Reimagining Housing & Climate Solutions for Today ft. KC3 Founder, Daphany Rose Sanchez | Ep. 89 - The Prolific Hub Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Aliya Cheyanne (00:00):
Hi everyone, welcome back to the show.
I'm so happy that you're here,thank you for tuning in to
another episode, and I'm soexcited today to be joined by
Daphne Sanchez.
Hi, daphne, hi, how are?

Daphany Sanchez (00:11):
you.

I'm good.

How are you?
I'm good, so nice to see youthe show.

So we're going to dive into Daphne's background
a bit more and what she does,but I wanted to share a little
bit about how I've connectedwith Daphne and how I know of
her work.
So many moons ago, as I'vetalked about on the show before,
I worked in the affordablehousing industry and Daphne has
worked in the housing industryand sustainability resiliency
for a long time as well, and wecrossed paths through that
industry.
It's not so active now, butthere was a period where some

(00:47):
folks and I in differentorganizations we created I think
it was like Black and Latinoleaders in community development
, like a group we were trying toget started to just connect
with more folks of color in theindustry, and I think that's one
of the ways we crossed pathsand connected too, and I have
always just admired your workfrom afar and I'm really excited
to have you on the show to talkmore about it.

(01:09):
So with that, I will pause andkick it over to you, daphne, to
share a little bit more aboutwho you are in the world today
and how you'd like to be known.
Thank you.

Wow, that's a big question.
So my name is Daphne Rosenthal.
Just for those of you who nevermet me, she her pronouns I.
First and foremost, I'm anative New Yorker.
Like I will die on this hill ofNew York City.
I was born here, die here.
I would self-vote that.
And I'm very proud of being aNew Yorker because for me it's

(01:41):
very centered to like my, myculture and my experience, my
lived experience, and I alsowork in the intersection of
energy, housing andsustainability.
I created a firm about eightyears ago now called Kinetic
Communities Consulting.
It's just crazy how time justflies.
You know when, when we met, Iwas working at another place and

(02:05):
really trying to like figurethings out, and then I was like
you know, why is it that likeour community isn't present in
like decision making, and that'slike part of the reason why I
created kc yeah and I apologizey'all, I love jumping around.
You know I mentioned I.
I was born and raised in newyork city.
I, I was born and raised in NewYork City.
I actually was born in publichousing here in Brooklyn.

(02:26):
My father was uh raised bornand raised in Marcy housing and
I was born in Cooper housing.
I really loved uh where I grewup, but I.
It wasn't until I was like inmiddle school and high school
that I realized like people havea negative connotation to
public housing, development orthe projects.
It was such a weird experiencewhere, like I had such strong

(02:49):
memories of Christmases andholiday barbecues and like,
having so much fun in thosedevelopments Growing up.
The more and more I engage withthe outside world, the more I
realize like people are like oh,if you're from the projects,
like you're clearly just likethey treat you like if you're
the bottom of the like, theworst of the worst of society.

(03:11):
And I and I was like bro, Ijust like I grew up there.
I don't know what the hell areyou talking about?
Yeah, and so I.
It used to.
It used to anger me and I usedto be more and more quiet about
where I am and who I am and howmy family and I show up in
different spaces.
And you know my parents hadthis idea of like, well, you
know, we should try to achievethe American dream, which is

(03:34):
such a stupid thing, butwhatever.
So they and my parents are likehardworking civil servants,
folks who really were trying togive everything to me as their
kid.
And they were also young peopleand when they had decided to
purchase a home, they actuallypurchased a home in an area that
was redlined.
And what happened?

(03:55):
And they didn't know that right, because most people don't know
what redlining is and like howit impacts housing.
Today, yeah, and with less thana year of them having this home
, hurricane Sandy hit and theylost it.
We were in the house when ithappened complete nightmare.
And I remember just saying youknow what?
This is the issue.
We continue to fight againstwhat society says.

(04:16):
They want us to be dropouts.
Let's just drop out of school,let's not do anything, let's
just give up.
And my parents are like,absolutely not, you can't just
feed into the stereotype.
Like you need to really, youknow, stand up for yourself,
because we are resilient aspeople and we've always been
resilient for generations.
Like, yeah, but why do we haveto be resilient if people want

(04:37):
us to fail?
And my mom in particular wouldbe like Daphne, like you cannot
think of life like that.
You have to see like the goodthings.
And it was a big aha moment forme because I was able to
connect the dots of housing,culture and like climate.
It's all connected right.
Like it's all rooted in thesame structural racist practices

(05:00):
.
It's all rooted in like justshitty policies and shitty
intentions from priorgenerations and current
generations that continue tohold people down.
So I took that frustration andanger and I started focusing on
like OK, how to ensure othercommunities, other people of
color, do not have the sameexperience that I had.

(05:20):
And you know I talk to folksabout.
We think about like what is ourfuture going to be when we're
kids?
And we think about it from aperspective like, oh, that work
is fun.
And often for people of color,as they continue on in their
career.
Like the more and more you talkto them, a lot of them are like
well, I decided to join thiscareer out of like a traumatic
experience or out of pain or outof frustration not necessarily

(05:44):
out of joy and it's frustrating,and I wanted to take that
frustration and say, like,actually, like, I want to create
something that's like specialto our community.
So I created KC3 at like threeo'clock in the morning on
October 4th and I was like, okay, I'm going to create this
organization to be intentionalon like, what does housing look

(06:05):
like and how do we use climatesolutions to support affordable
housing for our people.
I always tell folks all thetime like I don't care about
like the planet, like I careabout people.
People are struggling today.
Yes, 2030 is important.
Yes, 2050 is important, butpeople are suffering today and
that's what we need to solve for.

(06:26):
Yeah, so that's kind of whatdrives me forward and drives our
work forward.

Yeah, oh, my goodness, you said so much in
that.
First and foremost, having toexperience and navigate and move
through Hurricane Sandy is alot.
And navigate and move throughHurricane Sandy is a lot.
I feel like a lot of peopledon't remember just how bad it
was, in particular, areas likepeople in Queens and the

(06:57):
Rockaways, and the impact thatit had.
And I'm sorry to hear that youand your family lost your home,
the first home that your parentsreally bought, and a part of
their legacy and their desire toreach the American dream.
And a lot of people don't knowabout redlining.
I didn't learn about it until Iwas working in the housing
industry.

Yeah, exactly.

And yeah, I learned about it.
And again it speaks to thatsystem, a system of racism a
system of structural inequitythat ensured that Black and
brown people could only live andthrive in areas that were
either climate disaster areas orenvironmental hazardous areas,
or areas that just weren't idealfor other members of our

(07:38):
society, and it's veryinteresting to think about that.
I remember even speaking withyou before.
Environmental racism wassomething that I, again did not
learn until I was an adult, andonce I learned about it, I
started looking at my ownneighborhood and areas in my own
community in the Bronx, whereI'm like hey, like okay, a lot

(08:00):
of things happen in the SouthBronx or even where I am in the
Northeast Bronx that just youwon't typically see in other
parts, in other boroughs when itcomes to trash collection, when
it comes to the type offacilities that are emitting all
sorts of like it's crazy Wastein the air, you know like all
kinds, and I was just like thisis really, it's really sad that

(08:24):
it's at that point, and I eventhink about the history of the
housing and what we know as theprojects.
Like the connotation that ithas today is not how it started,
like initially, projects werestarted for white people to pull
themselves up by theirbootstraps and eventually reach
the American dream, and overtime that shifted.

