Defining Hospitality

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Dan Ryan: Today's guest is an industry thought leader. She's a registered member of burrito, NCI DQ, and a highly skilled interior designer. She is the principal at dentist ends of design, Inc. Ladies and gentlemen Dyonne Fashina.. Welcome Dyonne
Dyonne Fashina: thanks. It's really nice to be here. Thanks for having me.
So
Dan Ryan: it's so good for you to be here. And also, you know, we were just joking about like, how did we wind up, uh, at this place speaking together, um, at this moment. We were talking about Stacy Shoemaker and, um, the initiatives that she's kind of set up and then you won [00:01:00] this award and I saw you at the, at the HD awards up on stage accepting this award.
Uh, you walked by, I was talking to, I didn't actually get a chance to speak with you, but I made a note, like I got to hear your story and I'm just so excited that you're here with me and all of us listeners.
Dyonne Fashina: Well, that's so great. Yeah. I wish I would've met you then, but I'm sure we'll meet in person at some point.
So I'm glad you were excited to hear what I had to say.
Dan Ryan: Well, I was really excited to be there and it was also one of the first, you know, we were all getting used to like reintegrating with everyone and just being inside and people talking and like showing your vaccine status and. Just actually breathing in other people's breath and close level.
It was like, it was just so exciting and invigorating to be there that while I saw you walk past so much about this industry is about relationships. And I just felt like every, all the time that I've always had these friends and [00:02:00] clients and family really I've just been taken away from us. So I was just so caught up and just being raptured in, just reconnecting with all of our other brothers and sisters.
Dyonne Fashina: Yeah. I mean, for me, it was my first time out of the country, since this all started and, you know, not too far over the border from Toronto to New York, but it was just so refreshing to be out again and felt so comfortable. I was a little worried at first, but just the warm welcome from the community and meeting so many great new people.
It was just so lovely.
Dan Ryan: So I also have. Okay, I'm sure you've gotten other awards and I know you've gotten other awards and accolades, but to be okay to be reintroduced into the, into the universe, the first trip in the United States, since all of COVID happened and then to get this really great award and stand up on the stage in front of hundreds of.
I can't imagine that happens very often. And then you throw in [00:03:00] the other stuff, like, how did you feel during all of that?
Dyonne Fashina: It was really a whirlwind. Like I was writing a building code exam an hour before my flight hopped on in a cab, got to the airport, like everything worked out so well for me, because there was a dinner the night before, and I got off the plane to the hotel within an hour.
I was at that dinner. I couldn't believe how fast I caught from New Jersey into Manhattan and then to the dinner. So, and, you know, from there, everything was just so fast paced. I was, I was trying to fit in, you know, meeting new people, doing design stuff, but then also doing personal stuff. I wanted to tour around and see the little island go into Brooklyn and even like, thinking about what I was going to say on that stage, I was walking.
Back to my hotel over the Brooklyn bridge and sort of thinking about, well, what am I going to talk about? I had no time to like prepare. I just kind of fit it in where I [00:04:00] could and that's really how our industry goes.
Dan Ryan: Exactly. And then, so as you're walking over, I love that the story of you walking over the bridge, finalizing your thoughts, like how did you finally decide what to, what to settle on and how you.
Dyonne Fashina: Well, I had actually brought my client with me, um, uh, one that really, and as I mentioned in my speech, you know, I, I wasn't sure if I would continue on and design, um, after being laid off multiple times in this industry, which happens a lot, um, you know, not enough work, recessions, different things that happened through your career that lead to, to being laid off and, uh, This client and a friend came to me and said, Hey, why don't you design our hotels for us?
And so it really brought me back into, into the industry and trying to do things in a way that I wanted to do them. Um, so it was important that I wanted to at least acknowledge, [00:05:00] acknowledge her and acknowledge that, but also this idea of, you know, being able to help help each other through things. When you, when you can't see past something that can.
