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Episode 9: Let's Build Fuckery with Quida Chancey
124 Plays5 years ago
LaQuida Chancey was born in Manhattan and moved to Baltimore as a child, raised in Baltimore County with her parents and 2 younger sisters. LaQuida graduated from Western Tech in Catonsville and after high school attended Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. She graduated in 2004, with a B.S. in Computer Science and mathematics minor and moved back to Baltimore in 2006 and purchased a home in East Baltimore in 2009.
In 2014, she begin investing in the Baltimore Real Estate Market and Xavier Estates, LLC was formed. As a developer who focuses on affordability and first time home buyers, it didn't seem to be enough to make an impact just focusing on those two things. Her desire was to get into the business of RE to create more black homeowners, and that really wasn't happening as quickly or as easily as planned.
Admittedly, she is obsessed with tiny homes and designed a few with affordable housing in mind because by definition they can be an affordable housing solution. Throughout the years, she has always volunteered with organizations that focused on homelessness advocacy like United Way, #HashtagLunchBag Baltimore ,Save our Village Baltimore, and participated in a multitude of local events. That exposure has allowed for countless conversations and brainstorming sessions over the years. Taking those conversations and ideas one step further, Smalltimore Homes was founded in February 2018 and by April it had received 501(c)(3) status.
After witnessing many of the tent encampments around Baltimore were being cut off from public access and realizing that whole communities were being dismantled was really the key factor in forming the nonprofit. Ending the tent encampments doesn’t solve homelessness, it satisfies the public perception. LaQuida has been working with the homeless population for many years now, but until recently, shel believes there is an actual war on homelessness. In a city like Baltimore where red-lining was created, it’s shocking that 4 of 5 homeless people in Baltimore are black.
After researching a number of tiny home communities on the west coast like - Opportunity Village, Emerald Village and Cottage Village, it was obvious that she could do more here using those models because they are thriving and sustaining communities in some cases for over 10 years. Chancey believes that hard part is done and we just need to tweak the blueprint to fit Baltimore. The idea is that Smalltimore Homes’ tiny home & micro shelter communities could address Baltimore blight and vacancies by deconstructing/disassembling those properties first, dispose of debris, anything hazardous, and keep what is salvageable and safe to rebuild. There are thousands and thousands of properties to choose from, and several deconstruction companies in Baltimore like ARC and Details Deconstruct. She believes it has the potential to be a very successful model for transitional tiny home communities with the potential to grow into an entire eco-system that creates a stronger Baltimore.
Find LaQuida Chancey - IG: @SmalltimoreHomesdotorg Website: smalltimorehomes.org
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Transcript
Introduction to Fabulous Huckery and Small Tamoor Homes
00:00:14
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to Fabulous Huckery. I'm your host, Baroness Brie. Where does our goal to always emerge fabulously in spite of fuckery? Hello, everyone, it's Brie. I'm here with LaQuita Chancy of Small Tamoor Homes. Welcome. Thank you for having me, Brie. Well, can you tell us about what Small Tamoor is? Yes, Small Tamoor Homes is an affordable housing nonprofit.
00:00:42
Speaker
We were founded in February 2018, so just had our first year of service. And essentially, we want to eradicate homelessness. We build micro shelters every month with volunteers at the Community Tool Bank in Baltimore. And like I said, we do that every month. So the next build will be June 29th. And then after that, July 29th, I believe.
00:01:10
Speaker
And so we can come out, help build. Yes,
Mission and Challenges of Small Tamoor Homes
00:01:15
Speaker
come out. Sign up on the website, smalltomohomes.org, just so that we can make sure we have enough tools and materials for everybody to participate. But yeah, every month we do that with volunteers. We build these micro shelters and essentially we want to put these micro shelters out like a tiny home and get people off the street.
00:01:37
Speaker
Now how many have you built so far? So far we've built three. We have funding though for up to 15. So as soon as I can find a permanent placement for the micro shelters, I'll ramp up how frequently we're building and how quickly we move and such like that.