(08:46):
So now you mostly see people ofcolor living in housing projects
and you think that that's allit's ever been.
That's not how it was started.
That was not the initial tentof housing projects.
That's what it's become.
So it's very interesting and itsounds like all of these
experiences growing up,navigating the world, seeing

(09:08):
things happen before your eyes,living through really tragic
things have really formed whoyou are in the world today and
how you move.
And I would just say thankgoodness that you've taken all
of that and decided to make adifference and make a change,
because a lot of people don'tsee that and experience that and
decide to do it.
It's hard.

It's hard I think about.
I love growing up in publichousing.
I love being.
It's a sense of comfort, right,if I'm walking through the
projects.
I feel safe, despite whatpeople are saying.
I feel safe.
I know that there's communitythere.
I know there's people that loveand trust each other, that are
like helping each other wheneverybody else abandons them,

(09:47):
and that level of comfort issomething that I have never
experienced in any other space.
And then when you step out ofthe development that I live in I
moved out of it last year,which was like hell.
I was so sad, yeah.
When you step out of thedevelopment, like there's a
Superfund site right next to it,there's the highway right next,
and then it's full ofindustrial buildings that are

(10:10):
constantly like contaminatingthe space and it's intense, like
it's structurally designed toinhibit transportation, to
inhibit healthy food out,inhibit the environmental space,
and it can like you, it cancompletely like, make you feel
like why bother participating insociety if society has just
cast you away?

(10:30):
like it's not yeah um, and Ioften talk to a lot of my family
, my, my friends who are stillliving in public housing, like,
don't, don't let societydetermine how you should operate
.
Don't let society Like it's.
You know, it's 400 years ofoppression that you are
experiencing every single dayand it doesn't feel like that,

(10:53):
but it is that and it is so hardto navigate.
And then you go into the nextlevel of like working in white
spaces that don't have thatexperience, but then they're the
ones making the decisions ofprograms and policy.

yes, so like, yes, yes, so just crazy, yeah,
yeah, yeah, that's somethingthat got to me a lot when I was
working in the housing industry,because I would often and
that's another reason why um,some folks and I's and Anna
Scrub, who used to be at MorganStanley she's not there anymore
now, I think, franz Hewitt, whoI think is still at HPD, and

(11:31):
Stephanie Sosa, I believe likewe had come together to try to
do this, because it was like weare working in these spaces that
are despite the communitieswe're serving.
The decision makers don'treflect that, and it's really
hard to go to work every day andyou have a particular
experience, but then you havebosses and decision makers who

(11:52):
study things in school but don'tknow what it's like to live it
they read the policy, but theyhave no idea of what it means?

Yeah, exactly.
And so there's the theory, andthe theory just completely
doesn't match the reality.
The reality exactly so far off.
And then when there's coming upto ideas and initiatives and
innovations of like well, thisis what we need to do to help
society improve.
We're like well, not everyone'sstarting from the same starting

(12:21):
line.
Some people don't even haveshoes to run, but you want to
have a room that's raised.
It makes sense.

That's the tough part.
I think that's something elsethat I really appreciate about
your work, and just somethingyou've said too like even
talking to your friends andspecifically the work you're
doing through KC3, like reallyadvocating for people to have a
seat at the table, to be a partof these decisions and not just
doing it as like some okay,we're letting you know the one

(12:49):
or two special people in to feellike they have some input, but
not really listen to what theysay, because we know better.
It's like being intentional andbeing serious about allowing
people to use their voices toadvocate for the things they
know they need for theircommunity and trusting that they
have the intelligence and theintuition to do that.
Yes, and I think a lot of whathappens in these industries is

(13:14):
just this like holistic.
I don't know.
I don't know what it is.

We're so happy these mutual aids are like
popping up and I'm like, yes,and where are they popping up?
Like we want to make sure, likethere are people that need
support.
They're not being supported andthey have to continue.
It's great that people aredoing things for social media
and like getting people together, but if you're getting the same
people you hang out with, thenlike then we're not solving the

(13:40):
issue.
Yeah, but that's a toughconversation for folks to have,
because then they have toaddress like well, what is my
own bias?
And like how is white supremacyshowing up in my decision?

making, yeah, 1000%.
And I want to talk to you aboutthe just the delicate line you
have to walk in in being someonewho is from a community and an
expert in your own right, andnow being in this industry,
leading the work that you'redoing through KC3, and how you

(14:13):
approach it.
Like you're from the community,you know, but you're also
navigating these spaces, so Iwould love to talk a little bit
more about your approach andwhat that looks like for you.

Yeah, absolutely.
So I'll start off with, likeCasey threw, those four types of
work.
The first type of work ispolicy and data analysis.
So people have these big, boldideas and we're like, okay, what
does it actually look like forpeople?
And so we'll do a combinationof quantitative and qualitative
analysis to help calm the nervesof like, but we need the data.
We're like, yes, we'll give youthe data and let's go talk to

(14:44):
people to ensure that the datais actually real and it's not
just like giving you some fakereality of what's happening in
the neighborhood.
So that's kind of the first waywe do.
The second work we do is inprogram implementation.
So if there is an idea or aconcept that needs to be
deployed in the intersection ofhousing and climate, then we

(15:05):
will work with local partnersthat are already on the ground
and give them the resources theyneed to deploy those ideas and
initiatives in a way that makessense for the community.
For example, if somebody wantsto do solar, we're not doing
lease structures because we'renot increasing the financial
burden on renters and homeowners.
We're thinking about how toensure that they own the assets

(15:28):
and not have like a financialloan tethered to it Like it's a
grant opportunity, and then howdo they know how to like
maintain them themselves for ifthey are again, or like using
local contractors so thatthey're not hiring someone
that's going to be charging anastronomical fee because they're
going across pipelines?
So that's the implementationside.

(15:49):
The third side is organizationalcapacity.
So a lot of times when peopletalk about community engagement,
they're just like let's go getinformation and then leave.
It's like no, no, no, no.
Like you have to give folkswhat they need in order to
succeed, and sometimes that'seducation on the technology.
Other times it's like they'relooking for project management

(16:09):
training, budget training, timemanagement training,
communication training, and theyneed to get that because if
they're asking for it, we wantto give them the tools to work
in this space.
So we do that across multiplenonprofit organizations and
leadership training and HRtraining.
And then the last thing isworkforce development.