You know, quite devastating to be laid off. Um, and having someone outside of you telling, you know, you're good at this, you should continue. Just like that's the small level of encouragement that people need to be giving to people, especially at times like we're in right now. Um, a lot of people feeling dejected over or over the situation and, um, You know, it's really helpful to have people in your corner.
So maybe when you're, you're seeing someone, you really like their work or you like what they're doing, just tell them because you never know what that's going to do for them. Yeah.
Dan Ryan: And then as you were saying, because I didn't have, I was there and watching your speech accepting the HVAC award, which was a new award and very exciting that you were the first recipient.
As I was, but as you were speaking, I w I, I got back to the [00:06:00] feeling that I felt as I was listening and focused on what you were saying and how to do with the Brazilians. Right. And if you think about resilience and the times that we're in and the times that we've been in, and the times that we'll be in the future, like where did you learn that, just that strength, or where did you develop that strength of results?
Dyonne Fashina: I think it just comes from what I've learned from family and living life, you know, picking yourself back up when you're, when you're knocked out. That's something that most people experience in their life in some capacity, whether it's in school or in sports or. Just in relationships of all kinds.
There's always something in your life that kind of takes you down a peg and you have to sort of rethink. Um, so I think going through those experiences and having a support system of friends and family throughout my life, uh, that's really where I've learned how to. Uh, and, and [00:07:00] use resilience to bounce back and keep going.
And
Dan Ryan: if you can think of someone in your life that you find to be the most resilient person that you learned the most from.
Dyonne Fashina: I think it would have to be my parents, both my parents, my mom and my dad, they're business owners. And my dad's a pharmacist. And my mom does the bookkeeping for the business. And, you know, they've, especially in this time, uh, my dad's a, you know, a year away from turning 70 and still working.
He's a workaholic, but you know, Navigating this pandemic and being in an, in a frontline sort of position, you know, that's like present day, seeing him, him, uh, you know, in his resilience, but there's been the times where business has been slow or businesses have been great. And so I kind of learned how to, uh, ride that wave because I don't think it's like a consistent thing.
He always says that, you know, you might be doing great one year and not so [00:08:00] great the next year. So you need to be able to keep pushing on pushing for.
Dan Ryan: Yeah, so true, but also so hard as you're going through it to get that strength. Like where do you think he gets that strength?
Dyonne Fashina: Well, my dad, he grew up in Nigeria, um, and he came over to Canada in the seventies and that's where he met my mom.
Um, and his dad was also in the pharmaceutical industry there. And, you know, he was a tough, tough cookie, my grandfather, and I think that's kind of where my dad learned to be resilient from, from a very strict upbringing and, you know, always wanting to do his best. I think that's where he learned it, for sure.
Dan Ryan: And then, so I love this idea of resilience and I've had some people, like when I've gotten knocked down to say, look, it's all about resiliency. You're going to pick yourself up. There's an end to this. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Right. And it's been this, uh, [00:09:00] kind of elusive and hard to quantify trait that we all have.
Right. Because when you walk down the street, everyone's not lying down on. Correct. Everyone gets picked up it's at, at some point or another. Right. And I'm just thinking about, um, how, the strength of that resilience that we have within all of us. How does, how can that, how can you tie resilience into what your ideas of hospitality are?
Dyonne Fashina: Well, I think, I mean, resilience is something that. The industry itself is experiencing right now in tenfold. Um, you know, having to rejig things, rethink how you do things, changing mandates and changing variants and things to, to navigate. So I think resilience is just part of, of where we are going in the future.
Um, [00:10:00] being more flexible and. Um, something we talk about a lot is empathy. And I know we've talked a little bit about this briefly and this idea that, empathy needs to come into the design and the business world and into the hospitality world more than it had in the past. I mean, I think, hospitality spaces have always been about, empathy, and creating a sort of sense of belonging.
Within a space, but it's not only just empathy to the guests or users coming into a space. It's also about being empathetic to the business owners and the people who work there and the people who are designing the spaces and, how can empathy, be used as a tool? And not in the sort of, you know, this is buzzword way.
