MIDLANDS-BASED ENTREPRENEUR RAISED ON COUNCIL ESTATE IS TURNING FAMILY TRAGEDY AND LIFE LESSONS INTO NEW VENTURE

A Wolverhampton-based, award-winning entrepreneur has used lessons learned from a diverse career to pursue a new venture.

Shimron Equiano, the founder of BlocSquared, is using everything he’s learned – from growing up on a council estate and performing in front of thousands as a musician to owning his own recruitment company – to create a new venture.

The 40-year-old recalled it started with being a child always looking for ways to progress. He said: “As a 10-year-old I wanted to be a lawyer. I remember sitting and watching LA Law on TV in my grandmother’s house in Whitmore Reans and thinking how cool these guys look.

“These guys in their slick suits were cool and confident – rockstars in the courtroom. As a curious child, I always questioned why I could and couldn’t have things, so I questioned why I couldn’t be a lawyer.”

Shimron notes how he was always motivated by education and, unlike for many children, it wasn’t a chore for him. He said: “I loved picking up new skills and was always keen to learn more. As a kid in an inner-city area, it seemed there were few opportunities for me, so I made my own.

“Fortunately, I had people looking out for me – I’d work late at school and a couple of teachers who saw my potential and would stay late to keep the school lights on. However, by the time I made it to law school, deep down I knew I didn’t want to be a lawyer as there are no rockstars in a British courtroom – it’s very different to the American setup. But I still finished it – I was a young, black boy who walked out with a law degree and had the freedom to choose my future.”

Instead of entering the courtroom, Shimron pivoted to become an entertainer.

“I put my own money up, using an advance on my house at the time to start my journey in the music industry,” he said.

“For eight years, up until 2008, I was heavily embedded in the music scene – even signing a record deal and performing to 30,000 people at Party in the Park – I put Craig David in a music video and even became infamous for standing up to Damon Dash (music mogul Jay-Z’s former business partner) at a music conference. While I wasn’t struggling, I also wasn’t making the money I wanted to as a musician. So, when my girlfriend at the time, who was in recruitment, was able to buy a new car I decided to pivot again. Fast forward 10 years and I own my own recruitment company, which has turned over millions of pounds in revenue.”

Shimron has remained focused on recruitment but by 2019 with the passing of both his mother and brother within 12 months of each other, his outlook changed. His brother, who died of cancer, was Shimron’s on-stage partner and remains a source of inspiration for the entrepreneur’s next stage.

“After he passed away, I realised that, just like those rockstars proving innocence in the courtroom, I’m still chasing that ‘thing’, that desire to impact people’s lives,” he said. “I visualised BlocSquared during lockdown – knowing I wanted to leave a mark so that my children will understand the legacy I want to leave. After seeing what Captain Sir Thomas Moore achieved, that further reinforced in my mind that there’s no limit to what you can achieve and when you can start to make a major impact.

“Everything I do now is with my brother’s short life in mind – and that is to go even further than I’ve already gone. I’m also returning to the music studio for the first time in over a decade, in his memory.”

All of these life lessons and mistakes learnt along the way have now culminated in Shimron’s newest adventure BlocSquared which is designed to support people with the same burning ambitions to be independently successful.