(16:30):
So often in the clean energysector and the housing sector,
they only like to work with oneparticular type of entity and
we're like no, no, no, no.
Every single entity is aworkforce entity.
So we do train the trainerseries where we work closely
with organizations to get themthe resources they need and to
help their staff feel confidentin what they're like having what

(16:50):
they're communicating withothers.
So then all of this, like whatis key for me and the way we
move is it was really trust,like I started off talking about
, like I'm a native New yorkernew yorkers don't trust anybody
and we don't anybody.
We look at you, we like wedon't trust you.
We just don't trust you and inthis space, I've always

(17:12):
vocalized this because I said ifI don't trust you, how am I
expecting the community to trustyou?
I can't, I can't get past thewords that are coming out of
your mouth.
They don't feel genuine.

Yeah.

And often a lot of folks are like Daphne,
you're so judgmental.
I'm like I'm not beingjudgmental.
I'm being honest, Because whenyou're engaging community,
they're tired.
They're tired of people comingand asking for stuff and
disappearing when they have towork one, two, three jobs.
They're dealing with rent.

(17:44):
They don't know if they'regoing have food stamps and
medicaid next month.
They don't know what'shappening.
How do I look being asking themlike, oh but, but can you tell
me a little bit about yourenergy bills?
I'm gonna get cursed out I'mgonna the hell out.
So we have to think about how dowe move with intention, and so

(18:05):
I often have these conversationswith our clients.
First of all, we'll determineif we'll take on a client
depending on how much intention,like good intention, they have,
because they have been insituations where we have
customers and they'll come to usand be like we just want to get
this and we're like mm-mm-mm,you got the wrong firm, sorry,

(18:26):
go ask another firm that saythey do equity but they don't
really do equity.
Yeah.
And then when we do have aclient, we we try to just like
well, how comfortable are youwith giving up power?
Because it is in the decisionmaking power that you'll be able
to build a relationship.
So, with the solar project Imentioned earlier, like the

(18:49):
first thing we did was justeducate folks on solar.
So for us, like building thattrust and understanding, like
what the final objective is andthe outcome is, is important.
The second thing is like whatare the resources that a
customer or client might havethat we can just share through
to our partners, again in thatspirit of transparency.

(19:09):
And then the last thing that'svery important for us is
continuity like we really wantto make sure that people can
continue to collaborate evenafter a project is over, because
, again, we don't want tocontinue that and perpetuate
that extracted like okay, we'rehere, okay, goodbye.
Okay we're here, okay, goodbye.
For us, it's really importantto build relationships even past

(19:34):
a program.

Yeah, I think that's really powerful.
I feel like you said so much inthere.
But the one thing I've kind ofbeen thinking about is that
trust component is so importantbecause, like you said, new
Yorkers in particular, we're sohesitant of everything pitch,

(20:00):
about anything, and there are alot of people who feel so
overwhelmed by their day-to-daythey can't think about their
community or the future or earthor anything, what it's going to
be like, or the dolphins.
I don't want to laugh, butpeople are so overwhelmed that
they cannot think about stufflike that.
But it literally made me thinkabout I was just talking to my

(20:22):
mom about this.
I'm like I feel like sometimesI wish we were a little bit more
like Japan or somewhere else.
That really puts people andcities and technology first,
cause I'm just like it is 2025.
Why are people even having?
I'm sorry, but why are peopleeven having to pay for solar
panels?
Like that should be a standard.

(20:44):
With climate, with climatechange and everything else,
everybody's house needs solarpanels.
Like that should be a standard.
With climate, with climatechange and everything else,
everybody's house needs solarpanels and it should not be an
extra charge to them.
There are people who are doingit in my community and they're
doing it, thinking theirelectric bill and stuff is going
to go down.
It's not.
It's going up, like they'remaking payments on the panels.
I just feel like we should be toa point now where we're a

(21:05):
little bit more forward thinkingand thinking about our
communities and people, thatwe're putting some of these
things in place to help peopleand support them more easily.
I love the just four areas thatKC3 works in.
I think they're reallyimportant that question about
taking on a client and whattheir intentions are and making
sure their intentions are mostlygood, but also their

(21:25):
willingness to give up power,because a lot of people are not
willing to do that and workingwith particular communities
requires that if you really wantto help them in the way that
they feel they need the help,yes, and being a part of the
outcome right Because, yes, youwant to deploy the technology
and if people are having otherissues, like immigration issues,

(21:49):
like food security issues,child care issues, we need to
take a step back and say, okay,what are the resources that are
out there that we can present tothem?

Because sometimes it's that Sometimes
people just don't have themental capacity to be like, oh
my god, what's out there thatcan help me, and it just takes a
couple of hours support thatinfrastructure to be built and
then we can move on on the nextconversation.
Like we can't be transactional,we can't just, yeah, and I will
say rosa gonzalez from movementstrategy center.
She, she created a framework,she has a firm called

(22:23):
Facilitating Power, called theSpectrum of Community Engagement
, and we often, for clients thatstruggle a bit, we often tell
them hey guys, this exists, thisis not new or innovative.
Somebody actually wrote it down.
If you're having a hard timeunderstanding, how do you define
power in a project, how do youdefine this?

(22:43):
And this is something thatcommunities have done for
decades.
This is not, this is notsomething I've created like this
has existed before I was alive.
This is just how communitieswork.
And when I still see sometimesfolks are shortening, like think
about yourself.
Do you want to do somethingafter work?
No right, no, exactly.
So if you don't want to dosomething, I need to have even

(23:05):
less resources than you to tryit.
Because of where they live.
I'm like do you understand thebias that exists there and how
we need to make things easier,not harder, for folks in
communities of color?

Yeah, and something that's coming up for
me too is just the fact that somany communities just don't even
feel heard in the first place.
So a lot of times when you tryto have these like workshops and
these community meetings andstuff, you have to get past the
hurdle of letting people vent Ifthey've gone a long time
without feeling like they'vebeen heard.

(23:39):
Sometimes those first severalsessions needs to be them just
venting and expressing stuffbefore you can even get to the
point where you can talk aboutsolutions and making things
happen.
People want to be heard.

Yeah, first and foremost and sometimes you
don't even have to talk aboutsolutions in that first meeting,
you just have to let them vent,vent and listen to them.

Yes, earnestly, honestly, truly listen to them,
yeah.
So I'm also curious because, asmuch as we're talking about
this, the I mean the reality isthat housing justice is
important and urgent, and so isclimate change and climate
justice, and we're seeing thingsplay out.

(24:17):
You've lived through a majorclimate disaster and that's
impacted you profoundly.
Here in New York, we'rewatching what's unfolding in
Texas right now from the flashfloods, and I think people would
like to brush off what'shappening.
But the reality is that thingsare changing and they're
changing fast, and unfortunately, we're under an administration

(24:40):
that is further cuttingresources and budgets for the
types of tools and technologiesthat can at least give us a
heads up in these situations toget out.
So I'm also wondering about theline you continue to walk with
helping folks to understand thatit is urgent.