Uh, we're seeing empathy being thrown around a lot. And before everyone starts rolling their [00:11:00] eyes at my use of the word empathy, um, you know, I think it's really just about being real. Um, and you know, and that might come down to you, walk into a space and sometimes design. You know, in the context of what I'm speaking about as a designer, you walk into a space and you really want to make it your own, but also make it something the client will really love.
But sometimes you have to take your ego out about it and say, well, what does this space already had? That maybe I wouldn't have necessary. We put here, but ripping it out is not only not empathetic to the environment. It's not empathetic to the budget of the clients. Um, and how can you actually just work with them?
To create a space that feels as if it belongs and create that sense of belonging within, within a hospitality environment.
Dan Ryan: So I love that. And also in so many of these conversations that I have with designers and creative humans, I'm always [00:12:00] just awe struck because it's a super power that you guys have that I don't have by having other ways, but where you can take this nebulous idea of empathy and actually.
Turn it into a thing, a place that you can walk into and be completely immersed in. Right. And I'm just awestruck by you and others that just can, can do this. So if you think of empathy and being real right, and the projects that you've worked on, what do you think showcases that the best from your.
Dyonne Fashina: Like a specific project.
Yes. Well, I think it's a way that we're starting to work in general, uh, through all, not just starting, it's just the way that I've always been working as a human, because I am an empathetic person. I walk into a space and I think it was my mom. Who said you have this way of working towards the feel of a space.
So what's are you there and how you can sort of enhance that and bring [00:13:00] about an identity? Um, and so I think the first project where that was really recognized for denizens was probably clay restaurant at the Gardner museum, which is, um, Canada's national museum of ceramic art. It's a building that was designed by very well-known local, Toronto architects, uh, KPMG.
And they had renovated it in 2006 and often as is the case in most, uh, museum spaces, the restaurants and cafes are just, unfortunately, an afterthought. The focus is on the building and the collection, and it's like, okay, we just need a cafe, put together some chairs and tables and very, you've got a cafe, but.
It lacked the identity that the rest of the space had, you know, there's this beautiful, uh, ceramic and porcelain art throughout this gallery. And [00:14:00] you walked up into this beautiful terrace room that looks out on the museum, uh, district of Toronto and. Everything was very cold, worn out dated, and it wasn't functional.
Um, the spaces are often multi-purpose in that they're used for a lunchtime cafe service and then they flipped to events. So all of that furniture that was there and was just being pushed aside into the hallways and then whoever was renting it for an evening or weekend event was bringing in rental for it.
So there were so many lost opportunities. One being there was no identity of the space of the gallery itself reflected in the design. So that was number one. But number two was why is all this furniture just being pushed into corridors and creating fire hazards. And we're not being empathetic to the use of these individual pieces.
So now those pieces that we brought [00:15:00] in were able to be modular and flexible. So the space could really easily can reconfigure so that you no longer had to spend extra money for your event and rent furniture. You're taking trucks off the road. You're reducing the time between, um, lunch and your event that you would have for set up.
Everything is just there for you. And it's all still tied to this identity of the museum that you have chosen. As your space for your event. So I think that was the first time that this idea of empathetic spaces really came to the forefront because it considered the profits for the museum stakeholders.
It considered lowering the cost for the patrons. It considered creating a nice environment for the people who just wanted to come for lunch. And so, you know, I think it's, it's been successful in doing that and not only, uh, pre pandemic when it was designed. During and post pandemic, it's now a very agile [00:16:00] and modular space that can be, you know, it can adapt to all these changing mandates that we are having to deal with.
So it's something that was designed in a time where we didn't need it has become useful for different reasons. So it's truly the first project that really exemplifies this idea of an empathetic. For Denison's.
