had stayed I would not have had the capacity to even process that I can open a shop up so I’m thankful for that experience and the doors it opened up inside me to trust that I can create my own space and begin my journey as a business owner.

I feel like when people ask me what is the defining thing about Phoenix and our art scene, it’s how we create everything very DIY, we’re all going to make things shake regardless of what’s going on. You can ask 10 creatives that have been creating out here for a few years and I can confidently bet that 90% are going to say they pushed to make their ventures happen themselves. Our DIY scene is the glue to our community it’s what brings people together and creates that foundation for younger creatives to realize they can organize their own art shows, music events, and markets.

That’s what made me so confident every time I wanted to start planning a show, I knew I could do it because why not? I see every weekend someone creating these insane events coming from communities like mine. Our community is what continues to ignite a flame in me, I can name a plethora of artists that inspire me and that I look up to, who work side by side with me. Those around me are the reasons why I continue to create, I love being able to create community spaces for all of us and build up Phoenix.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
NUE is a speakeasy-style coffee shop. We’re located in a historic warehouse on Washington St. Nue encompasses everything that I stand for and what I’m passionate about. I have all local artists on the walls, getting our beans from a local roaster, having flowers from a local florist, and curating the space for the creative community to have a late-night spot to exist in and feel safe. I built the safe space that I’m looking for especially at night so I wanted to fill that niche of being open at hours everyone else is closed, and being open on days that a lot of businesses have off.

Nue is still growing a ton, I have been open for a few weeks now but it feels like every day it’s progressing the way I envisioned. I’m in a three-stage process so this is only the first part of Nue’s evolution. I welcome everyone to come in, I am always ready to cater to those who need/want to use the space. I have worked with local record label, Suede Records on having live streams of all vinyl DJ sets. We also just had our first screening of an artist’s short film. The space is made for the people, I want everyone to feel like that is another home for them.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I am a risk taker but a very calculated one. I am willing to go after everything I want to do but I sit on it for awhile and organize an entire plan to make sure it comes out exactly how I envisioned. I think the risk is necessary to push ourselves to do new things otherwise we’d continue to play it safe and repeat what we know works.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/blu.erran?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Other: https://instagram.com/nue.az?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Image Credits
Raphael Romero-Ruiz and Bunnie Vision