00:01:56
Speaker
So you are doing this, have you partnered with any particular homeless shelter? How do people get selected to move into the homes? So I would partner with either Healthcare for the Homeless or House of Ruth or Catholic Charities. There are tons of
00:02:13
Speaker
homelessness initiatives right there on Baltimore. But right now, I'm in contact with them, but we haven't formed an official partnership until I found a permanent placement for the shelters. Right now, if I were to put them out, they are considered illegal structures and I could be fined.
00:02:33
Speaker
Oh, so yeah. So I'm advocating for them to become legal and for zoning to create an exception because there are 4,000 people that sleep on the street every night. That's pretty ridiculous. Considering we have almost 20,000 vegans in Baltimore. It's like, what are we doing? What can regular people listening today, what can they do to help?
00:02:53
Speaker
OK, they can come and volunteer with us.
LaQuita's Journey and Real Estate Investment
00:02:58
Speaker
Every other month, we have a different fundraiser activity. For the month of June, I'm doing way more than I've ever did. And so we're doing a 30 days of thanks. And basically, in the past, I've had different supporters donate gift cards and such.
00:03:18
Speaker
And those gift cards will kind of be raffled off. So you can purchase a raffle ticket on the website. You can come and volunteer. You can flat out donate. You can sponsor a shelter. They are $1,250. And that includes all the materials and outfit for the person who's awarded the shelter to go and interview in, waterproof book bag, waterproof sleeping bag.
00:03:46
Speaker
all the accoutrements of what we consider normal life. Nice, okay, so you are thinking through the whole process. I am doing my best to think through the whole progress, yes. So in addition to small to more homes, you're also a real estate investor, realtor, you do a little bit of everything. I do, so I'm not exactly a realtor, I do work with a lot of different real estate agents and I got started by using my
00:04:14
Speaker
Retirement fund to purchase property so instead of investing in stocks or whatever else it is that most people do invest in I? Redirected my 401k money to a self-directed IRA and I've been doing that in Baltimore for about five years now and
00:04:35
Speaker
And, you know, not officially, but I teach other people how to do that. And I'm thinking of doing it on a more consistent basis. I do feel like we need to create more generational wealth within our community. Yes, ma'am. Yes,
Influences from Travel and Wealth Perception
00:04:50
Speaker
ma'am. So wait, so in addition to this,
00:04:53
Speaker
I'm just saying, because you're doing a little bit of everything. You do so much, you do so much. So, Laquita and I went to school together, and we have known each other for a long time. We won't say how many years, but many decades. And I'm so proud of you watching your progression, because you wanted to go and venture out and go to Spelman and leave home. Yes, as far as possible.
00:05:16
Speaker
How do you think your travels, and because you travel, you're a frequent traveler, how do you think your travels have helped to form what you're doing right now with small tour? So that's a very interesting question. I remember when I did graduate, there were girls who were getting homes
00:05:34
Speaker
as a graduation gift. And that, to me, blew my mind. At that moment, my parents hadn't owned a home. I hadn't owned a home. And then when it came down to it, I ended up buying my first house before my parents bought theirs. So the fact that girls were being gifted homes to me was just like, oh my god, how did that happen? I need to learn more. So I did start.
00:06:01
Speaker
Being interested in real estate in Atlanta, nothing really popped off at the time. At one time or two, I was looking to buy in Atlanta, but the way life has it, I ended up moving back home with my family. And being around so many well-off black people, I think changed my mindset into that whole generational wealth and understanding how to make your money work for you and things of that nature.
00:06:29
Speaker
So, and then in my find, starting by investing in Baltimore, I was very intentional about I want to create first-time homebuyers that look like me. So, there were no bidding wars. It was first come, first serve. I'm not going to price out of the market just because you can give $20,000 and this other person couldn't. So again,
00:06:52
Speaker
First time, you know, first
Financial Literacy and Asset Prioritization
00:06:54
Speaker
time home buyers, most of them end up being young. And I was very intentional with that in my real estate. So I jokingly say that it was more or less a hobby because it wasn't for the money. It was to build, you know, wealth.