Dan Ryan: That's awesome. So it's interesting. Cause I think of empathy it for a story for me, I go, I'm a member of the entrepreneurs' organization as this global organization and we always have these learning events and there was this, uh, someone came in, it was, it wasn't Myers-Briggs, but it was one of those personality assessment types and of the hundred entrepreneurs that were sitting in there.
Um, we all took this test and they had all the results came up on. On the screen. And it was like so many were, uh, driven or results oriented. Like 98 of them were in that category. Right. And then [00:17:00] I was the only one that was like super empathetic. And I'm like, what am I doing around all these incredible entrepreneurial.
Like work driven and results oriented. And here I am the empath amongst all of them. I was like, oh, I'm I'm alone. But I, I seen, I seen,
Dyonne Fashina: I feel you on that, but I think now we need more of that. It needs to sort of cross pollinate. The two can work together.
Dan Ryan: I totally agree. And, you know, hearing the story of the clay rush.
W where you make them all come together, kind of in symphony. Um, how do you, how have you taken the lessons that you've learned and the PR and maybe some of it was a surprise. Right. But have you taken the lessons that you've learned there and almost turned it into a process or a, uh, a measurement by how you assess new projects coming over your.
Dyonne Fashina: Absolutely. I mean, [00:18:00] it's not, and it's not just related to spaces that are inherently already about modularity, like a multi-purpose cafe event space within a museum. Right. I mean, we've certainly done more of those since. Um, but even recently, you know, this can apply to, to a hotel space, um, or other types of restaurants that aren't within a museum setting.
It's just sitting down and thinking about. How can you be empathetic to the needs of the owner? Who's putting out all this money to create an environment which ultimately is about profiting and bringing people in, but also needs to be authentic in the sense of you want people to come because you really want them there.
Obviously it's about making money. If it's not, if it's just this sort of gimmicky or like Instagrammable or, or something like that, it's not going to have the longevity of something that's authentic and really is [00:19:00] creating the sense of belonging within a space. Like if you're just designing based on trend, then it's not going to last.
But if you are going into a space and as my mom said, working to the feel of the inviting. Then it's going to last much longer.
Dan Ryan: So I love that you just said sense of belonging because I was looking over my notes as you're talking about I'm taking it. I, I had my pen on sense of belonging because I wanted to go there next, because how do you find that empathy creates this sense of belonging and also how can the spaces that you're working with sustain it?
Because I think that's what. The key and in all these conversations I'm having with just amazing people, it's really that feeling, that feeling of a sense of belonging. So how do you know when you've hit it? Just the right way? Well,
Dyonne Fashina: I think it's, it's something that isn't just like, here's the [00:20:00] solution and that's.
I think it's a continuous testing and changing and modifying as, as you go, nothing is ever completely done. Obviously, if you're designing a hotel, you put out a ton of money. You want to make sure you get it partially there, but you're always going to have to revise things based on the, how the environment, how the world's changing, how the needs of the consumer are changing.
But if the bones are there, the authenticity. Creating the it's all about getting the right people, right? That's number one, making sure that you have a team that believes in that identity that you're creating for the space, because then through that they can impact the users coming in and guests coming in to feel what you are trying to present.
We just did a concept and the can't really talk about it too much, but we, we did the concept presentation [00:21:00] to the client along with, um, it was for a restaurant, um, his main bar man. And the bar manager just started, you know, from our ideas was like, oh yeah, that's great. And had all these other ideas. And he's like, we can really start to tell this story.
He was already engaged, invested in this idea. So now once we leave, we've done our job with the design. We've sort of ingrained this narrative and this story into the people who work there and they're invested and interested in it and they love it. And they're able to communicate that, to get. People can feel that energy, right.
They can feel when you're authentically trying to create a space that is welcoming to them, as opposed to just trying to sell them on something. And I bet
Dan Ryan: there's also this. Okay. You're you're, you're plotting it out on drawings and renderings. You have the ideas you're, you're, you're in alignment with the brand on everything, but there must be a similar sense of uneasiness that maybe [00:22:00] you had as you're trying to figure out, what am I going to say in that awards assembly, but to, okay.
