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On the evening of January 7, the Eaton Fire hit Altadena, destroying more than 10,000 commercial and residential homes and displacing thousands of families. Just a little over two months later, and this historically Black community is facing a new threat. Shortly after the fire, a private developer paid $550,000 in cash for the first vacant lot left behind from the wildfires, about $100,000 above asking price. In the days since, at least 13 more properties have sold, at least half of them by offshore private developers. But community leaders are working to beat back the tide. Last month, a Pasadena-based housing justice nonprofit purchased a burned lot in the neighborhood, marking the first Altadena property that has been removed from the market and protected in a community land bank. Jasmin Shupper, a Pasadena resident and founder of Greenline Housing Foundation, worked with land use attorney Remy De La Peza to purchase the lot using a $500,000 grant from The Pasadena Foundation. The pair is speaking with other residents about purchasing their fire-burned properties and is offering Greenline as an alternative buyer for any property owners who need to sell but would like to keep the land in the communitys hands. Greenline has positioned itself to act as a land bank, holding the property to eventually transfer it for community use. Its a way for people to protect the land from acquisition costs that rise on a speculative market while community members decide how to best use the property as Altadena reimagines its future. Most of the buyers were LLCs or corporate entities, a number of them were multipurchase buyers, which means theyre purchasing three or four lots, Peza says. Thats an investment strategy purchase. Its unfolding exactly as she and other community members feared when the fires hit, Peza says. Meanwhile, she says, philanthropic groups have raised millions for recovery since the Eaton Fire, but few of those dollars are flowing toward community land bank initiatives. She and Shupper are constantly being asked to speak with potential funders who ask how they can help. While they have been very clear that what they need is help acquiring the land, the money has not come in. We cannot compete with these developers, says Peza. We need philanthropy donors to step up, or Altadena will end up permanently in the hands of corporations. While state officials have put forward some legislation to protect the community from private investors, including bills SB 782 and SB 658, Peza says its not enough. One of the challenges with state legislation is that the community is still beholden to the state legislative cycle and calendar. None of the bills that were put forward were passed through the urgency process; even if they pass, they wont be put into legislation until the fall. Peza notes that Altadena does not have the same legislative limitations at the county level; rather than having its own city government, as most municipalities do, Altadena is managed by the Los Angeles County supervisors. Technically, local policy can be passed at any point, and there is more that we need to be demanding, Peza says. We need to be focusing on the county level and making sure the county supervisor is taking care of us. Why Altadena residents are vulnerable to outside investors Peza believes Altadena is particularly vulnerable to displacement through disaster capitalism because it has a high concentration of Black and Brown residents. Theres also a high number of seniors who are not as connected on social media, where the majority of resources are being shared. One main factor pushing residents to consider selling is the isolation this disaster has caused. Altadena mirrored an idyllic movie-like community before the fires, she says, where neighbors knew and cared for each other. Now residents have been forced to go to shelters, stay with people in other parts of California, or simply leave the state altogether. When you dont have your team rallying together, its hard. People cant just go next door and ask their neighbor, Hey, what are you doing? Are you thinking about selling? like they used to, Peza says. That social network and capital has been lost. With its older population and multigenerational owners, many in Altadena also lack home insurance. Once a homeowner pays off their mortgage, home insurance is not necessarily required. With insurance rates spiking in recent years, many people in this community have forgone their home insurance and are left with nothing except the land. Their only option is to sell. At this rate, Altadena cannot wait, says Peza. For residents who lost their homes and dont plan to rebuild, but do want the future land use to remain in the community, Greenlines leaders say its land bank is available to purchase those lots. Through their land bank model, Greenline is offering a community-centered alternative to selling to private purchasers. After the purchase, Greenline will work with residents, local housing organizations, and community stakeholders to determine the shared needs and desires for the land. It is important that the community knows that there is an organization that is here for them, and that is committed to ensuring the wonderful community of Altadena is protected and restored, Shupper says. We hope this is the first of many such purchases and that it will be a beacon of hope for the community. This story was originally published by Next City, a nonprofit news outlet covering solutions for equitable cities. Sign up for Next Citys newsletter for its latest articles and events.