00:07:07
Speaker
And then small to more came out of that because so many of us don't understand, you know, financial fitness, financial wellness, and how, like I said, to make your money work for you. Like everybody, every company for the most part offers a 401k. If you are going to invest at the very least, start with the matching amount. Like if your company is gonna match you, match them. And with me,
00:07:35
Speaker
I'm not the most loyal employee. So I'm, again, really intentional. I always max out my 401K. Chances are I'm not going to stay with a company much more than three years. And then when I leave, that's upwards of 40 plus K. And I can use that to continue to invest in my business.
00:07:57
Speaker
That is a smart way to do that. So you tell me not to buy purses. Invest in my 401K. I'm saying if you do buy purses, make sure that you are also investing. Or be smart about it and acquire assets to pay for your liabilities.
00:08:14
Speaker
The way my son and I discussed it was he's not wearing my wigs. Okay. So when he leaves, when I leave this earth, I need to leave him more than a wig and some Gucci shoes. So, you know, we have to fix our priorities because what looks good on Instagram
00:08:31
Speaker
don't look good in your pocket all the time. We have to match what we look like with what we're carrying in a purse. Absolutely, absolutely.
Self-Care and Setting Boundaries
00:08:39
Speaker
And chances are, if you look like a lot of money, you might not have a lot of money in your bank account. And I wish the perception of that would change as well.
00:08:48
Speaker
Yes, ma'am, so you're ready to do your world undertaking of changing the girls' world. Yes, I'm trying. You know, I'm just sitting here thinking like I'm listening to what you're saying, and so many people of all age groups can use financial fitness or financial literacy. Do you have any suggestions on someone who's listening today who may want to just say, oh, I want to learn something, what can I do?
00:09:10
Speaker
Interesting, you should ask. I'm starting free 101 shops in Baltimore for investment 101, getting involved in real estate 101, things of that nature. I'll put the information up on smalltomohomes.org, but I would suggest start by reading a book.
00:09:28
Speaker
I know everybody has heard of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. But it puts everything in layman's terms. And then from Rich Dad, Poor Dad, you can figure out what it is that you wanna do with yourself or with your funds and grow out from there. And Robert Kiyosaki has an entire plethora of books. So find which one suits you the best and start there.
00:09:55
Speaker
So with everything you're doing, fabulous fuckery is also about self care and wellness and what you're doing to keep yourself together. You told me about all these lines of income, multiple streams of lifestyle, foolishness you got going on. What are you doing to keep yourself healthy? What are you doing to keep yourself sane?
00:10:12
Speaker
So I didn't know this about myself until somebody like put it in layman's terms But I don't have a problem with telling people no okay, so if I am not gonna come to your party I'll be honest and be like nope. I'm not gonna be there, but you always had good but healthy bamboo
00:10:27
Speaker
Yes, ma'am. Yes, I have absolutely healthy boundaries. I like to get my nails done. I like to get all those things. I don't, however, spend that much money on my hair. That's something I do myself, but I do like to be pampered.
00:10:47
Speaker
I'm learning to get more rest. I'm learning to get better at at least taking naps even if I get an idea at 2.30 in the morning and I start sketching and then I realize, oh my god, it's 7 o'clock. I'm going to have to go to work. Yes, ma'am. I'm getting better at catching those cat naps and making sure that my relationships are healthy.
00:11:10
Speaker
Not to sound selfish, but that they suit me and that they're not draining of me or my time. No, trust me. I understand it's nothing like doing something out of obligation versus will. And you're talking to
Balancing Obligations and Personal Time
00:11:24
Speaker
someone and you're like, okay, I agreed to do this.
00:11:27
Speaker
Ooh, girl. Why am I here? Did you really want me here in the first place? We have to make sure. Some things we should do for people, not because it is about us. I want to say that as well. Sometimes we have to give back and do take care of the people who have taken care of us. But at the same time, we have to be able to find balance. We all got that friend. That friend and or family.