Everything looks great. Or at the, at the award show where this, this feeling of, what am I going to do? How's it really going to be received? You, you do everything in plan and rendering and. It's built out, but then you don't know until the guests actually come in or the humans come in and start feeling like they belong.
Dyonne Fashina: I think that comes from the sort of idea of embodied knowledge. Like if you are just working from your desk and never going out and experiencing anything, then how can you know what to do? Um, in terms of creating spaces. That's one and also doing your research. I think empathy is about listening and learning from the communities that you're working in, but we've done some work in Mexico where we didn't just come in and say, this is the way we do it in Toronto.
This is what we think you need. We actually sat [00:23:00] down with the people that, uh, you know, own the space and started to work with people in the direct community and have them. Their take on our design intent. One example of that would be, um, we really wanted to have of course, some beautiful textiles in the hotel, um, that related to the local, um, you know, in Mexico, they've got their beautiful textiles.
So we actually worked with a village of these women and families who were making. Textiles to support their families. And all we did was say, we really love for it to be this color, which you have in your, in your repertoire, but the pattern is really up to you. So what do you want to reflect for, from your community as opposed to being so specific in the details that you are not listening to what their identity is and just saying, this is how I see.
We're saying here's [00:24:00] like the consistency that we want to create for this hotel so that it looks nice together and creates a welcoming space. But we want you to bring your personal, um, identity to this piece that you are creating for the space.
Dan Ryan: So if I'm hearing you correct. Okay. There might be that uneasiness, but if you really done your complete immersive process and you're hearing all the stakeholder.
You can really minimize that sense of uneasiness because you're like, all right, well, I kind of feel like we got this, right?
Dyonne Fashina: Yeah. I think if you're, if you're listening and you're not just having one idea and sort of a tunnel vision and a narrowed focus, you're adapting to what you're hearing and you're modifying as you hear.
Then you're going to get closer and closer to that perfect result, which there's never going to be a perfect result. Anyone who says they're going to give you a hundred percent perfect [00:25:00] result that just doesn't exist because it's always ever changing and evolving. Can you get really close to that? Sure.
There's some beautiful spaces out there that are truly authentic. But there's always more that can be done and, and adapted. And I, I, you know, I can't sit here and say that all of our projects are a hundred percent perfect because I don't think that's real. And I'm about re being real. We work really hard to make them as good as possible.
Dan Ryan: No, I, I can see that. And then if you think of, okay, so there's that idea of uneasiness. Solely gets mitigated, but it's still never a hundred percent perfect. Like what for you as, as you and your team take on a new project, what's the most exciting part for you?
Dyonne Fashina: I think it's that Eureka moment when like the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together like that the identity for the space has been.
Created and everyone, the client, the team, even [00:26:00] down to the trades and the contractors and whoever's involved in the project is really on board with it. You know, you kind of are going in the right direction. I think for me, one of the projects that comes to mind with that would be another gallery in Canada, the McMichael art collection, where many people that worked on the project had grown up around.
The gallery, including me. So we had a history with it as young children. And so each maker that came to the table to make a piece of furniture or a piece of, uh, you know, D table decor or whatever they were making for the space, all of them were just like, oh, I remember my memories of this space. And so, you know, they brought something more into it than just another project that they, they were working on.
And I think that's always really nice to, to, to feel like people are invested
Dan Ryan: and with the McMichael art gallery. Like if you think about, [00:27:00] is there any kind of motif or vignette or thing within that project or a moment within that project, if I'm entering that space? Where I, as not knowing how it came to be, I would walk in there and I'd be like, oh, I get it.
Dyonne Fashina: I think you'd walk in and you'd feel that sense of belonging because all of the pieces are made by Canadian makers and the McMichael Canadian art collection is dedicated to solely Canadian art and indigenous. So, what we do as designers is often to, you know, pull from Europe and Asia, and that's where a lot of products are coming in because it's where high design, the sort of Eurocentric approach that we've all come to get used to.