(25:01):
Like, how do you help folks?
Like, once we get past, ok,we're tired, we're exhausted,
we're focused on our next meal.
Like, how do you actually workwith folks to help them see Like
this does matter?
It does require a bit of yourtime and your energy.
I saw a quote one day that saidI don't know, climate change is
going to be an event that youwatch on your phone screen until

(25:23):
it's happening to you, and thathas always stuck with me.
I think about that often.
So you know how do you helppeople see that climate and
housing justice are urgent andthey're everyday issues that
matter.

Yeah, I think that's a very good question.
I think often, because peoplethat advocate for climate
justice do it in a very likehighly academic way, people can
really disassociate from itright, like talk about climate
change.
People talk about how do wesave the planet, how do we save
the dolphins?
There's these hurricanes,there's these floods, there's
extreme heat, and it's reallyconnecting the dots for people

(25:58):
and helping them understand howclimate change is impacting them
today.
Yeah, you today, when you'reliving in a property where you
continue to have asthma attacks,that's because of bad
pollutants that are in your airevery single day.
When there's constant heatstrokes that people are having,
it's because of these extremeheat days that we're having the

(26:20):
flooding, and that happens allthe time, and so really relating
it to their day-to-day like theprice of food, like we don't.
There's also, like thiscapitalistic corporate america,
that only two people actuallyown your food, but a lot of the
crops it's getting harder andharder to like make the food.
Yeah, that impacts the price ofhow much you pay for your food

(26:41):
too.
It's like all of these thingsare interconnected, like we're
all interconnected, all theissues are interconnected, and
so we try to make it in a senseof just humanizing the concept
of climate to the day-to-daylife.
And often there's amisconception that people don't
care in our communities.

(27:01):
But they very much care, likethey're very conscious of their
health, they're conscious oftheir expenditure.
They just don't have the toolsto move because of exhaustion.
So when we meet homeowners,renters and low income co-op
buildings, we literally just goto them and we talk to them and

(27:23):
we listen to like, where are theopportunities that we can
inject small wins for them sothat they can feel confident and
they can build that momentum?
And the same thing with ournonprofit partners.
Right, they're on the frontline working with people
triaging and supporting.
Where can we insert some littlethings to help them feel more

(27:43):
confident, train their teams andthen move them forward so that
they can talk about like, hey,the next time there's a
hurricane, think aboutelectrification and let's move
your HVAC system to the top soyou don't have to buy a new HVAC
system.
Right, those are little winsthat we're not talking about
like, oh, let's reduce yourgreenhouse gas emissions and

(28:06):
let's decarbonize.
No, you don't have to pay foranother furnace or boiler by
putting in mini splits at thetop of your home and then now
you have a centralized systemthat will not get flooded.
Yeah, so that's the way weapproach it with our community
partner really making sure thatwe're talking about, like what

(28:29):
is happening today that is adirect result of climate change,
and what are the tools thatexist that can help them kind of
move through their day-to-day.

Yeah, I appreciate you sharing those
examples about how to allowfolks to be aware of everyday
things that matter, how theymight be impacted.
And it makes me think too, likemy mom lives in Florida Like
when there's a hurricane coming,like she knows where the
central area is in her community.

(29:01):
That's like a shelter forpeople to withstand that when
she is, thank God.
Like she's been okay.
Like it's not a lot of floodingor chaos that really happens
around her part, but other partscloser to the waterfront, like
all those things like aredirectly impacted.
But just being aware in yourcommunity where you can get
certain support when things arehappening or changes you can

(29:24):
make.
Like you were describing anHVAC system, Like I'm thinking
about my house.
Our boilers are on the groundfloor.
Historically, this area has notseen a lot of flooding, but
that might very well change inthe future.

So it's stuff to consider, and even the
concept of flooding right, likewhen we think about flooding, we
think about hurricanes, butwe're also having a lot of
extreme weather events where,like, rain is just continuing to
pour and pour and pour.
And then we have flash floodsand then we have, like we call
them cloudbursts, but like thewhole street clogs up right and
then all the homes thattraditionally are not in flood

(29:58):
zones are now getting floodedbecause of this extreme weather.
Yeah, like really help me, likeanchor folks and like this is,
this is happening in so manydifferent ways, shapes and forms
, and also doing it in a way oflike they are there's resources
and people to help you, likeyou're not alone, because the
next, sometimes like the nextthing that can happen.
People are like oh crap, likethis is so insane, like now I

(30:20):
got to deal with this otherthing.
It's like take some baby stepshere.
Like there's support for you,there's an infrastructure, the
community that can help you movein a way and in a timely manner
that feels comfortable 1,000%,and I was thinking about what
you shared about food too.

A lot of things are folding into why we're
seeing rising costs for food,things that did not cost as much
maybe a year ago, that havebeen ridiculous in the last few
months or six months.

(31:04):
New York Times had done aboutthe extreme heat that's been
hitting South America, becausethere are many farms in South
America that were growing grainsand other products that they
were exporting to othercountries, and this article
focused on that and the extremeheat that's been happening there
and how a lot of families andfarmers are having to find
somewhere else to be becausethey literally cannot handle the
extreme heat that's happening.

(31:25):
It's killing the crops, it'sdisrupting their agricultural
systems and I remember readingthat years ago and saying to
myself this is slowly but surelygoing to continue working its
way across different hemispheresuntil eventually it catches up
to wherever else.
And I've been saying to myselftoo, like the last few years I

(31:47):
don't know to me personally, itfeels like the summers in New
York City are getting hotter andthe heat is starting earlier,
and I'm just like if this is anysort of prediction or
indication of where we're going,it's not looking great, and
what are the things that we cando and take control of now to
help ourselves and ourcommunities withstand whatever

(32:10):
might come next, or make plansabout what they can do to ensure
that their homes, their lives,everything are able to move
through this and survive it.
So I don't want to beapocalyptic or dark, but it's a
very real reality.

We shifted.
New York climate has shiftedfrom like a humid, like mid
climate to a subtropic climate.
Like that shift is officialalready and we're starting to
see more and more um shifting ofclassifications because of
climate.
Many people are not ready forthat.
And, yeah, really thinkingabout as a society, we we get

(32:53):
excited about new things but wedo really bad on the maintenance
of existing things, including,like our buildings, our systems
and our bodies.
Yes, because it's not cute andit's not sexy.
Nobody likes to talk aboutmaintenance.
They only want to talk aboutthe new things.
Like no, no, no.
Like if our climate has changed, that should be a red flag to

(33:14):
everyone, like ooh, we need toreally start being mindful of
what does this mean for the 8million people that live here?

Yes, yeah, 1,000% for the 8 million people
that live here.
Yes, yeah, 1000%.
Okay, I want to take a deepbreath and a little reset
because I do want to shift gearsa little bit.
So you mentioned already whatinspired you to really start KC3
.
Did it like was it three o'clockin the morning on October 4th
and you know, you just had thispull and this call to do it, and

(33:44):
a lot of folks who listen tothis show are people who might
be creative or who have anentrepreneurial idea and they
want to start something, butthey just don't know how to make
that shift.
So I want to talk to you alittle bit about that process,
because you had mentioned that.
You know you were working at aprevious organization, you made
this decision, you did it overtime, I'm sure, and then one day
you just were like I'm going togo for it.