00:11:51
Speaker
Sometimes it's family, yeah. You know, so we have to be able to create those boundaries. No, good for you, because I can't tell you how many people I have spoken with, and they're like, oh, I don't know what self-care looks like for me. And so I'm looking into what our next level is here.
00:12:08
Speaker
It's like, oh, OK, people don't know what to do for self-care. So I have some products that will be coming out in the next couple of months to talk about some video series on how to breathing exercises, meditations. And I'm not certified, but I do have people I can partner with that are.
00:12:25
Speaker
But that's the thing, you don't have to be certified to know what works for you because what works for you just might work for somebody else. That is true. I think that sharing that information is important regardless of certifications and license. That is true and also I'm learning that maybe this idea that woke me up at three o'clock in the morning
00:12:44
Speaker
Is it my idea to carry? Maybe it's not my idea to birth. So I'm like, I can't tell you how many people on my DMs on Instagram probably think I'm crazy because I've woken up with an entire business plan for a product. And they're like, who is this lady? What does she want? But at the same time, I've had people reach out to me with, oh, I got new logos, or I have this. And I'm like, what do you want for that? And they're like, nothing.
00:13:06
Speaker
Like, what do you mean you want nothing? That's not how America works. And, but it is, but I think with this whole new level of creatives, you have creatives that didn't realize, people who either don't identify as creatives, they're just like, I'm a business. Yes you are, but you're creating, you're creating creative business ideas. And your book is a creative idea, I don't care how logical it is, you are putting pen to paper and birthing something. And I have a lot of people this year that have books coming out, I'm so excited for them.
00:13:34
Speaker
And one day I will finish one of the many projects
Networking and Diverse Connections
00:13:38
Speaker
that are in my head. It's like, you know, how do you put like with you saying you sketch something out? When do you know it's a good, viable idea? And when do you know it's time to throw it back in the trash? Right. Right. So that that part is hard. But I've found that I obsess over things.
00:13:54
Speaker
And I'll write down the business plan and expand and expand and expand and expand. And when I'm totally comfortable with it, I'll start bouncing it off of different people. Like, hey, I was thinking about this thing when really I have the whole damn business plan. You know what I mean? But have kind of a conversation about it. Like, do you know anybody that would be interested?
00:14:13
Speaker
and investment classes or sometimes it's happened by mistake. Like when I first got started, a few people reached out like, oh, you got your first house really quick. How did you do it? Talk to me about it. And essentially I coached three people just as a novice. And five years later, I still consider myself a novice because there's people who have been in real estate as long as I've been alive. But I do believe that it's something that I can share with other people.
00:14:41
Speaker
I think it's excellent that you're taking the time to teach people. Yeah. Because how many people like don't worry about how I got it? Yeah. Get like me. Yeah. Or you know, it's like you say, Oh, your eyelashes are pretty. What kind of mascara is that? Why are you asking? Right. So, you know, I don't know what it is. And we have to do better in our communities and being able to say to someone so you know, some people
00:15:01
Speaker
My girl wouldn't even tell me who did her nails and you're giving people financial tips on how to buy houses. That's a huge deal. We have got to release that this is for me, no one else can know. Although crabs don't belong in a barrel, it's that crab in a barrel mentality.
00:15:21
Speaker
been what I consider myself a professional volunteer forever. I always help organizations. Listen, I'm running a volunteer. I'm thinking Girl Scouts, man. They had us working. From day one, since we could walk talking to friends with people.
00:15:38
Speaker
With that mindset, though, like me keeping all that information to myself only benefits me. And if I want Baltimore to change on a, you know, across the scale, I have to share this information because not everybody likes to read. I mean, me personally, I actually don't. Everything is on audiobook.
00:15:57
Speaker
But that's besides the point. You're still getting the data. You're getting the information. And some people don't want to listen to books. They'd rather do a podcast. So then find a podcast that has that financial aspect. Yes, ma'am.
