Gems of the City: A Q&A with Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity CEO Brandon Price

An African Proverb reads, "No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow."

This river within our community is blessed and overflows. I welcome you to Gems of the City — A community journal that uncovers pillars of light in the Fayetteville area. Are you ready? Herein, the final Gem of the 2-6, Brandon Price!

Correspondent SWT spoke with Brandon Price on Sept. 23. Here are excerpts from the interview, with edits for clarity and brevity. To read the full interview, visit www.innocentbyswt.org 

Gem No. 3: Brandon Price

Gem: Jadeite

Chemical formula: NaAlSi2O6

Occupation: CEO for Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity

SWT: "The title of this journal is Gems of the City. A gem is a precious stone regarded for its beauty and value. It is usually associated with treasure. Do you define yourself as a gem?"

PRICE: "Based on the definition, I don't think so." Brandon chuckles and resumes. "I would define myself as a servant. I want to be somebody who serves this community, somebody who serves the land. I want to serve whether at my job, home or church."

SWT: With a nostalgic texture running up my mind, I felt old red church pews and saw the feeling of home and the community. I asked, "Can you talk about why and how you shine your light in these environments?"

PRICE: "It's important, too, right? Someone must show up ready to put others first to fulfill the needs of those who cannot. Yesterday, I heard the quote, 'I do what I can, when I can, while I can.' We sometimes can help because we have access to resources and information that others may not. So, when you are able to serve, you serve.” Brandon spoke like a mountain with the rising sun.

SWT: "So I am hearing this word, 'serve.' How did you learn this word? Were you taught it? Take us through your journey of becoming the CEO of the Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity.”

PRICE: "Nonprofit has always been in my life. I began with the Boys and Girls Club, graduated from FSU, and immediately started working for Fayetteville Urban Ministry. I worked in their youth program with kids at risk for incarceration or whose parents were incarcerated. We taught life skills and character-building in a nontraditional sort of therapeutic way through group counseling. I then left to go to law school because they needed help at the front end where the charges were being made. Parents needed direction to understand the charges, the process and their rights. So, I went to law school in 2015 and graduated with my JD and master's in Alternative Dispute Resolution."

"I did fail the Bar the first time, but the Bible says your gift will make room for you. And so accurate enough to the word of God, Habitat for Humanity created a position for me called the advocacy and compliance officer, where I served for three years. Then, my predecessor would retire, and the board voted unanimously to have me as chief executive officer."

SWT: "We all love to hear the journey, you know?"

PRICE: "I rushed a lot of it, but that's the 30,000-foot view."

SWT: "I named this project Gems of the City because you bring a light that others can accept and continue to give. To be a miracle and to see miracles around you. You are a gem." Continuing, I asked, "Do you have anyone that inspired you? A mentor?"

PRICE: "100% I would start with my Uncle Kevin. He was my everything. My dad has always been in my life, been married to my mom for 40 years this year. But my Uncle Kevin was a strong male figure in my life. I saw him as what I considered to be successful. He had his own lawn care business and worked a regular job. He did not live in a big house, but he always had a million cars and was extraordinarily talented. He played the keyboard, and he could sing. He was a great man.”

“Regarding professionalism, I would tip my hat to Johnny Wilson, who is the executive director of Urban Ministries. Also, Dr. Sonny Kelly. I met him working at Urban Ministry. I consider him a spiritual mentor. I draw inspiration from many people, but I recognize those two men in terms of direct mentorship. Besides my father, Johnny was the first Black man who corrected me and did not chastise me. Those two men mean a great deal to me."

PART 1: Gems of the City: A Q&A with Fayetteville poet LeJuane 'El'Ja' Bowens

Pearls of wisdom

SWT: "Earlier, as you spoke about your journey, you mentioned how you failed the Bar the first time. Have you ever faced any other source of rejection that stopped your creative or developmental process?"

PRICE: "Sure. I took the Bar five times. Another source of rejection was when I left Fayetteville to go to Alabama for law school. I was 32 years old when I went to law school and was older than my classmates. It was a very humbling process. There was a sense of rejection from socializing in some ways. Because I came from serving, I naturally wanted to advise and help. But some considered it unsolicited advice. I was not used to that. Where I’m from, we don't watch you walk in the hole, not if we saw the hole or if we just got out of it. But some people would say, 'Yo, who are you to tell me? I could jump over this hole. You do not know.' And so, I offended them, many of them."

"That was an emotional setback because I've never been somewhere where my good intentions were misinterpreted so much. But, turning that around, I became the Black Law Students Association president and received the Dean Award. So, I was like, well, all right. I might be something. Everyone didn't misinterpret my good intentions." Brandon grinned vividly like a jewel.

"But in terms of being rejected, the Bar was the most humbling thing I've ever done. I gave it my all multiple times, and it began to feel like it got further and further away. But quitting was and is just not in my DNA. And so, I kept moving and eventually passed."

A cut above the rest

SWT: "Would you say it's confidence or discipline? What is one characteristic that helps keep you going?"

PRICE: Brandon considers and says, "Desire. You must want to. You will not wake up accidentally successful one day. It is hard to stumble upon success. Success is when preparation meets opportunity. It would be best to constantly improve and do the necessary things to achieve your goals. Whether it is, you know, starting Gems of the City or writing a book that you feel nobody has read. You must keep going. You must want it bad enough that your voice is louder than the naysayers. You know? Desire. You must have that thing that you wake up for in the morning. Or that thing that wakes you up in the middle of the night. You must be motivated; you must have the desire to want it."

Part 2: Gems of the City: A Q&A with Fayetteville artist and professor Dwight Smith

Carved in stone

SWT: I wondered what desire, hope and love looked like; what could become of it? I wondered what legacy he wanted to leave. I asked, "Brandon Price, father, husband, mentor, activist and CEO for Fayetteville Area Habitat of Humanity, how do you want to be remembered?"

PRICE: Brandon, daring yet delicate, stated, "As a servant. When it is all said and done, I want to be remembered as somebody who served. If there were an engravement on my tombstone, it would read, 'Here lies a servant.' That is it. I want to do what I can, when I can, while I can. That is what wakes me up in the morning.”

"It's that simple. You are blessed to be a blessing. Otherwise, why would God fill your cup up until it runs over? He said he would bless us so much that we would not have storage. What are we supposed to do? Just waste it? No. You are supposed to give it to somebody. When you have more than enough, you provide it to somebody who does not have enough. And when you do not have enough, you sit your cup next to somebody who has plenty. And then, once my cup begins to spill over, I purposely sit other people's cups next to mine. It's like, 'Come on, get some of this.'” Brandon waves his arms, holding his hands in front of him as if he is holding two golden chalices. He continues, “Then they'll take that bit from my cup and other cups that poured and will grab somebody else and pour into them. We are blessed to be a blessing. It requires flow, right? I get poured into; I pour out. So that is it. I want to serve. I want to do what I can, when I can, while I can."

SWT: “Amen.”

An African Proverb reads, "No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow."

This concludes Gems of the City.

Eyes open, heart deep, SWT curates experiences that delve into the beauty of what often hides beneath. SWT can be reached at swt.moreluv@gmail.com or @BBYIMSWT on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Brandon Price of Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity, a Q&A