(34:05):
So I would love to talk alittle bit more about that
transition for you, of course,wanting to make the change and
speak up for the community youcome from and you recognize the
real gap and a real need, butjust a little bit more about
what that transition was likefor you into really stepping
into your entrepreneurial bagand founding KC3.
Thank you.

You know it's interesting when people call me
a business owner.
I don't feel like a businessowner and like I don't feel like
it was very entrepreneurial.
It's just like I need to solvethis issue and this is how I'm
going to solve it.
Yeah, yeah.
What I often tell folks like is,yeah, I was working at another
firm at the time and it waspredominantly like there was
like very little to no people ofcolor in that institution.

(34:50):
And I was just gettingfrustrated that we continue to
come up with strategies andideas and like no one really had
even the similar livedexperience.
And I talk about livedexperience and folks are like,
well, you only have like onlypeople of color have lived
experiences.
Like no, that's very ignorant.
Everyone has different livedexperiences and I do think like
when you're working with diversecommunities and like low income

(35:11):
communities, it's helpful tounderstand like what does it
mean to live in public housing?
What does it mean to live insectioning?
What does it mean to likeexperience temporarily
homelessness?
But a lot of folks that weworked with were like higher
income individuals that lived ahigher income lifestyle growing
up, and so when I would presentconcepts, it was just like so

(35:32):
foreign to them.
Like the same way that y'allwas summering and wintering I've
never heard of that in my lifeuntil I started working now like
, yeah, telling you like theexperiences we've had and you
were not part of it because younever experienced that.
So that was like a big tensionthat I was grappling with and
someone was like well, youclearly want to solve this issue
, why don't you start a business?

(35:53):
And I was like I'm not.
Like I'm not a trust fund kid.
$150,000 in student loans I amthe word broke doesn't even
define what I am, so I can'tstart a business Like this
sounds crazy.
That's like I told the person.
I was like that's like whiteman energy.
I can't do it.

(36:16):
And this person was like no, no, you absolutely can't.
So I took a step back and I waslike well, what's out there
that I can look at and I can seeand determine like, can I just
open this business?
And I thought about it as aproject.
It's like maybe just put twopeople together and like start
working on this project.
So Small Business Services inNew York City is a government
agency.

(36:36):
They have a program called theFast Track Program and it's a
free program that basicallyhelps you decide, like what kind
of business you should open,what are the different
fundamentals of businesses, howdo you operationalize?
And I was like, oh, okay, thisdoesn't sound too bad.
And I remember it because I wasjoking around with this other
woman on my class who was likeyeah, I came because I'm like I

(36:59):
had a dream of creating a sewingclass on boats for kids, and I
was like I was like I had adream of creating a sewing class
on boats for kids and I waslike.
I was like, okay, I was like,girl, new York City, how are you
going to do that?
I commend you.
I love the creativity I can dothat.
I'm a very like old fashionedperson.
I was like, okay, yeah, I waslike you made me feel a lot

(37:26):
better because now, if you'regonna do this, then I can
definitely like come up withsomething.
She's like, yeah, yeah, anybodycan do anything like I hate
this concept of like shiftingyourself.
And it was such a greatconversation because then I
started like fully thinking,okay, let's do this, let's
figure it out.
I almost, because I was in somuch debt because of my student
loans, because because I had mymaster's, which with no
financial aid, which was crazy Iwas like, okay, you know what?

(37:47):
What else do I have to lose?
I had the privilege of nothaving kids and by myself and,
worst case scenario, if I loseeverything, I can just go.
I will always tell my partner.
I'm like I'm going to just goget a job at McDonald's, I'm
going to go fill out anapplication and come with a date
.
And then I also had theprivilege of living in public
housing and I always tell folkslike public housing is such an

(38:08):
important thing because you'reright, it wasn't designed for
our people, but it can beutilized as like an opportunity
to like increase your salary,decrease your salary and you
still have a home, and that'swhy it's so important that

(38:29):
everyone deserves housing is ahuman right, like everyone
deserves a place to live and aplace flexible to their
financial situation.
So I started the company threeo'clock in the morning on
october 4th and I created thename kinetic communities with
the concept of like kinetic isthe movement of energy through
motion and communities is people.
So the name is actually like howdo we move the information of
energy through our people,through our communities, where

(38:51):
the name comes from, and thatsteps for strategic growth was
such a fundamental class thathelped me realize that I was
very scared of the unknown and Iwas like you know, we got to
tap into that energy that's outthere, like the mediocre people
that just do everything right,like people just do shit all the

(39:14):
time, and we're over hereoverthinking every single step,
all scenarios, all possibilities.
What if this it's like, no,just do it.
So I encourage everyone to likeif you're thinking about
starting a business, yes, likeyour standard, do your research,
know your audience, understandwho your clients are, what's the
funding.
But don't be scared of doing it, because the worst thing that

(39:37):
can happen is like you fallright back to where you were at,
and that's not that scary.
It's scary in the beginning andthen it gets better.

Yeah, yeah, that's really powerful.
Thank you for sharing that, andwhat you vocalized is something
that so many of us feel like.
We feel like we can't dosomething because we don't look
like the type of person thatgoes out and does it.
But I will stand by the factthat the world needs our ideas,
the world needs ideas by women,the world needs ideas by women

(40:09):
of color, the world needs ideasby Black women.
We have to get past the fearand believe that we can step out
on a leap of faith and that wecan soar rather than fall, and
even if we do fall, we learnsomething and we try again and
life is short, it is.

Our life is so short and every second that we
have is an opportunity toexplore.
And again I say, like I prefacethat, like I have the privilege
of not having kids, so I knewthat the only worst case
scenario is my own body and I'mlike, yeah, it's fine, yeah,
fine, if I lose everything and Ihave to go to the shelter, I'll

(40:52):
go to the shelter, but it's notthe end of the world.

Yeah, yeah.

That helped ease my pain and my concern.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How did you navigate?
I feel like sometimes peopleare afraid to take the leap of
faith because they're afraid tolike maybe promote themselves or
share their ideas, becausethey're worried about like go to
school, get a good job, likesecure those benefits, like
those that kind of narrative.
And now we're in a generationwhere people are like
challenging that a bit, Likethey're realizing that the

(41:29):
American dream is not what it'snot for them we were promised we
can take a risk if we can,because sometimes the security
thought we thought we might'vehad in this administration might
not be the security we believe.
So how did you kind of navigateonce you started putting
yourself out there, like workingto reach out to the clients,

(41:49):
working to share the word aboutwhat you've started and what
you're doing, Like how did youkind of navigate that?

Yeah, that's a good question.
I think when I first told myparents, they're like why are
you crazy, daphne?
Like you got a good job.
Nobody in our family's everworked in consulting.
Again, they're civil servantsand they had good jobs and they
thought it was like.
They thought I was like I lostmy mind.
They're like are you okay?
Like do you need a break?

