Meet Maria Mwangi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Mwangi.

Hi Maria, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Warehouse215 was built exactly one century ago as a Linen and Laundry building in Downtown Phoenix. Over the years, it transformed from an industrial venue to an event space. Before Warehouse215 was acquired by new owners last year, it was acting as a small wedding venue – but we knew the space was capable of so much more. The new owners envisioned expanding this venue as a corporate event space. And they were right – in the past 4 months alone, we have hosted:

December

• 12/2/22 – Friendly House tamale dinner – Arizona’s longest-running fundraiser.
• 12/8/22 – Equality Health held an off-site staff meeting
• 12/9/22 – Paul Johnson Drywall threw their holiday party
• 12/10/22 – Associated Retinal and Catch3Creative hosted their holiday.
• 12/16/22 – Arizona Black Bar Association – an awards dinner.
• 12/19/22 – A wedding

January

• 1/14/23 – Wedding
• 1/17/23 – NACE event, a dinner and educational panel about how to throw a cannabis event.
• 1/19/23 – Rocket Mortgage, a corporate event to launch a new vision and direction for the company.
• 1/20/23 – Suns 30th. Players from the 1993 Suns team and current Suns players gathered to celebrate the journey to the NBA Finals. Thousands of Suns fans attended.
• 1/21/23 – Bourbon Tasting & Cigar. Members of the Cigar community gathered to enjoy premium bourbon and boutique cigars.
• 1/28/23- Grand Batmitzvah celebration for twins, massive party with all the glam and an MC that kept the dance party alive all night!

February

• 2/2/23 – Super Bowl Host Committee. Businesses across Phoenix that were involved in Super Bowl LVII.
• 2/10/23 – NFLPA-Players Association VIP party
• 2/11/23 – NFLPA Trust
• 2/12/23 – NFLPA Trust Super Bowl viewing party
• 2/18/23 – ADVentura Dinner – a night of cigars, cocktails, and a 3-course meal where we flew in the owners of ADVentura from Zurich!
• 2/25/23- Corona Del Sol High School Track Fundraiser

March

• 3/4/23 – Xico 35th Annual Dinner and Art Auction- Fundraiser, “Xico is one of oldest ethnic arts organizations in the United States and is a leading organization promoting Latino and Indigenous culture through art and community engagement. We have a rich network of artists, nearly 50 years of experience, and, along with our partners, an active community voice.”
• 3/7/23 – 3/9/23 – CEO Warrior, Corporate
• 3/14/23 – The Election results for the city council
• 3/17/23 – A Town Hall – corporate meeting, Integrated medical services
• 3/25/23 – A lovely romantic wedding

April

• 4/7/23 – Friday Highday – an enormous community pro Cannabis Event
• 4/22/23 – an 80s themed birthday party
• 4/26/23 – The United Way Breakfast featuring some of the biggest businesses in PHX

We have become a HUB of amazing events, and people have no idea how important our venue has evolved as a meeting space.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
This building was a maze of drywall and small dark rooms when we inherited it. In the process, we tore everything down. We uncovered century-old original brick and massive square footage, filling the space with light and making us officially the largest venue in Phoenix, AZ. The buildout was a struggle – we needed to preserve the integrity of the building, and we were worried that the process of removing the previous owner’s layout would cause issues for us. In just a few months, we got everything up to code, and the most important takeaway was realizing that we did it in record time.

Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us a bit more about your work.
My award-winning event expertise originally started as a hobby in the early 1990s. I began my career as a top-producing loan officer and mortgage underwriter for 14 years. During this time, I entered the event world through my church, which allowed me to organize everything from Health Fairs, Carnivals, and Baptisms, to Romantic Weddings and Large-Scale Conferences. I am so proud to be a part of this team, and my experience has helped immensely with the corporate redesign of the venue.

Shortly after the housing crisis in 2008, I moved to San Antonio, Texas, where I formally transitioned my career into Event Management. During this time, I swept across industries and gathered over 6 Best in San Antonio Awards, 2 Texas Star awards, and 1 International Award from the distinguished International Live Events Association. My events have been covered in magazines such as the San Antonio Weddings Magazine and several other publications, which can be found on our Press page of warehouse215.com. I worked as the Sales Director for Live Nation in the Phoenix Market before arriving at Warehouse215. After arriving in Arizona, I hit the ground running, winning a Zonies Award for Best Event Collaboration in Arizona. I just debuted my latest book with a team of collaborators named “Building Me While Building It” and have several more written projects in the works.

However, this is different from what we have done at Warehouse 215. This venue has become a part of me, and working with our visionary owners and press team from New York has given us the support we need to become a multimillion-dollar venue in revenue. My experience helps, but ultimately, so many faces behind our venue help it become a top venue in Arizona. Please learn more about my team here: https://www.warehouse215.com/our-team

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
When I think about who keeps this venue running, I think about my team. You can read their bios here: https://www.warehouse215.com/our-team. Warehouse215 is a family – every day, we eat together, have breakfast, run team-building activities and have fun. On any given day, you can see my team hanging out in the common spaces brainstorming ideas or getting work done. Our venue is a harmonious friendship amongst family. We are playful, fun, and kind. That is who we are.

Pricing:

• https://www.warehouse215.com/specs

Contact Info:

• Website: www.warehouse215.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/warehouse215/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Warehouse215phx/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/warehouse215/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/warehouse-215-phoenix-3 

Image Credits
Warehouse215