And for this we've really wanted to focus on [00:28:00] how can we celebrate Canadian. Pieces within a gallery that's dedicated to Canadian art so that this restaurant space becomes part of the collection. And in a sense, and so where you would normally on a space of that size, maybe. 2 3, 4 suppliers. Every single item was made by different maker.
Some were small, some were larger manufacturers, but all of them were Canadian base. So you get this sense of like independently beautiful objects that are collectively meaningful because they. Center around the sort of Canadian identity of design. Um, so I think when you walk into the space, you get that feeling from the way that each of the pieces comes together to create this sort of kit of parts.
Dan Ryan: Oh, great. I can't wait to, I can't wait for others to see that I'm, we'll, we'll include links to that in the show notes as well. Um, yeah, that's pretty great. Um, [00:29:00] so as you, as you think about, um, You know, your resiliency and this and the spaces that you've created and the projects that you're doing. And like, there's so much exciting things that are happening right now.
Um, despite all the stuff that's happening, but with respect to all the, everything going on, as you see the world, what's keeping you up at night.
Dyonne Fashina: Woof, what's keeping me up at night. Well, I have a two month old niece, not my own, but niece and I do worry about. Being able to, you know, comfortably go and see her right now, um, with, with the pandemic.
So that's definitely keeping me up at night is how are we getting from where we are now to a place where we were back in September in New York, um, and you know, out again, because that's something that I'm really cherishing and looking forward to. Um, but in terms of [00:30:00] the resilience aspect, I feel like we've been through this.
So we've already got the tools in place to navigate it as much as it's wearing on everybody. Just knowing that we've already been through this is making it a little bit easier for me. I would say it's just like, I know that there's going to be, you know, a time where we can get out again and see.
Dan Ryan: Okay. So now thinking about that time, that some point hopefully very, very soon, um, what's exciting you the most about the future?
Dyonne Fashina: Just all the opportunity. I think, you know, being able to get on that stage and I'm so grateful to HD and H doc and everyone that I was able to meet in New York, um, for all the opportunities. Like I see the potential of what's coming for me. And, um, I'm just so hopeful that there's a lot of amazing, [00:31:00] amazing clients projects, amazing travel, personal travel.
I've already got a few scheduled, which, uh, I'm really looking forward to. So. People need to be not focusing too much on what's happening right now, other than keeping themselves safe, but also just planning for those future times. So that you're, you have something to look forward to and get excited about because I'm, I'm very excited about my upcoming travels.
Dan Ryan: And as you were speaking about that, this idea of community came up in my head, a feeling of community. And I think at the point where you said H deck, it made me feel. Before HVAC, before I even knew it existed, I was at a dinner post pandemic, but very close P post pandemic. And I'd met Aaron Anderson before.
Who's one of the board members and, but we were actually sitting at a dinner. It was our first dinner, post pandemic in may or something [00:32:00] in Atlanta. And it was just so refreshing. I had met him before, but I never like sat down and just really talked to him. And now I just feel like. The conversations in this re I don't know, new breadth of relationship and kind of starting over.
I feel like for me, this whole, there's this whole idea of like a new community. Okay. I've have a very robust network of friends and family and colleagues, but really it's like, I was able to connect with people in such a different way through the pandemic. And I'm excited by this whole. New community that's come out of it.
And you must be just your, you know, blown away by everything that for, just from that awards show and things leading up to it to onward, it's like, how are you creating a new community around you?
Dyonne Fashina: Well, I think, I mean, locally in Toronto, But an hour north of the city. And I certainly have my community within, you know, friends, family, and the design [00:33:00] community locally and Toronto people that I trust and feel at home with, but I've never gone somewhere and just instantly felt that I've got to use it like I'm using a buzzword again, but the sense of belonging that I felt meeting, um, ARN, Bashar, Damon, Nina.