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The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. What do David Beckham, Shaquille O’Neal, and Serena Williams have in commonaside from their standout sports careers? Theyve all built thriving businesses. Sure, having capital and global name recognition helps. But reducing their business success to just fame only tells half the story. The other half is that top athletes spend years honing discipline, resilience, and the ability to think strategically under pressure. Those same qualities happen to make great entrepreneurs. Sports have been a big part of my life for over a decade, and my favorite workout is the one I havent tried before. The more I move, the more I see how it shapes the way I work and think in business. What entrepreneurs can learn from elite athletes Here are six things you, as an entrepreneur or business leader, can take from top athletes. 1. Break down goals like a training plan No Olympic athlete trains at full intensity and on the same goal every single day. Instead, they follow a long-term training cyclepreparation, pre-competition, performance, and recovery. Applying this structured approach to business helps ramp up to peak performance gradually and sustainably. Try this: Break down big goals into smaller, doable milestones. Track what works and what doesnt: The strategy that got your startup off the ground wont be enough when its time to scale. Show up every day with small actions. 2. Design a pre-game routine for peak performance Every athlete follows a routine to get in the right headspace and physical shape before game day. I like to treat each workday like a game day. A morning routine gives me a sense of control and sets the tone for a productive day ahead. Rather than rolling out of bed and headfirst into work mode, I make time for things that fill my energy tank. That might be: A glass of water and a nutrient-rich breakfast A quick mindfulness practice, like mantra chanting or Pranayama breathwork Writing down 13 priorities for the day to stay intentional 1-hour workout A walk outdoors with an audiobook 3. Dont be afraid to fall Athletes fall. A lot. And then they get back up. When I tried skiing for the first time, I quickly realized that falling is part of learning. The more I feared making mistakes, the worse my performance became. Navigating life as an entrepreneur is not like riding down a well-groomed, Aspen-style slope. Its more like skiing at your local city parkice and grass patches, hidden stones, and annoyed pedestrians getting in the way. Falls are inevitable. Instead of hesitating to take risks or avoiding failure, focus on learning to recover quickly. 4. Develop a growth-oriented mindset This quote often pops up in motivational posts attributed to everyone from the Italian football player and manager Gianluca Vialli to Nelson Mandela: You win or you learnyou never lose. Cheesy, but true. Top athletes treat losses as data. Every game teaches them something new about their strengths and weaknesses. Entrepreneurs can benefit from the same mentality. See setbacks as learning experiencesanalyze what went wrong, make adjustments, and move forward. Compete with yourself first, your rivals second. The point of analyzing your performance is to make sure youre better than you were in the last game. 5. Stand on the shoulders of your support network Entrepreneurs often try to do everything solo, inspired by self-made success stories from books and podcasts. But very few things in life are a one-person endeavor. Even in individual Olympic events, there is a team behind every gold medalcoaches, nutritionists, mentors, and teammates. I started BetterMe in 2017 with a handful of people, and most of them are still with me today in C-level positions. From the very beginning, I focused on surrounding myself with people who guided and challenged me, held me accountable, and pushed me to grow. The strongest players in the boardroom and on the field are the ones who know how to buildand lean ona great team. 6. The biggest lesson: prioritize recovery LeBron James never confirmed the rumor that he spends $1.5 million a year on recovery. But the fact that such numbers even circulate shows that rest goes hand in hand with peak performance. Yet, in business, we glorify constant hustle. We wear our bloodshot eyes from late nights at the screen like a badge of honor and exhaustion as a testament to success. Our bodies are excellent communicators and usually find a way to let us know when it’s time to slow down. Instead of dismissing sore muscles or sluggish thoughts as a sign of weakness, listen and integrate sustainable rest into your routine. Schedule recovery like work, blocking time in your calendar for exercise, meditation, or simply relaxing with a book. Fill the time between high-priority tasks with active breaks like short walks, quick workouts, or any movement to reset your brain. Protect your sleep. I stick to a 10 p.m. bedtime and aim for 78 hours of sleep because I know a well-rested mind is a high-performing one. The final thought: Move your body to fuel your mind If you shoot for big goals, thinking like a pro athlete can help open the right doors. But theres more to take from their playbook: a love for sports. And unlike athletes, who dedicate their lives to one discipline, we have the luxury of exploring. In Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, David Epstein talks about how some of the most groundbreaking leaders pulled ideas from different fields, experimented, and innovated because of their broad experiences. Broad exposure makes you more creative, agile, and able to make connections others miss. So grab a tennis racket or skiing poles. Step onto a Reformer or sign up for a 5K. Be adventurous. Try new things. The more you explore, the more skills, insights, and connections you’ll gain. Victoria Repa is the founder and CEO of BetterMe.