(42:16):
And I was like no, no, no, likeI think this is good there's a
lot of fear in what am I goingto eat tomorrow if I don't have
any money?

(42:40):
no-transcript, because I didn'tlike that.
A lot of the folks that I hadworked with in the past would
like assume like, oh, you know,you know, low-income folks like
they're they're okay, you knowBIPOC folks are okay, but they
like they'll always need sometype of infrastructure.
Like I kind of got annoyed ofhearing that from from folks, or

(43:01):
like folks that design programslike this is what people want,
and I was like no, you know, outof spite and out of pettiness,
like I want to succeed, becauseI want to rub it in your face
that you were wrong and that youmessed up.
Um, so that doesn't say this isnot the best driver, but that
was what drove me forward.
Like what my family and friendswere telling me wasn't making

(43:23):
me feel nervous.
It was more of like damn, Iwant to prove these people so
wrong.
Like I want to prove we can dothis and it was good when I was
able to do it In terms oftalking to customers.
Like I really was thinkingabout what are the different
funding cycles that exist, solike there's a lot of public
information out there.
Like New York City, has NewYork City open data.

(43:45):
We have our capital budgetsthat happen every 10 years.
People are allocating fundingdiscretionary budget.
So understanding, like ourstate budget, how money moves
and like how I can integratemyself.
And the other thing I didn'tmention earlier is like I like
we're a mission basedorganization but we're a
for-profit benefit corporation,because one thing that people

(44:05):
realize is like Black women andwomen of color always try to do
stuff as a nonprofit and I haveno grief with the nonprofit
structure, but people don't doit.
So you can do the samecommunity outreach work as
nonprofits and people want togive you 30 cents to the dollar.
Yeah, that's not okay.
Yeah, like that's not.
That's so messed up.

(44:26):
And so we intentionally createdas a benefit corporation so
that we can get our MWB andwithhold in New York and in the
state and city, 30% ofgovernment contracts have to go
to MWBs.
And when we looked at the dataand a lot of people were asking
for waivers cause they said theycouldn't find minority and
women owned businesses, it'slike this is crazy In a city in

(44:46):
New York so diverse.
Like you're lying to yourself.
So I would use that as like apathway to talk directly to the
ones funding them and be likehey, we're an MWBE, we actually
have the capabilities to do thework.
Here's our past results.
We're happy to support you andyou don't need that waiver.
And then, through the customers, they would actually tell their
implementing contractors like,hey, your waiver is going to get

(45:08):
denied because there's actuallyan MWB here.

And I was like yes, Hello, hello there,
brilliant, brilliant, kudos toyou.
I hope you brag about that.
That's so smart, as someone whois like a comms and project
management consultant myself,who primarily works with
nonprofits.
Yeah, it's great.
Yeah, the struggle can be veryreal.
So I love what you've done, howyou've structured your work,

(45:35):
how you move.
This goes back to the.
You know, got to be twice assmart To navigate these systems,
because otherwise you'll bejumping through so many hoops
just to catch a break, and Ifeel like you've not.
Obviously, I know there's beenstruggle, but I feel like you've
moved through this sobrilliantly and to be eight
years in and thriving and eightyears, 10 years, 20 years ahead,

(45:58):
like very proud of you, goodjob.

Thank you.
I tell my team I'm like everytime there's like one of those
folks that like thought we weregoing to fail, I want to just
wear a hat that says like suckyour stupidity.
And yes, I'm very petty.

Queen of petty.
Yes, Hi, what are you doing?
No, why are you?
I forgot you even worked inthis space.
One of the podcasts I like thehost, Les.
She talks all the time abouthow spite drives her.
Sometimes she has a fitnessgoal or a professional goal,
whatever Spite be fueling her.

(46:34):
Sometimes I laugh every timeshe says it, but it can be so
true.
Who doesn't want their get back?

or their lit back, if you doubt me.

You say I can't do something.
It feels so good to provepeople wrong.
Sometimes got to do it for you.
But it's the cherry on top.

I saw some folks like you know.
I would share with you myexperience growing a public
housing Like when I was inmiddle school.
One of my teachers was like oh,you're going to be one of those
typical Puerto Ricans, you'regoing to drop out and have a kid
.
And I was like yo, out of spite, now out of pettiness, I'm
going to go all the way.
I didn't even want to get amaster's degree.
I was like but I want to bepetty.

I want to be so petty that I'm going to be like
what's this, what's?

a master's degree.

What a terrible thing to say as a teacher,
though.
Right, exactly, hopefullythey're not still teaching,
hopefully they're out theclassroom.
We got fired, so I was happy,makes sense.
Makes sense Not the type ofteacher we need.

My mom, was a petty person that drove me all
the way straight to my master'sdegree.
I was like, no, yes, absolutelynot.

I'm not a little woman.
Yeah, my pettyance and mycompetitiveness is yeah, it's
like what is me?
I feel you on that, I feel youon that.
So I'm kind of curious aboutjust kind of what keeps you
inspired in this work, ifthere's examples, stories, just
anything that keeps you inspiredto keep doing this work every

(48:05):
day.
I know your passion forcommunity is so important and
that drives a lot, but what kindof keeps you inspired in this
work?
Because I feel like it'ssometimes it's easy to get
caught up in the day to day thenext task, the next project, the
next client, you know.
So like what keeps you inspiredand like really energized about
moving forward?

Yeah, I think what really inspires me is
seeing how my team gets excitedabout the work, because you know
I feel very tacky about sayingit, but I really love doing this
work and like I really thinkabout it from when I wake up to
when I go to bed.
I talk about it to my partnerall the time, like everyone
knows, like I only kind of wantto talk about work I don't want
to talk about anything elsebecause we really want to like

(48:45):
dismantle systems.
You know, when you work withother people, the other thing
you have to remember is likethis is a job.
This is not everyone else'slike bread and butter and like
they don't eat, sleep andbreathe it.
And it's been really, reallynice to see how much my team,
who are also like a good amountof the local native new yorkers
like they grew up if they're notfrom New York, they grew up in

(49:07):
other urban cities.
They went through public schoollike they've lived in housing
and um.
It is such a nice experience tosee how passionate they are in
executing programs.
So like how they get mad aboutlike I can't believe this person
thought about this like how arethey not thinking about
people's experience?
I'm like, oh, this feels goodto, feels good to see.
I mean, it's not good whatyou're going through, but I'm

(49:27):
happy to see you care.
Yeah, I mean, how much theycare about things helps me
continue on, because it getshard.
You see what's happening in thefederal government and you're
like damn man, we can't catch abreak.
And I think about at the sametime we've never had a break.
And I think about the same atthe same time, like we've never
had a break.
I'm not lying, you know.

(49:47):
Everybody talks about how greatthe Biden administration was,
not for, like, our communities.
We're still not prioritized.
People talked about ourcommunities.
We actually did everything andthat's the fundamental problem.
So what's inspiring is to see,like how my team moves.
And then it's also inspiring tosee, like how, like the

(50:11):
outcomes of them, so like howmore and more people are curious
about the conversation.
And that curiosity is hugebecause, in my opinion, if
there's curiosity, that meansyou bridge trust and trust the
highest thing to get from NewYorkers.
They will curse you before theytrust you.

