Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Wright.
Hi Michael, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
BIO: Michael Wright
Growing up in Detroit shaped who I am. This city has a spirit unlike anywhere else in the world! There is a resilience, grit, and spirit here that simply cannot be replicated. Detroit shaped me but exposure saved my life. I was blessed to have had the opportunity to live in five different states, Michigan, Virginia, Colorado, Arizona, and Tennessee, and travel internationally In 2011, I made the intentional decision to invest in Detroit because I saw an opportunity that many others overlooked. I moved back to Detroit because I wanted to raise my family here and be part of Detroit’s comeback story instead of watching it from a distance. I’m happily married since 2013, my wife and i are raising four amazing sons!
I officially started investing in Detroit real estate in 2012 while working full time in corporate America. For more than a decade, I built my career with a Fortune 500 company, serving in roles that ranged from Industrial Engineering and Project Management to leading recruiting initiatives and managing multimillion dollar business programs. That experience taught me how to solve complex problems, manage people, and think strategically, skills that became invaluable as I built my real estate company on nights and weekends.
In August 2022, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life. I left my corporate career to become a full time entrepreneur. It was a leap of faith, but it allowed me to focus completely on the three things that matter most to me, my family, my community, and real estate.
Today, my company WCI specializes in purchasing distressed properties throughout Detroit, renovating them, and providing quality, affordable housing for families, many of whom use Section 8 housing vouchers. Our mission is simple: Rebuilding Detroit One House at a Time. That is much more than a slogan. It is our lifestyle. We believe every abandoned or neglected home has a story and deserves another chance. We love taking houses that others overlook and transforming them into beautiful, functional homes where families can thrive.
To me, real estate is both artwork and mission work. Anyone can look at a boarded up house and see what is there today. Vision is seeing what it can become. I have always believed that vision is different from sight. You need faith to see the finished product long before anyone else does.
Over the years, WCI has grown into a successful real estate portfolio and has been involved in hundreds of real estate transactions. But success is not measured only by properties or dollars. It is measured by the families we serve, the neighborhoods we help stabilize, and the opportunities we create for others.
One of the accomplishments I am most proud of has nothing to do with real estate. Alongside my business partner, I cofounded BLCK Detroit, which stands for Building Legacy Cultivating Knowledge. It is more than an apparel brand. It is a movement centered around legacy, education, ownership, and community. I also co-lead a mentoring program that meets weekly at a Detroit Public School. Since 2022, we have been committed to showing young people tangible evidence that homeownership, entrepreneurship, and wealth building are possible regardless of where they start.
Family is at the center of everything I do. I am blessed to be married and the father of four sons. My greatest accomplishment is not the portfolio we have built. It is that I have been able to build it alongside friends and family who share the same vision. As I often say, my biggest flex is being able to do business with my friends.
At the end of the day, I am simply a home grown Detroiter who believes in this city’s future. My goal is not just to renovate homes. It is to help restore hope, create opportunities, and leave Detroit stronger than I found it.
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?
These have been many challenges along the way! In Detroit real estate one of the main challenges is overcoming some of our cities very past public struggles. As I was graduating with my undergraduate degree in 2008 the nation was going into a national recession. In 2010, Detroit declared for bankruptcy which had major ramifications. The reputation for Detroit was terrible and deemed a poor investment. Due to the financial climate bank financing on Detroit based project were extremely limited and mostly not existent to small business owners investing in Detroit. I was forced to boot strap, save my corporate check to invest in my real estate dreams. This caused my journey to go slow but I embraced it and it eventually became a great thing because I was forced to embrace the daily grind! Being a business owner, raising four sons, being a active mentor is challenging because capacity has limits. We only have so much energy each day. I’ve focused on controlling my controllables, leading other by example!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about BLCK Detroit?
BLCK Detroit stands for Building Legacy Cultivating Knowledge. Everyone should know that this brand is based on the foundation of the real work we do in Detroit. Building started from real estate, brick and mortar. Real estate changed my life, my families lives and we want to educate other Detroiters to help them learn how to change theirs. Legacy represents what we’re building that will outlive us. It represents our biological kids but also our non-biological kids (our mentees). Cultivating represents the actual work! We’ve learned that people will cheer for you at two spots.. in the beginning and at the finish line! In between is where the real productive struggle happens! Knowledge is the beginning, nowadays information is readily but what we lack is experience, expertise and wisdom. Buy merch/Support us at blckdetroit.com. A portion of each t-shirt goes towards supporting our mentees.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was always a driven, curious kid. I loved playing sports, reading and observing my environment. I would play basketball, street football all day outside with my friends and credit alot of those moments for making me who I am today. I loved reading books and truly believe that /education is the passport into the future. I’ve always had a entrepreneurial spirit. I used to cut lawns to make extra money. I worked at taco bell. I even worked at Ronnies meats in eastern market. I always thought about what i’d do when I was older. I always wanted to be a businessman but wasn’t sure exactly how I would accomplish my goals. I was always very driven and goal oriented. Once I grew up I realized that I needed to adjust my mindset to embrace ‘The Process’ more then focusing on goals. Evey time i hit a goal, i never was satisfied. Now I focus on daily reps, enjoying small moments with my family, people I love. I’ve gotten very close to God and daily work on my faith is one of my favorite things to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blckdetroit.com
- Instagram: @detroitinvestor_mike
- LinkedIn: Michael J Wright, MBA