Community Growth and Entrepreneurial Inspiration
00:16:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:12
Speaker
it's crazy to me because right now people are like oh you're podcasting and it's like okay cool and it's like oh someone else is podcasting okay it's six hundred thousand seven hundred thousand podcasts out there congratulations to everyone there's enough light for everyone to do all everything and so it's like okay how did this person do this or how did this person do that ask them right
00:16:33
Speaker
And if they don't want to give up the goods, ask someone else. Go to the next one. On to the next. And so, you know, we have to be able to say, this is what we do. I have people who, I belong to book groups and they're like, you read it, you listen to the book on Audible. And I'm like, yeah, but Amazon is on track where I am in Audible. And so when I go to open a book,
00:16:48
Speaker
I'm right where I was in the chapter and I can leave notes in the act like everything So one thing I will mention if people are finding that they can't find a mentor I haven't used their service, but there's an organization called score. Uh-huh SCOR e score org they
00:17:06
Speaker
give free mentorships. And as far as I know, you don't have to be a non-profit. So I listen to their podcast. I haven't reached out to them yet, which I will. But there's always somebody that's willing to help. In any way, shape, or form, go to meetup.com, go to one of the groups, hear what people are talking about. If it's not a bad fit, go to the next one in the list. It's easy. You just mentioned what I was going to say, going to the networking organizations, going to meetup.org.
00:17:37
Speaker
Going on Facebook and joining a random community and seeing what the people are about. Sometimes you connect with people locally, internationally. I have no problem with hopping on a Zoom call with somebody in Paris to learn something different. Absolutely. All this technology? It's no reason why we shouldn't have the knowledge. And I am not paying $100 a month for a phone just to like pictures on Instagram. We have got a
00:17:58
Speaker
No, but you think about it. If you're like, I'm not motivated, I'm not motivated. And it's like, well, what are you doing now? I am watching Insta videos of somebody I should have blocked a long time ago. Right. Basically, the envious of a lifestyle that's probably fake anyway. And it's not even about that. It's just, it's just the best use of my time.
00:18:17
Speaker
And as a person who does social media, it's like how do I automate this so I don't have to look at this app until it tells me something went wrong? And there's been some great programs that automate social media, and I'm almost to the point where I'm about to buy a bot so that people can reply to the messages automatically. I mean, they have Intellibots.
00:18:37
Speaker
I use it for I already use it for my Facebook page. So if you send me a message, I'm sorry I'm a it's a I see the messages but the buy answers first. Yeah, I mean, but it saves it saves me eight hours out my day Yeah, most of the time deal time is important. That's the one thing you can never get that and most of the time It's like some dude from like eight years ago. They'll just want to see how you were doing You know, I seen you in a minute. It's like no you say
00:19:04
Speaker
You know, but there are some partnership opportunities happening in the DMs. And so we always talk about the DMs being a thirst trap, but there's opportunities for growth. And we have to stop thinking that every dude trying to talk to us is trying to just get the drawers. He may actually have a business plan. Or it could be both sides and then you can make the decision. Listen, I'm just saying.
00:19:29
Speaker
Regardless, you know you easy on the ISIS like whatever hey invest about yes You want to help me publish this book? Another thing like I'm really Interested in doing a TED talk as well as publishing a book. So one day someday. I'm gonna talk to you about that
00:19:47
Speaker
You know what? When I tell you that this area, I know a lot of people have given TED Talks. They do it at Bethesda, they do it in Tysons. Why is there no TED Talk Baltimore? We have to yell at people. We have to talk about that. But there's some ideas for growth. We just had brainstorming right now.
00:20:06
Speaker
And if you get a group of women with good sense, and not even that, everybody has a different, like some people do makeup, some people do investing, some people are writers. I think what we do is we tend to pigeonhole ourselves with I'm an investor, I only hang with investors. And you need to be able to be in every room. And you should be able to go to the barber shop and tell somebody your idea. You may get somebody at the barber shop. The nail salon. I've met a lot of my new favorite people at the nail salon.