All I can say again is facts when it comes to
that.
So, yeah, thank you for sharingthat.
That's really powerful.
I feel like I usually like tohave a little bit of a follow,
but there are two sort of thingsI want to ask you.
How have you one navigated thegrowing pains of building KC3
and growing your business andbringing on members of your team

(50:46):
and, simultaneously, how haveyou stayed grounded?
Because amid growing pains,there are a lot of highs and
successes and wins.
You've been acknowledged byCranes 40 Under 40.
You've been acknowledged by theNational Urban League.
So how do you navigate toughertimes in your business but also
stay grounded, especially whenyou're being recognized for
incredible work?

Yeah, I think in the grounded for the tough
times part, one big lesson Ilearned as a business owner and
I tell every business owner isreally learn what you don't have
the skill sets for.
In the beginning, when Istarted my business, I was
trying to do everything I wasdoing the programming, the
people, the operation, the HRand I was like only having like

(51:30):
three hours of sleep a day andit was driving me insane.
I took a step back because it'snot fair to yourself and it's
also not fair for your team.
Took a step back.
Okay, what are the resourcesthat I need and how do I
intentionally fundraise forthose resources?
So then we rolled out we gotfirst HR, then we got a
leadership coach, then we got amanaging director, then we got

(51:52):
an operation finance directorand I think these sports people
are busy and I'm like and that Iwas doing all four of those
things Like yeah, yeah, that'sone thing I tell every business
owner is like assess, like whatyou're good at and what you want
to do in your company, move allthose other pieces that you
have to do and like fundraise toto have people manage.

(52:13):
It's like so, so important, andit's often like on.
It's invisible things.
So, like we, we were so glad,um, we worked with another um
minority-owned business,woman-owned business called cage
for HR and Sierra Gross she'samazing.
She was like girl, why are youdoing all of this?
She set up our performancereview, structures, our
employment.
It was like phenomenal at HR.

(52:36):
And then we worked on MalayaSolution because people need and
a lot of companies don't dothat, but they need need the
tactical, but they also needlike the mental and emotional,
like support system and I can'tdo that Like I'm very direct as
a human being and that's mystyle of communication and that

(52:57):
might not be like a badintention, but you know everyone
has different approaches tohearing how community works and
so having a leadership coach andand then other people right,
like conflict resolution or likehow do you navigate time
management or or how do you showup in space, and so leadership
coach helps you grow, get rid ofimposter syndrome, which was

(53:17):
huge, is actually yeah thingthat like people were struggling
with.
The leadership coach gives youthat.
Um, and then the managingdirector is like the person that
does all the day-to-day, likethe strategy with the team that
we wind up hiring in-house andour finance and operations.
Take all the invoicing andpayroll and all that crazy stuff
I was doing, like that's thebiggest thing.

(53:38):
And then, on the high pieces, Ithink what's always been very
important to me, and that's whyI really appreciate when people
recognize me and I thank them.
I'm not a very big fan of beingrecognized, though, and I
talked to the leadership coach.
He's like no, no, you need tofeel good about the recognition.
My own imposter syndrome showsup because I say we haven't

(54:02):
solved the issues.
Like, yeah, you're trying toboil the ocean girl.
Because I say we haven't solvedthe issues.
Like, yeah, you're trying toboil the ocean, girl, but you're
not going to solve what you'retrying to solve because you have
to take away power from so manypeople.
But you need to appreciatethose smaller wins.
Yeah, no-transcript.

Yeah, I love what you share around that just
in terms of recognizing whenpeople are smarter or better at
something than you and bringingthem onto your team or
outsourcing, but also pullingother people in, not in a way
that just diminishes your lightand your recognition, but also
in a way that just shares.
People believe that there's notenough to go around, and there

(54:58):
absolutely is.
So even you taking a moment inyour own recognition to call
someone else in is reallypowerful, and I think that's
such brilliant advice to anyonewho might be listening about
like what to do if they'refeeling overwhelmed with the day
to day, and like beingintentional about fundraising or
securing grants or raisingresources to help them have the
team that they need, but alsostanding in your own light and

(55:21):
bringing others into the lightwith you.
So I think that's reallybeautiful.
We're getting near the end here.
Just so sad.
I feel like I could talk to youall day.
Like just so much wisdom.
So thank you for sharing.
I think for anyone who might belistening, whether or not they
want to be an entrepreneurwhatever the case may be they
might just be more curious.

I even tell my little nephews and my nieces I'm
like, start your LLC, like, ata minimum, start your LLC.
Facts been telling my littlenephews and my nieces I'm like,
start your llc, like at aminimum, start your llc because
it's crazy, like the amount ofgenerational wealth you can
create, just like starting yourbusiness.
You don't have to quit your job, just find something you're
good at.
Start your llc.
White woman had told me thisand I never believed it.
I was like, oh my gosh, likethis is crazy.

(56:00):
This is this is this is how.
Like our, like we we need to beour own owners of something.
You can have your 9 to 5, butif you start playing in the
sandbox with an LLC, you startfeeling more and more confident.
I'm not telling you to do what Idid.
I have a problem.
I go all in all the time andI'm like, oh, what am I doing?

(56:22):
That's my issue.
And I was like, fuck y'all, I'mgoing to go.
You don't have to do that.
Like an LLC is not that it's.
You know it's a littleexpensive.
It's like $120 in New York Cityand then you have to advertise
it, that's it.
Then you know, if you don'tmake funds, you know, you do
your taxes $25, et cetera andyou carry it on taxes, $25, etc.

(56:47):
And you carry it on.
But I think that's one of thethings I do want to tell
everyone.
Listening, like, if you'rethinking about the idea, that's
a small jump, it's not as big asit seems.
And and also, if you don't justcome up with a name and if you
don't like the name, you canchange it.

That's a nice thing yeah, so that's so true
too.
Yeah, I know, yeah, that'sreally important, but do it yeah
and it worked?

I think so too.
So the reason I tell my niecesand nephews I'm like you, do it
today that y'all are young.
You know they're 19 and 20.
They're like kids.
They're my rugrats.
I'm like you do it now.
Then when you're in your 20sand 30s, you'll be like I've
been in business for 20 years.

And people would love that.
That's so true.
That's a good point.
I love that.
I completely agree with you,because when I started
consulting work, I wasn't doingit under an LLC, I was just
doing it as like a side thing tomy regular job and I didn't
create my LLC until two yearsinto doing that.
I mean, I think it's worth it.
There are some tax benefits todoing it that way, like as
you're pulling in money, asyou're charging other expenses

(57:49):
for other things, like it's.
It makes sense.
It might not be the route foreveryone but it does make sense.
And I love the idea of likestarting one young and then
being able to say at some point,like I've been in business,
because it's true, like onrecord, legally you've been in
business and whatever.

