Jewel Pearson [00:00:00]:
As I launched it, I kept saying this is this is the thing that I wish has had always been available to me. And so kinda like, you know, being the change that you want to see. So I hope it's the magic that helped us move forward and grow and be able to collaborate throughout the country.
Ethan Waldman [00:00:21]:
Welcome to the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast. The show where you learn how to plan, build, and live the tiny lifestyle. I'm your host, Ethan Waldman. And today, I have a returning guest who continuously brings valuable insights into the tiny house movement, Jewel Pearson. Jewel is a tiny house educator, advocate, and community leader with nearly a decade of experience living in her self designed tiny home. She's back to talk about her latest venture, the Cooperative Communities app, which aims to make tiny house parking more accessible and safer, especially for black and brown tiny house owners. We'll delve into her motivation behind creating the app, its unique features, and how it can foster cooperative land purchasing and community building. Plus, you'll hear about the financial benefits for landowners and how this initiative could expand the tiny house movement's reach.
Ethan Waldman [00:01:09]:
Stay tuned for an enlightening conversation with Jewel Pearson. And for those of you who wanna see the video demo of the app, you can head over to thetinyhouse.net/307 to see it, Or just check the show notes. We'll put a link there as well. I wanna tell you about something that I think will be super helpful as you plan, design, and build your tiny house. Tiny House Decisions is the guide that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. It comes in 3 different packages to help you on your unique tiny house journey. And if you're struggling to just figure out the systems for your tiny house, you know, like, how you're gonna heat it, how you're gonna plumb it, you know, what construction technique are you gonna use, like SIPs or stick framing or steel framing. Tiny House Decisions will take you through all these processes systematically and help you come up with a design that works for you.
Ethan Waldman [00:02:02]:
Right now, I'm offering 20% off any package of Tiny House Decisions. For listeners of the show, you can head over to thetinyhouse.net/thd to learn more, and use the coupon code tiny at checkout for 20% off any package. Again, that's thetinyhouse.net/THD, and use the coupon code tiny for 20% off. Alright. I am here with Jewel Pearson. After downsizing her homes and lifestyle over the course of 10 years, Jewel designed and built a beautiful tiny house in May of 2015 that she calls home. Her home represents a desire that many have to reduce their ecological footprint and focus more on practices of less and sustainability. Jewel's a tiny house educator, advocate and community leader sharing her experiences, offering consulting services and workshops throughout the country to assist others in achieving their tiny living dreams.
Ethan Waldman [00:02:58]:
Jewel also serves as representation within the movement focused on doing the work of changing and challenging the status quo of housing and community. Jewel Pearson, welcome back to the show.
Jewel Pearson [00:03:09]:
Thank you so much. It's been a minute. Happy to be back.
Ethan Waldman [00:03:12]:
Happy to have you back. I I this actually also might be this might be your 3rd time on the show. So you're you're joining the, like, the the top echelon of tiny house lifestyle podcast guests who have who have returned again and again. It means you're doing something right.
Jewel Pearson [00:03:27]:
I am pleased to be in the top echelon.
Ethan Waldman [00:03:31]:
Good. Well, so today, we are here because, you reached out to me, I think, via Instagram to share, a little preview of an app that you have developed.
Jewel Pearson [00:03:43]:
That is what I've been working on. This is my new baby.
Ethan Waldman [00:03:47]:
That's awesome. So if I have this correctly, it's called the Cooperative Communities app. Can you tell us about it?
Jewel Pearson [00:03:55]:
Sure. I tried to it's got 2 ways to get to it. So it is cooperativecommunities.org or also you can just use findtinyhouseparking.com. And, it is that that's easy. We know we you know, we're always looking for tiny house parking.
Ethan Waldman [00:04:14]:
Yeah. And that about tells you what it's for too. Absolutely. It's good. It's a good URL.
Jewel Pearson [00:04:19]:
Exactly. That plus, plus some other things. So this is something 2017. Like, I've I've been with you a couple of times to share my journey. Mhmm. And in 2017, when I had was at the second time of having to move my house because I'd experienced issues with racism and safety issues, in a in a rural space. First time was a RV park, and then the second time was a rural space. I had started manually connecting property owners and land owners with tiny house owners, with a a a focus on black and brown tiny house owners so that that safety issue that I was experiencing, hopefully, to be able to eliminate that for other people.
