By Taylor Adams Cogan
There’s no question: running social media for all of Deep Ellum is a cool gig. But not just anyone can do it. You need more than an eye for a good photo, some video editing skills, and the ability to keep up with platform trends. For our neighborhood, you need someone who breathes it.
Veronica Young loves her job as marketing manager for the Deep Ellum Foundation, where she consistently lifts up the artists, musicians, businesses, and events throughout the entertainment district. Who wouldn’t? But for her, the role captures the passions she’s had throughout her life.
Born at Parkland, the Dallas native grew up in Pleasant Grove before moving around Dallas, Garland, and Richardson. Before that, her grandparents had lived in the Grove for 50 years. In fact, her grandfather taught music at Sunset High School for 30 years. Dallas ISD’s mariachi program that’s running today, was started by him and a friend who brought the genre to the schools. Soon enough, Veronica would get her first glimpses of Deep Ellum.
“I’ve had so many different moments of time in Deep Ellum, all completely different. My first exposure to it was, I remember being pretty young and my dad being in the car and driving through the Deep Ellum tunnels,” she says. “I remember that it was super cool, and I felt like. ‘Who’s hanging out there?’ wondering what’s going on in this neighborhood.”
Her dad would drive through it, but wasn’t stopping to hang out. A few years later, in the 1990s, Veronica went with her cousins, who were into low riders, which, of course, meant landing in Deep Ellum.
“I would be in a low-rider, usually in the backseat and slowly cruising the neighborhood,” she says. “We never went into the venues; none of us were old enough.”
But a decade would pass. Veronica had kids and lived in Lakewood, then the Cedars. But the music-filled life of her family kept pulling her back toward live music.
“I think the next go around, I was going into the Deep Ellum venues because I was really, really drawn to the live music, I hadn’t experienced it like that, except at home at parties,” she says. “For the longest time, I didn’t realize not all parties have live music. I was really drawn to Deep Ellum for that, and fell into it for that culture.”
At that time, the neighborhood was relatively quiet, Veronica says. She was starting to become friends with a number of musicians who didn’t have any promotions or outlets.
“So, I just took it upon myself because I’ve got the gift of gab, and I’m really good at that. And so, I just started promoting and kind of booking local bands and some spots,” she says. “Really, we were doing it for a beer tab.”
She kept up with this from about 2008 through 2011, and in 2014, she started volunteering for the Deep Ellum Arts Festival. She started interviewing musicians, both for fun and to get their names and work to more listeners. At first, she did this for Deep Ellum On Air, her YouTube show, then moved on to booking some on KNON.
“I did a lot of great interviews and video – Corey Howe, Fat by the Gallon, The Unlikely Candidates, I booked Charley Crockett right before he took off,” she says. “I always wanted to figure out a way to find that connection for musicians in the neighborhood.”
Since Veronica started working for the Deep Ellum Foundation in 2022, she’s been able to do that and more.
“I feel like for the first time, I feel that I’m in a position and supported by something bigger than I could ever be, and working for the Foundation has helped with that, and I think my passion for music is something that comes up anytime we have a meeting about what we can do, how can we take care of musicians,” she says. “We want them to show up for us, but what are we doing for them? If we take care of the culture, then the culture will thrive.”
That’s part of her mission now, alongside uplifting the businesses that are the fabric of the community.
“I’ve always been drawn to Deep Ellum because of my background and family. To me, it’s more than just an entertainment hub. It’s a real community. I feel that, and I see that every day, whether I’m out with my husband walking our dog or the morning or after work, there’s a real community aspect to the neighborhood.
“I feel like I get to impact that community — spreading the word of the amazing things going on, small business owners, musicians, events, I have such a passion for it.”
In a neighborhood that’s constantly evolving, Veronica’s work is rooted in something simple: love for the people who make Deep Ellum what it is.
She doesn’t just run the neighborhood’s social media. She lives it, breathes it, and makes sure the stories behind it are seen.