Yeah, it's true , and again, that's what a lot
of these other people do.
So it's like why are we doingthe same?
Why are we not pulling the samecard?

Yeah, I think that's really powerful advice.
So you gave advice for theentrepreneurs.
But I even want to take a stepback for folks who might be
listening and feel compelled now, after this conversation, to
get more involved with, likeclimate justice or housing
justice.
If you have a word of wisdom ora piece of advice for someone
who's maybe outside of the space, who might want to support in

(58:32):
some capacity, what are smallthings they could do to get more
involved in their community,yeah, um, I will say look at
what the environmental justiceorganizations in your community
are doing.

I know a lot of folks say, like call, email
your representatives.
Sometimes you don't want to dothat, and that's okay.
Like there can be spaces whereyou can just go to an event and
listen right and learn moreabout what's happening in your
neighborhood.
Or, you know, looking at if youwant to like get more down and
dirty, like what are thevolunteer opportunities?

(59:04):
And there's also so much online.
Let's say you don't want to doany of that, just Google what is
happening in Parkchester Bronxin terms of environmental
justice and learn about it andabsorb the information.
And if you do want to dosomething, like if you want to

(59:26):
get an electric vehicle, youwant to get a house or you want
to change your HVAC system, as Iwas talking about, put on solar
, look it up too and talk topeople.
Just think like talking topeople is so important, need it
like the more we're alsoforgetting how valuable it is to
just be virtually or in personand like communicate with one

(59:50):
another.
So just talk to people.

Yeah, yeah, I love that too.
It reminds me yesterday, mygrandmother.
She's always in her garden andwe have a neighbor that we'll
usually like wave to, but wedon't always like.
You know, sometimes theneighbors you wave you're polite
, it's casual conversation, butyou don't like go in depth and
it's been a long time sinceshe's done that with a
particular neighbor.
But yesterday she was like I'mgonna, I'm gonna cross the

(01:00:13):
street and go over there andjust strike up a conversation.
And she did and she was likehow he was so happy to talk to
her and just connect againbeyond just being like you from
across the street, and I wasjust like, yeah, that's a small
example.

Daphany Sanchez (01:00:27):
I agree, and I think, especially after COVID,
like we as humans are yearningconnection and yearning
relationships and we've lostthat and now we feel awkward,
like reaching out to folks.
I tell my friends I was likeyou know, after COVID I was like
let's schedule third Sunday,third Saturday, we'll go do this

(01:00:47):
.
Like, let's go back to the daysof like yo you busy, no great,
let's go.
Let's go get food, let's go geta pizza.
Let's go do this Because, beingtogether, you want to go watch
a movie.
Let's just let's turn onNetflix and just chill.
We need to go back to those1990s style of like.

Aliya Cheyanne (01:01:07):
Yes, yes, I agree, such a different era.
There's a lot we didn't know,but so much has changed since
then.
So I feel you on that.
So one of my last questions foryou before we let the folks
know how to work with you, whereto find you all the things is
around alignment, because I talka lot about alignment on this
show purpose and alignment.

(01:01:27):
You're very much living in yourpurpose.
I know like you love talkingabout the work you do, but I
would also love to know whatdoes alignment look like in your
life right now?
Not just work, but just ingeneral, like taking care of
yourself, like aligning withthings that support your mission
, personally, professionally,like what does that look like?

Yeah, I think that's a great question.
I will say there's two thingsthat come to mind.
I was talking about myreverends, my nieces and my
nephews like one thing that Iexperienced two years ago, like
I had a couple of family memberspass away back to back, and it
was such a like.
It was such a reality check forme, because I love the work
that we do and I put my wholebody, spirit and soul into it.

(01:02:10):
But I often spent so much timeworking that I myself was
forgetting how to connect withfolks in terms of spending more
time with family and friends.
So once that happened, thatmade it intentional for me to be
like boy.
I need a pause, like I need ahard reset and I need to try to
like start seeing people andconnecting with people.

(01:02:31):
The work is important, butwhat's more important is like
the memories that I get to buildwith my family and it's selfish
of me and I don't care Like thememories that I'm getting to
build with my family, my friends, and like feeling like, as days
go by, I'm enjoying thatexperience and knowing that
community still exists and it'sstrong.
So that's one thing that isvery, very important to me in my

(01:02:53):
alignment.
The other thing and this goesinto the petty competitiveness
part of my People are going tobe like damn, this girl sucks.
No, I'm kidding, I know.
No, my friend had been.
She's going to kill me for thisstory.
My friend was twerking and shebroke her knee Right.
Twerk when you're long, kind ofthing I feel bad for laughing.

(01:03:17):
No, it's funny, I laughed at her.

I hope she's okay.

No, it's great.
She was twerking and she brokeher like she broke her knee.
She had to get surgery.
And then she was like I'm goingto run the marathon.
I was like, if you're going torun the marathon with that knee,
no, you can't, I'm going to runthe marathon.
I started running and we ranthe marathon together last year.
That's like a fun, funny,tragic but also beautiful story

(01:03:44):
at the same time.

That's really cool, yeah, there goes to my
competitors.

I'm like, if she could do it, then I like
what's, what's my excuse?
so I continue to run now, um,and I'm gonna try to do it again
this year, um, but these arelike things that I I have been
trying to be more intentional inthe past two years of being.
Like.
You know, I started the companywhen I was 25.
I'm now 33.

(01:04:09):
And I didn't realize howquickly time flew.
And now that I'm this age, I'mlike, oh, I don't want to be 43,
53, you know, 63, and thinkingwhat happened, right, like, why?
Like I love my work, but that'snot everything.
So I've been a lot moreintentional, spending time with

(01:04:31):
people outside of work that arejust like people in my life, and
then I've spent a lot of timetrying to get my butt to hit the
pavement and run, yeah and run.

That's beautiful .
I love that.
Thank you for sharing thatstory, daphne.
This has been such a beautifulconversation.
So much wisdom, so much of yourjust energy, your vibrance,
your personal story, yournarrative.
Thank you so much for sharingjust being so vulnerable on the
show and for just showing up asyourself, being authentic and
brilliant.
I love this conversation, sothank you.

Yeah, no, thank you.
I really was so nice to see youagain.

Yeah, to talk to you.
I love this.
Can you let folks know where tofind you, where to support your
work?
If anyone wants to work withKC3, any organizations out there
, any individuals like, wherecan they find you?
Yeah?

So we have LinkedIn, so feel free to
connect with us on LinkedIn.
My LinkedIn is just my name,daphne Rose Sanchez.
Kc3's LinkedIn is KineticCommunities Consulting, so feel
free to reach out to us there.
If you want to email us, youcan email us at info at kc3.nyc.

Amazing.
Thank you so much.
This has been so written.

Yeah, thank you .

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Reimagining Housing & Climate Solutions for Today ft. KC3 Founder, Daphany Rose Sanchez | Ep. 89

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Reimagining Housing & Climate Solutions for Today ft. KC3 Founder, Daphany Rose Sanchez | Ep. 89