Boats in the Baltimore Harbor.
Image Courtesy of Bruce Emmerling.
Although I grew up in a small Massachusetts town, my mom always kept me involved in community activities. I was in dance, gymnastics, youth NAACP, tennis, basketball and Girl Scouts. I was a youth counselor at the local summer camp. Anything my mom could get me involved in, I was there. She instilled a community-oriented mindset in me at an early age.
When I came to D.C. for college, I met so many progressive people—especially folks who lived and work east of the Anacostia River. After selling homes as a real estate agent in D.C. for a year, I bought my first home in Deanwood where residents were organizing to get the amenities they needed and deserved. I eventually joined the Deanwood Civic Association to learn about how I, too, can bring change to the community.
There was so much positive energy around how Black people needed to have a stake in our neighborhoods and the arts and cultural initiatives that shaped them. D.C. was a town where if people want to do something, they could actualize and get it done. In that sense, it reminded me so much of my roots. And I was excited to dive headfirst into making changes that I thought would be cool, useful, and tailored to people who looked like me.
Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland.
Image Courtesy of Melissa Delzio
Now that I’m in Baltimore, where artists and entrepreneurs of all kinds are coming together to shape their neighborhoods, I’m even more thrilled about the possibilities.
On Nakita Reed’s podcast Tangible Remnants, I had a chance to talk about all of this and more—including how I handle myself as a Black woman in the real estate industry, my love for design even though I don’t consider myself a designer, and my views on flipping houses vs. developing communities.
Take a listen and let me know what you think!