A female-led start-up that is bringing strangers together from all over London
“It’s always been about the mission, not the money”. That is the sentiment shared by the founders of What Does Not. They describe themselves as a ‘culture agency’, but at the heart of what they do is bringing people together to share stories without judgement.
Mary, Christine, and Tamara are the best friends who have created a space where people from all over London can come and feel seen. They all worked in various fields in London, but after the Covid-19 pandemic, they decided to get together to create What Does Not in 2022. Since then, it has become a place for all.
Christine told MyLondon: “When I first moved to London, I found so many people who had never crossed the river and I found that shocking. When we all moved here, we wanted to explore and see the city. So we thought, why don’t we make that happen? What if we did something where you could travel south, east, north or west, that gives you a reason to be there?”
That is what led them to create their monthly event called RAW. At RAW, people of all backgrounds are encouraged to share their stories in front of strangers. The atmosphere is warm and inviting and before you know it, a person is bursting into a song about heartbreak, then another is sharing a personal story about depression to a room full of people they don’t know.
Tamara added: “We had a speaker at one event who had told us he was writing goodbye letters to friends because he didn’t want to be here anymore. Then he came to RAW because a friend brought him and he told us that it was the first time he had felt seen, heard, and was able to connect with other human beings – realising he’s not going through this alone. He asked if he could speak at the next event we had; he sang a song, it was so powerful. That makes us feel good. If we had anything to do with helping him even a tiny bit, that makes it all worth it.”
Mary said: “The fact that people feel able and comfortable to come forward with the degree of vulnerability is something we are proud of because they trust us to hold that space with up to 400 strangers sometimes. It restores a bit of hope in the world that people can still be present with each other and be curious. Even though we create the space, it’s great to see the community share the same values.”
The events are held in different venues across London, from The Old Sessions House in Clerkenwell to members’ clubs like Soho House, giving people a chance to walk into places they may never usually enter. Christine describes it as a ‘Trojan Horse’ – by filling famously exclusive venues with people from all backgrounds who may not necessarily feel like they belong there, the members-only spaces become places where wealth, educational background or social status do not matter.
Their events for the first two years were entirely free, with the funding coming from their own pockets. The group also help musicians by giving them platforms to perform and showcase their talent. At the heart of it again is the mission to bring those from different genres together.
Christina said: “We have people from a rock background from Camden interacting with someone from a rap background from Brixton. We are always motivated about creating an environment that fosters collaboration and makes the city in a way feel smaller and more intimate.
“We run into people at random places that say they’ve been to a RAW event, it’s crazy. I had a postman the other day stop me and ask me if I’m the lady at RAW.”
The founders want people to be aware of the work they do through traditional word-of-mouth advertising and actively don’t overpromote their events or people’s stories as they believe it would be “unethical”. They believe that helps retain the authenticity of what they’ve created as it being a safe space for people to share.
Mary said: “When you’re a woman in this space that’s heavily male-dominated and we don’t post all over social media of our daily lives, it makes it difficult to get that funding. Start-ups are difficult but having that foundation of love and friendship helps overcome them.”
Christine added: “It’s hard to show or tell people about the power of what we do without sharing all of it. Our marketing place is basically word of mouth. We have so many people who come in and say they saw their friend at it and then they’d come with their friend. That’s how we’ve built it. We hope to one day have our own music festival showcasing all types of talent.”
The next RAW event takes place on March 19 at the Old Queen’s Head, N1 8LN.
