Interview with Mina Pomante by Joshua Kagi of Grandifi Enterprises
Background and Vision
Joshua:
What inspired you to start Mutane Co, and how did that journey lead to the Philadelphia Area Housing Project?
Mina:
Mutane Co has been something of a philanthropic legacy for me. Growing up, there was always a huge emphasis on faith and giving back. I come from a very diverse religious background but one running theme regardless of the religion was always to give back and help where possible. One such opportunity came my way, through my mother, that resulted in the Learning Center being formed. Displaced families from the Benue Fulani conflict in Nigeria were struggling to rebuild in a very rural, undeveloped stretch of land, while also trying to find a safe space for their children during the day.
Joshua:
Why housing? Why here in the Pottstown area—what makes this project urgent or meaningful to you personally?
Mina:
There were a lot of financial ups and downs in my childhood, and a central part of that stability was housing. My mother divorced my father at the cusp of my turning four years old with four children, of which I was the youngest. Before that we lived on the base, as my father was an officer in the Nigerian army. Housing became a bit of a transient thing. She would quickly make some good use of her contacts to propel herself into a financial boom. We lived large and in a grand house, and then there would be another shift and we would be transient again with housing. There were friends and families’ places, and then a long term rented house. I did not feel any real financial stability till she managed to build her own house. It was a defining moment where even if we couldn’t have treats or good meals, we had a steady place, she had an asset. It was a shield from prying questions on our financial stability as well. Whatever happened in the house was our business. That house would later serve as a solid bailout for her when financial turmoil came much later in life. By this point, we were all grown up and she had another home in a different city to fall back on. Housing is important, not just for the shelter and stability it provides for the family, but as an equity bank for the future.
About the Housing Project
Joshua:
Can you describe the vision for this housing project in your own words? What does success look like?
Mina:
Having been raised by a single mum and seeing her scrounge and struggle to gather the money for homeownership while expending most of her resources on her children, success looks like them feeling they have a partner for building equity in their future. The project is designed to be as unintrusive as possible. They rent, but they have a partner sharing that cost with them. That partner is us.
Joshua:
What makes this project different from traditional models of housing or land ownership?
Mina:
While this project will offer financial counselling at least once a year to the participants like similar programs, it isn’t very paperwork intensive once you’re vetted. Most programs aim to help people that are in lower income thresholds get into homeownership by either subsidizing costs of entry level hurdles or doing variations of rent to own contracts with the sponsoring organization or their partners. The homes used are often options for the participant to own as well.
This project is focused on middle class single mothers of color, who can afford a decent mortgage, are ineligible for most subsidy programs/ grants due to their income, but struggle to put aside the money for the downpayment due to higher rents for the space they need to accommodate their children, childcare costs, and the absence of a financial partner to facilitate that.
I believe the current programs are very much needed but this niche of single mothers who earn enough to not qualify for them but not enough to run a household comfortably while planning for a future for themselves is also needed and a minimally tapped line.
Another possible difference is also that the housing is not up for purchase, and instead, is intended to serve them as batches of renters in perpetuity.
Joshua:
Who will this housing serve, and what kind of community are you hoping to build?
Mina:
The goal is to serve single mothers of color. They will have like-minded neighbors and can lean on each other as friends, comrades, and knowledge resources. The neighborhood they are renting in should be family oriented, child friendly, and hopefully close to employment resources as well.
On the Eau De Parfum Fundraiser
Joshua:
Tell me about the Eau De Parfum. What’s the story behind it, and how does it connect to the mission of the housing project?
Mina:
My mother loved perfumes. She loved very nice perfumes and was partial to Eau de parfums. I grew up seeing and smelling many of these, and she always showed a preference for them as gifts when people travelled. I inherited that love on a much smaller scale. When Mutane Co was set up in 2018, I was very clear on a vision of building something that was collaborative with already established systems and programs. I didn’t want it to have staff, a large overhead, or debt. All of us on the Board had full time jobs and young families, and we did the work pro bono. We often found like-minded people to chip in and donate as we went along and would give grants to other organizations accomplishing things we wanted to be a part of. When this idea came to mind through a colleague at my then job about subsidizing rent on housing, I connected the concept to my childhood experiences, discussed it with the other members, and got the greenlight. The problem of course was funding.
Our personal resources both financially, and through our network, were not enough to shore up a dream this big. We didn’t have the reach for large grants either, and so I turned to the familiar, business. It was something I had grown up seeing, as had my sisters on the Board. I pitched it to the Board. They were a little hesitant with solid questions, who, where, how, what? I found the answers, presented them, and it was a go as long as I was willing to own the process. I would have to go all in of course, as none of us were perfumers but that is where faith stepped in to fill in the gaps with providence.
Joshua:
Why use a scent—something so sensory and symbolic—to help fund a housing project? What are you hoping people feel when they wear it?
Mina:
A running theme with most of what I do are my faith and the influence my mother had on me growing up. She is one of the many giants in my life. She accomplished the impossible, dreamt big, and exuded a confidence that made the world seemingly bend to her will. I captured that essence in her scent many times, often tracking her return home with it. This is a big dream, it will require us to exude confidence; to bend the impossible, it was a scent to be captured. I wanted to share it and allow people to track us with it.
Joshua:
Can you walk me through the process of creating this perfume? Who was involved, and what did you want it to evoke?
Mina:
The perfume has been a lot of collaboration, trust, support from friends, family, co-workers who were generous with funds and opinions, manufacturers/ vendors who were generous with suggestions, pricing, and referrals, and a lot of grace from God. It has been a labor of love, learning, and growing up in many ways. It wasn’t easy but it was rewarding. The hope is that it will evoke feelings of luxury, high quality, blessings, and wellbeing. You are not just experiencing a high-quality scent and packaging, by virtue of that purchase, you are part of a journey that is giving back to disenfranchised families, hopefully for generations to come. You are sowing seeds for your own family and future that will come back to you as blessings. It is a full cycle experience.
Guiding Values
Joshua:
You describe this as an “imaginative and ethical” housing project—what does that mean to you?
Mina:
I don’t know that I described this as imaginative. It is ethical to work for the funds we need and do something to change a situation we are aware of that needs change. We are always conscious of financial stewardship and the difficulty in that area for others. It will be good to make that adjustment for them while allowing them to keep the normal cadence and flow of their lives.
Joshua:
How do you hope this project reshapes our understanding of land, shelter, and care?
Mina:
I hope it allows people to make space for the in-betweens. Sometimes people in need are not obviously so. Sometimes, the difference between them and successful people is a future. We want them to be able to grasp the future, if allowed, not just the (to)day.
Closing Thoughts
Joshua:
What would you say to someone considering supporting the project or purchasing the perfume?
Mina:
The perfume on its own merits purchase. You have already gotten something great and worth your money when you buy it. The secret tag though is what you don’t see, you have paid in kindness, and it multiplies in its giving back, even to you and yours.
Joshua:
How can people get involved beyond the fundraiser? What kind of community are you inviting them into?
Mina:
Purchase the perfume. Sign up for the email list. We do not send a lot of communications but at least once a year we share a video with donors, of all the work we accomplished together during the year, our financials, and thank you’s. It will allow you to come along with us to see your generosity at work. Also, seeing as this is a new area for us, we will likely start having more volunteer opportunities regarding the project and other community collaborations.