It was just instantaneous. Like, you know, I've spoken to Erin briefly before coming and we just, you know, we continue to have great chats. These just felt, it just felt like I really belonged and coming into it. Um, and with the speech that I made about having times where I didn't feel like I belonged and then to come somewhere such as New York, where someone from Toronto might feel like, oh, I'm going to get a cold welcome.
You know, new, York's a tough city. I've never felt like welcomed in with open arms and the way that I felt when I was there. And [00:34:00] yeah, I absolutely feel that there's something brewing with this community and there's just more people that can NAC can connect out there. You know, I think we had talked about it and Damon and I had talked about this idea of like, You know, there's not very many known, uh, black owned businesses in terms of interior design and architecture.
Uh, there's certainly plenty of black, um, interior designers and architects working in larger firms. And, but, you know, find a firm that is owned by one. And I think you had mentioned. Uh, a colleague that said, that asked you this question and you, your first instant response was Lenny Kravitz and, uh,
Dan Ryan: Venus Williams, Venus Williams, which is also like.
Dyonne Fashina: They do great work and I don't want to knock them. I mean, I love what, what Lenny did down in the south. And, um, [00:35:00] Venus has really come up in the hospitality design world with her team, but they do have the celebrity attached to them that is making them known there, there are people out there. You know, like me, there's plenty of other designers out there that we just need to find Kia Witherspoon.
Like there's so many people that are out here doing this and they may be, are just lesser known, but that doesn't mean they aren't, you know, haven't been doing this for a long time, maybe working in the large firms, like, like some of the other people I've, you know, worked for large architecture firms, small interior design firms.
I've been doing this for. Over 15 years and, oh my God. I thought
Dan Ryan: you were gonna say 50 for a second. You look great.
Dyonne Fashina: Wow. You know, I know a lot younger than, than I than I actually am, but not quite that.
Dan Ryan: Don't say 50 that's [00:36:00] 15. That's more. Okay. Gotcha.
Dyonne Fashina: But, yeah, so there, there are people out there with experience and who are eager to, to, to work and connect. And even for myself, because I grew up in a very small town where there weren't a lot of people that looked like me. I even didn't know a lot of the people locally in Toronto. And I've since. Uh, got involved with it with a group called beta black architects and interior designers association of Canada.
And that's led by, um, Camille Mitchell who's at Gensler and free to, uh, Abu Bakari. That's at, uh, David J. And there's a whole slew of people doing really great work locally in, in Toronto and Canada. Um, and so just being able to connect with, with new people locally that I didn't even know. So there's this huge change that's happened over the last two years where, um, you know, [00:37:00] I'm, I'm able to even meet people I didn't know about.
Dan Ryan: So, yeah, and I think that's something that gets lost on us all the time. We all have the ability to create community, right. And it could be a virtual one. It could be a conversation. It could be industry, it could be family, it could just be interest. And I think that, um, oftentimes people wait to become a part of a community that that's out there.
But I think we all need to know that we all have the power to create community.
Dyonne Fashina: I don't think I could have said it better. We do. We do all have. T to create community.
Dan Ryan: And I think that's so needed right now, more than ever, because with all this division and everything else, and, you know, I don't know, that's, I'm most excited by these new communities that I've started just for my myself personally.
And, you know, I'm, I'm seeing so many other new [00:38:00] communities start up and it's, to me that excites me so much. And it also. The more communities that I feel like we start, um, or become a part of, uh, the less, I feel we might have to rely on our own resilience, right. Are coming up because the more that we're connected with others, um, W we kind of have the shared resilience of, Hey, we're going to get through this.
Hey, we can share, I've had this experience. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Um, and to me, it's a really exciting time in this whole zoom, virtual, whatever this thing is, it it's making it happen that much faster. And that, that much more frequency. And I do miss the more, all of the impersonal stuff. Um, but also just going back to the H.