Jewel Pearson [00:05:17]:
There was some, you know, educational information if if folks who had property weren't aware of the challenges, ensuring that they were committed to kinda supporting what we were doing or what needed to be done, and then a matching process. And so it I did that for
Jewel Pearson [00:05:33]:
maybe about 3 or
Jewel Pearson [00:05:33]:
4 years manually with an Excel spreadsheet Okay. Going out monthly and sending emails to say, you know, this is what we have available. If you're interested, reach out. And from that, what this concept was born, to be able to because it became too much to manually do each month. Mhmm. And I knew it to be a need in the tiny house movement. And so I started working on developing this application that allows the that facilitates the matching process a whole lot easier. And so it offers, property owners, and it could be raw land.
Jewel Pearson [00:06:16]:
It could be, you know, a farm. It could be a tiny house community. It could be a campground, or as, you know, a back, backyard urban space. For it allows property owners to come in and create a profile and list what they have available for parking.
Ethan Waldman [00:06:36]:
Okay.
Jewel Pearson [00:06:37]:
Pictures, background details, anything that they want to include, and they can list as many properties, as they'd like. And then it also has an option for tiny house owners who are seeking parking to come in and basically do the same, create a profile. If they're currently if they own a tiny house, they can, add pictures of their house, indicate everything that they're looking for in the space, in a parking location, you know, give some information about themselves. For future tiny house people, it offers the opportunity to say, hey. I'm going to be looking around this time frame. These are still, you know, my desires, and, and I feel like that gives them an opportunity to be, in the process of building a tiny house and kind of offset that challenge of now I've got the house. Where do I park it? And so it's for current and future tiny house owners. They can come in.
Jewel Pearson [00:07:35]:
Property owners can search for tiny house owners. Tiny house owners can search for property owners. It it's the collaboration that's there. And then in addition to those two options, it also has a community building and networking, piece of it where people who want to or maybe own land or want to go in cooperatively and buy land with other like minded people. You know, if we pull pull our resources together, buy this land, we you know, I'd like to do this with other families maybe or, you know, other like minded people. So there's a a networking piece in there that allows people who are interested in doing that or people who already have land and are looking for people that they'd like to invite on the land to be able to connect and collaborate. And then the 4th opportunity within the site is for tiny house builders. And so think of this as kind of the tiny house builder who, it's not the large builder who doesn't need advertising.
Jewel Pearson [00:08:40]:
They're welcome to advertise here, but, you know, they are their names are out there, so they don't necessarily need this. But this is someone that is getting into the tiny house market, has built a few tiny houses, you know, a a local GC who's built a few tiny houses or someone who is trying to transition into building tiny houses, there's an opportunity for them to go in and create a profile, share all of their, you know, their credentials. If they built tiny houses on wheels, share those pictures. And this this also allows if it's on on foundation or on wheels, if they built them and they just wanna share that information, they can do that as well. And they can list all of their information, and then they have obviously a dedicated, you know, audience of people who are looking for their services.
Jewel Pearson [00:09:26]:
And so they can search for people. People can search for them. And then the final piece of it, the the last opportunity membership is for, tiny houses for sale or for rent. So people who have tiny houses that they're, you know, maybe listed on Airbnb or on their property and they're looking for, you know, longer term rentals, they can go in and advertise their, tiny houses. Again, include all of the pictures, all of the details, or people who are trying to sell tiny houses. And and this could be for, you know, if you have the the person has the opportunity to list multiple tiny houses. So, there's that opportunity there. And, again, an a dedicated office audience of people who are looking for tiny houses.
Jewel Pearson [00:10:15]:
And so all of this collaboration happens within the directory. And so that was I I feel like it's magical. It's it's the directory that I wish we could have had many years ago. Of course, we weren't this far along, in the movement, but I tried to think of all the things that I have wanted or needed to know and put this in this one directory to make this available to you to the movement.
Ethan Waldman [00:10:43]:
Yeah. It's it's a wider range of of features or of kind of categories than I would have thought just going in, you know, because you go beyond just the, you know, owner seeking tenants and tenants seeking owner kind of listing service. I'm curious, you know, you mentioned that when you were doing this by hand on a spreadsheet, it was because, you know, in in a way, you were vetting the both the property owners and the the tiny house owners and making sure that that people were were friendly and good, you know, good hosts, not racist. Right. Right. So is there a vetting that goes into the the directory?