00:20:34
Speaker
You know, you get that glass of champagne, you start talking about your life. Right. Just ideas flow. And it's just too many opportunities. So you said your next big event is when? So we are going to do the first Investment 101 next.
00:20:54
Speaker
Wednesday, I believe, in the evening, 6.30 at Old Major in Baltimore. It's in Pigtown. I'll put the information on my Instagram, which is smalltomorrowhomes.org.
00:21:09
Speaker
as well as the website, which is smalltomorrowhomes.org. And if you just send me your graphics, I'll repost them, and we'll amplify that crap, and we'll get it out there. Big audacious goals. I legit want to create an investment club that can buy a block.
00:21:25
Speaker
There's so much vacant and abandonedness in Baltimore, and we need to put the value back in Baltimore so that it matriculates to the schools, and we're no longer at that 50, 60% graduation rate, but big audacious goals. Well, no, but see, then you're talking about that, and it makes me think about how many people just became aware of Nipsey Hussle.
00:21:47
Speaker
So I didn't, I'm old. I didn't know who he was, but I've seen some of the work that he has done. But I've made it a point to listen to some of his interviews. Dude was deep as hell. So smart. So smart. And so now I hear all these guys either telling me that what I'm eating doesn't have anything to do with Dr. Saby's food rules.
00:22:04
Speaker
Or they want to talk about buying back the block. And I'm like, well, what are we doing about back the block? Well, Nipsey said, and I'm like, OK, cool. So if you listen to Nipsey, what's the next steps? How do we move forward? How do we grow our own communities?
00:22:21
Speaker
And you know, I'm so upset that he's gone so soon, but we have that knowledge, just like Pac left us his knowledge, just like Biggie left us their knowledge. What are we going to do to grow our neighborhood, to grow our pockets? I really think that being a Biggie baby, him and Puff, they motivated us to get out here and get money. That's still some of my, you know,
00:22:42
Speaker
My hustle music when I'm doing some stuff last minute. So I think every generation has that artist that, he's got a whole generation, what are they now? So we got like, I'm like a borderline millennial, borderline xenon, and then my, wait a minute, so it's millennials, zenials, and then, I don't remember what my youngest is. Gen Z's or something like that. And so it's like, listen,
00:23:09
Speaker
All of us want the same thing, we want growth, we want happiness, we want money, we want to be secure.
Building Brands Beyond Social Media
00:23:14
Speaker
No matter what it looks like, we have to have people, I think Instagram is such an amazing tool, but we have to figure out what's next after Instagram. And if Instagram disappears, just think about when it's down for a little while and people can't tell you what they had for lunch. What are we doing to build our own brands? So I can say, hey, you can find me at fabulousfuckery.com.
00:23:37
Speaker
but all my stuff goes back to Instagram. So we have to build our brands and make sure we own our content. Yes, big, big facts. YouTube goes down tomorrow, there's a lot of influencers that are gonna go hungry. So we have to make sure we have real products and multiple streams of income to get those dollars. All
Closing Remarks and Gratitude
00:23:55
Speaker
of the above.
00:23:55
Speaker
So now, give me your handle for your social media accounts. Okay, that is smalltomohomes.org. So that's small with two L's. T-I-M-O-R-E-D-O-T-O-R-G. Smalltomohomes.org. And it's the same on Facebook, but instead of DOT being spelled out, it's an actual dot. Facebook allows you to do that. And then my website is also smalltomohomes.org.
00:24:26
Speaker
Okay. That's what's up. So you will have, um, you'll be linked on the website. We'll have all your information. Um, I go back and do show notes when this is over. So everything we talked about, I'll find all the links and be like, there ain't no link to that. So, but we'll find it and we'll get it on the website. And thank you so much for coming and telling us about your journey. I'm so happy. I got to see you so much for having me.
00:24:47
Speaker
Guys if you have any questions, you know, you can hit me up Instagram Facebook Twitter at fabulous fuckery or at Baroness Brie I look forward to tuning in with all you guys soon. Please send me messages and please subscribe and listen Just share with a friend and see you next episode