Remember Your Why
As I was getting ready to work from home this morning, I had an epiphany — more so, what I consider to be an epiphany of what I'm doing all of this work for. I had to remember why I started Ownership Theory and why ownership, and the protection of ownership, became so fundamentally important to me.
The dualities of two worlds and being torn between two socioeconomic statuses as a young adult made the sanctuary of home all the more important to me — but not important at the same time. A white picket fence was never important. Growing up middle class and then moving into an old apartment in an alleyway due to life changes has a way of pushing someone in another direction. There have been times I've remembered crashing on a friend's empty bedroom floor without furniture, and sometimes that's how it goes when life lacks stability.
I always knew I'd end up on the other side of it — I always knew I had it in me to make it out of that alleyway — but what about the kids that don't know if they will, and fall into drugs and gangs?
That question never left me.
I came back to my home state of California with no job and no real plan. Luckily my early years of instability made me much more likely to jump into the unknown and make decisions that most people wouldn't on a whim. Life in Houston had its own complications, and I needed a new challenge — I had an undeniable pull toward something I couldn't fully articulate yet. What I found when I arrived wasn't what I expected. But it was exactly what I needed to find.
The disparity I have seen in my years of managing properties — just in the last three years in California — has completely changed my way of thinking and my direction in life.
California is short an estimated 3 million housing units as of 2025. In the Bay Area specifically, seven times as many jobs were created as housing units over the last decade. The state needs 180,000 more affordable homes by 2031 just to meet regional demand — and right now, only 23% of that pipeline is funded. Over half of California renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing. More than 1 in 4 spend over 50%.
These are not abstractions. I have walked into these units.
The socioeconomic status of families in California overcrowding their apartments breaks my heart. I remember the first time I walked into an overcrowded unit — I was there to inspect it, doing my job. I didn't know whether to be horrified or disgusted — truthfully, it was a little bit of both. But more than anything, my heart wrenched with a sadness I wasn't prepared for.
That experience, and the many that followed, molded me into who I am and directed my passion for housing, development, and affordable housing. It is the main reason I fight for zoning reform, speak out against regulations that will stunt housing growth, and hope to be a voice of change.
I don't get into the personal often. But every now and then, the work demands it.
The work always leads back to the same place: who gets to stay, and who gets pushed out.
More to come.
Sources:
California Legislative Analyst's Office, via CalMatters — https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/09/california-housing-shortage/
Enterprise Community Partners + Bay Area Housing Finance Authority, Bay Area Affordable Housing Pipeline 2024 — https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/news/bay-area-needs-97-billion-unlock-over-40000-affordable-homes-currently-pipeline
California Budget and Policy Center, via constructelements.com — https://www.constructelements.com/post/housing-crisis-in-california-causes-and-solutions