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E-Commerce
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Regardless of whether your company has a strict in-office policy or supports a flexible schedule, the reality is that office attendance is at its highest levels in five years, according to Bisnow. Nobody would argue the need for a healthy office, especially one with more people in it. And if you ask what makes a healthy office, most would say it is one that supports physical health and safety, well-being, collaboration, productivity, and social connection. This is why so many businesses focus on factors such as air quality, ventilation, security, and employee wellness programs, for example. While these environmental and social indicators of health are important, they overlook one critical element: the ways that humans interact in a space and use the office. Dont make assumptions about in-office productivity Employers make a lot of assumptions about how productive employees are in the office. Anecdotally, many employees say they look forward to spending time in the office to collaborate with colleagues. Yet top organizations want more than opinions and anecdotes. They want data showing the frequency of casual, impromptu brainstorming in the office and aligning that with productivity and efficiency. Data on how teams collaborate is crucial in improving organizational productivity, as Ive seen through numerous conversations with workplace leaders at Fortune 1000 companies. With the opportunity for more in-person collaboration, decision makers want to measure and understand the frequency of casual, impromptu discussions and brainstorming and how to foster more of it by creating the right office environment. Not long ago, meeting and huddle data was based on how much time employees spent using online collaboration tools and video platforms. Today, with employees spending more time in physical spaces, understanding how and where employees collaborate is critical to improving the experience and eliminating silos. For example, compare the needs of an ad agency with a research think tank. We assume the agency needs more space for collaboration and client meetings, setting up the office layout to feature open desks, soft seating, and large, impressive conference rooms with high-end audio-visual capabilities. At the think tank, we assume their employees need dedicated areas for individual, focused work. As a result, the office layout consists of rows of gray cubicles and a handful of different sized conference rooms. Over time, an interesting shift happens at both companies. The ad agency employees come into the office in the morning, meet with their teams or participate in a larger company meeting, eat lunch in the break room, and then leave for the day. The think tank employees squat in a conference room by themselves or in small clusters, participating in video conferences with colleagues and clients, spending little time at their desks. After a while, fewer employees come into the office, citing the ability to be more productive working remotely. Business as usual, right? Yes, except for the long-term issues of these work arrangements. Along with having to heat and cool unoccupied spaces, negatively impacting the buildings carbon footprint, there is also the cost of cleaning areas based on scheduling, not usage. Safety also plays a factor should an emergency occur in the office, and nobody is available to respond. Add to this the expense of office leasing and the potential of squandered investments in an office redesign. Not to mention the critical, yet less measurable, missed opportunities of face-to-face interactions. Healthy buildings should encompass the entire human experience When we think of healthy buildings, we should consider the entire human experience in them. Instead of making assumptions of how employees want to work, employers are starting to look more closely at how the office plays a role in the health, well-being, and productivity of employees. Consider the idea that every business is a system unto itself, designed to produce outcomes. In that system, the office can be viewed as a product, one that is continuously refined to meet the needs of its customers. In this instance, customers are the people using the office. Today, that product is improved by using AI in the digital space; the next era is improving it in the physical space by combining infrastructure data and intelligence on real-world spaces. Through a combination of AI and body heat sensing technology that ensures privacy, you can get a better sense of how the workforce uses the office. It is like having a touchscreen interface on a digital app, except in this instance, the office is the product. For example, a sensor that understands movement in a space can lead to insight about one-on-one and group interactions, frequency of impromptu meetings, and if large spaces are being used by an individual. This can show the subsequent impact on energy efficiency. This isnt about tracking attendance or keystrokes. Instead, by ensuring privacy and understanding how the workforce naturally moves throughout the office, employers can make better decisions about how to make the most of an employees time in the office. They may learn that the best open desks are quickly taken, forcing most employees to work in darker spaces, and that the volume of chatter makes it difficult to be productive. This is why conference rooms are being squatted, and employees are working remotely. These insights can lead to better management decisions about in-office work policies, layouts, leases, and even cleaning contracts. Employers that have amassed insights about office usage are feeding the data into GPTs to come up with office layouts and designs that more closely reflect their corporate cultures. Instead of having employees conform to the office, there is a way to have the office conform to the needs of employees. As a result, the office can become a place, or product, employees look forward to going to, providing a healthy work environment. Honghao Deng is CEO and cofounder of Butlr.
Category:
E-Commerce
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