Meet Kimberly DeLaney

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kimberly DeLaney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kimberly, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Initially the general idea was to create an avenue to generate income and eventually wealth for my family. I researched how the short term rental market worked, glamping, spoke with a container wholesaler to source shipping containers. And then I attended a housing meeting. Specifically, the Homelessness Taskforce Committee and then the Permanent Housing Subcommittee. I received a HUGE wakeup call. I left those meetings feeling heavy and burdened by the hurt of my community. It suddenly felt like an ‘us’ problem. And ‘WE’ were all gathered to tackle it head on. I suddenly felt selfish.
I could not want the win only for my family. Not when my daughter’s best friend along with their entire family, one of which is a teacher, were residing in a hotel. It was no longer solely based on my success but truly helping all of us get to an equal playing field.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I started in business when I first moved to Charlotte in 2011. So over 15 years ago I started with an event planning company where we did expos and business gatherings. I went back to the workforce I did some creative work for Belk and then I landed at Adam and Eve corporate office in Hillsboro as a buyer in the marketing department. Within those ten years life happened. I got married. Diagnose with an illness. Started a new business in 2018. Open the storefront in 2019. And then the pandemic happened. What I learned in this experience is that I enjoy truly helping people where they need it most. It doesn’t matter if it’s the hard stuff or if it’s never been done that does not deter me at all. I had opened a CBD dispensary in Concord, NC. It started as an online store and then evolved into one of the first dispensaries in the area. Due to its nature we were allowed to stay open as an essential business for patrons to come and shop for their wellness needs. With the decline in foot traffic it was simply too much to keep the store open so I closed that, prayed to God to led me to the next direction. I wanted it to be in business but I wanted to be better at it. I knew I had covered a lot of ground and made a lot of contacts but I wasn’t sure if this was the field for me. At the time I was still working full time remote, due to my illness I was one of the first employees to be sent home once the world shut down. I also released my employees from my business and ran the store myself. Both of my kids were remote learning, so my youngest literally would go to work with me every day to the dispensary and login on the ipad in the backroom with her teacher. I think she was in kindergarten during this time, I discovered Flywheel Coworking in downtown Concord and everything changed. I got plugged in, became super involved with their programming. Won a grant in one of their first accelerators for my CBD brand. 2023, January, I was nominated to be in an inaugural MIT led program called VMS Mentor Program where the mayor of Concord served as one of my advisors. We began to craft my vision for tiny homes. Prior to the program start, I had met with city planning officials to draft an ordinance to allow for tiny homes. All of my hard work was coming together. By October the ordinance passed! Tiny homes and tiny home communities were approved in the city. By April 2024 my team had created the Carolina Tiny House Festival. None of us anticipated the draw this event would have nor how far people would travel. The event brought nearly 4000 people to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The funding raised allowed us to put roots in Concord with an office space and own a parcel of land to pilot our project. We are currently working with local housing organizations to cobrand several local opportunities. We still have a ways to go but knowing I made this happen is remarkable. We can help with the housing shortage and help everyday working class families afford a home. That feeling is indescribable.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love when my friends and family visit. I typically go straight to Charlotte on the Cheap to check the local happenings. Noda is always fun and Oh My Soul has great eats and drinks. If a band is there, even better. Anything uptown, a show or exhibit. There’s typically a festival of some kind. SouthPark or Concord Mills. Velvet Taco and Capriotti’s heading into South Park and definitely YAFO Kitchen! A hot summer day would welcome a trip to the Quarry at Carrigan Farms. For the best stomach laughs Lazy 5 Ranch or Comedy Zone. The selfie museum. Lake Norman, Frank Liske Park, Lake Wylie. Spending the day at a nearby waterfall is one of my newest loves. A day trip to Asheville, one of my all time favorite cities! So many options and that’s what I love about being here!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This answer really depends on what area of my life I am looking at. If it is current status, recognition would go to my two teammates, my CO partners, Melanie Mills Johnson and Hope Piggee. If it were my planning and event background, that would be Gerry McCants from Black Pages and Laura Terry formerly of ETSU. And in general, my family. My parents and my brother are my driving forces in believing that I can accomplish anything and my kids are my inspiration to do so.

Website: https://kimdelaney.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinyhousebigmovement/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimsdelaney/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tinyhousebigmovement/

Image Credits
Photos provided by EMILY Marketing and Fodex Photography.