And the HD awards and just that missed connection to me, that was the first time I got to hug so many people [00:39:00] at once. And it was, you know, it was a little squeamish at first, but then I was. Holding on and hugging someone just for a little bit longer than might be uncomfortable. I'm like, I hope this is an uncomfortable, it feels so good to be holding you right now.
You know?
Dyonne Fashina: I know exactly what you mean. Yeah. You know, when I first stepped off the plane got in the cab, went to that first dinner. I was kind of like, oh, there's a lot of people we had to show her vaccinations. And then as. The evening went on, the days went on, it just was like hugs and yeah, just meeting so many great new people.
It was
Dan Ryan: tequila or vodka or gin that kind of helped lubricate everything. So that was really good.
Dyonne Fashina: Yeah. Unfortunately the bar closed a bit early before my speech, so I didn't have very much alcohol before getting up there, which always helps sort of ease the nerves. Yeah, I don't mind. I'm a, I'm a chatter.
So I just got up there and spoke from my heart and that's how I do it. I don't try to, [00:40:00] to, I don't write things down and do long-winded sort of speeches. I just kind of say what's on the top of my
Dan Ryan: mind. Okay. I love it. And then, okay, so now I want to go back to that idea of resilience and empathy and think about, you know, your dad, who's the pharmacist, right?
So when you're, when you're a little girl and you're experiencing your dad experience, Resilience, right when you're, you're younger, you're, you're seeing this happen, but you have the opportunity to go back to that younger self. What advice do you give yourself?
Dyonne Fashina: Oh, well, I mean, so watching my dad, I think it's easier to, easy to look back and reflect and see now, you know, how resilient he was and maybe how I was still learning.
Because there were definitely times that were tough growing up. Um, especially growing up in a community where I didn't look like everyone there. I certainly had lots of wonderful friends [00:41:00] and family around me, but I certainly struggled with this otherness throughout my life. So meeting people like H Dak and feeling that sense of belonging was really, you know, something bigger than just like, oh, there are people that look like me in the design community.
It's it's more than that. It's like more of a life thing, but yeah, I think now I can sort of reflect back and, and, and think about how my father has been resilient through, through his career and my mother as well. And I think I would just say to myself, it's going to be okay.
Because I had so many dreams and ideas and I always loved art and architecture from a very young age. I was that kid who was like, you know, my friends would say, come to this party. And I'm like, ah, maybe a little bit later, I'm just building a piece of furniture for myself. [00:42:00] So I was always had that in me.
Um, but yeah, there were times where I did doubt myself. Throughout my life. And so I think I still have those doubts creeping in over time, but they just get smaller and smaller because of the resilience, because of going through tough times, you sort of build up this wear layer. That's tough, then like Teflon and you can kind of take on the world.
And as you experienced these hardships, it just gets stronger and stronger.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. It's all going to be okay. Because if you walk down avenue road, Not everyone is lying down on the sidewalk right now. Everyone's gotten up, everybody's gotten up. So it always will be okay. Yeah. Um, where can people get in touch with you?
Dyonne Fashina: Um, you can find me on LinkedIn. Dion for Sheena. I'm sure the spelling will be in the show notes [00:43:00] and probably the heading, um, our website is, uh, denizens.ca D E N I Z E or Z. If you're in the states, uh, and s.ca uh, at Instagram, at denizens of design, those are kind of the best ways to, to get in touch. I do check those things.
So I'll respond to messages either. DM, whatever you like.
Dan Ryan: Awesome. Well, Hey, I just want to say thank you so much for being a part of my community and letting me into your community. And thank you.
Dyonne Fashina: Thank you so much. It's honestly been such a pleasure.
Dan Ryan: Uh, um, no bullshit. Um, and I also want to, I don't want to forget our listeners who just keep growing and growing.
And, um, if this has changed how you perceive or interpret or understand hospitality, Um, please share it to your friends, get the word out there. These conversations are just so wonderful [00:44:00] for me and just this learning journey that I'm on. It's really quenching my third curiosity. So thank you everyone.
Thank you. And we'll see you next time.