Jewel Pearson [00:11:31]:
So there's not a there's not a vetting. And, again, my vetting is limited to asking a few questions. You know? Mhmm. This is why this is necessary. These are the challenges. Do you support this? That's basically all I can ask unless, you know, I'm going out doing conducting interviews, and I don't wanna go that deep into it. So I explained what what the reason is for, what we're looking for. It is open to everyone, and and the hope is that, as and it's within the agreements as as the person is signing up on the site.
Jewel Pearson [00:12:07]:
This is why this site is here, and this is the the reasoning behind it. And so, I feel like someone who is just, I think overtly is is the word I'd be looking for, overtly racist Mhmm. Would be bothered by the fact that these terms are asking them to Yeah. You know, understand that this is for safety of black and brown people. Like, I I feel like that would be something that would turn them off and and and therefore make them say, you know, I'm not getting ready to to to participate in this at all. That is the hope. But I have a lot of, you know, as I'm talking about how it works, I have a lot of encouragement. As I'm doing my work, I'm always saying to people, you know, do your due diligence.
Jewel Pearson [00:12:56]:
I have a lot I do, within the site, offer the opportunity to indicate whether, you know, the bill the business is a black owned business if you if you want to indicate that. Open to all but prior the priority of understanding this is for this was developed with safety in mind so that the movement can be accessible, to all of us.
Ethan Waldman [00:13:22]:
That's awesome. Yeah. I I agree that the the language that's used on the website is probably gonna turn off somebody who who doesn't agree with with that language.
Jewel Pearson [00:13:33]:
Right. Absolutely.
Ethan Waldman [00:13:37]:
So tell me about the cooperative land buying because I this is something that I'm I'm fascinated with, and I hear people talk about it a lot, but I haven't seen a lot of examples of of people actually doing it. Have have you facilitated this to to happen?
Jewel Pearson [00:13:55]:
I haven't actually facilitated other than connecting people
Ethan Waldman [00:13:59]:
Uh-huh.
Jewel Pearson [00:13:59]:
Because somebody might would reach out and say, hey. I've got this land in such and such and I'm open to other tiny house people being there. And then I I because people are always reaching out to me to say hey. Do you know anybody in this area? I can make those connections. So this for me, I and I see it a lot on, like, the socials, like, on Facebook where people will go post in a group and say, you know, hey. I'm I would like to buy land and such and such, but, you know, I I can't afford it. If I could find, you know, 2 or 3 other people who are also interested in this, maybe we could go in and collaborate. But that that the opportunity to find those people is is not always available.
Jewel Pearson [00:14:45]:
And so when I was putting this together, that's what I was thinking. Like, this is is that that section of the site is almost like a, maybe a board, like a community board of sorts where somebody can go in and create a profile and say, hey. These, you know, these are the properties that I've been looking for. You know, I'm looking for families that are interested in homeschooling their their kids. We're, you know, we're that looking for that type of community. And so I felt like it would be, an advantage to have one location so these people could collaborate. Nice. And however they work out the details, like, I don't wanna be involved in the details and the money side of it or any of that.
Jewel Pearson [00:15:27]:
I just wanna facilitate those conversations and the connection.
Ethan Waldman [00:15:31]:
Okay. So this this basically just gives this just makes the connection and then, you know, people can kind of take that take that as they will.
Jewel Pearson [00:15:41]:
Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. When I first started doing this, I was more hands on in. Having the conversations, offering consultations, like, with property owners to help them understand how, you know, they might need to set up their property, things to consider, you know, rental agreements, all of those things. I can provide some of those resources, but I really want this to work all by itself. If somebody wants to reach out as an add on and and consult with me, I'm absolutely open to that. But I really want, you know, I keep saying do your own due diligence.
Jewel Pearson [00:16:18]:
Like, these are the things to think about and you all go off and and and do this well.
Ethan Waldman [00:16:25]:
Yeah. Yeah. So you mentioned I'm gonna I'm not gonna pronounce it correctly. Ujamaa or Ujamaa?
Jewel Pearson [00:16:35]:
Ujamaa. Yes.
Ethan Waldman [00:16:36]:
Ujamaa. So for our listeners who might not be familiar, myself included, what is Ujamaa, and how is it well, no. I already asked how it was pronounced, and I probably did it wrong the second time.
Jewel Pearson [00:16:47]:
That's okay. It is a a Swahili word, and it means, like, sharing, it's cooperative communities or cooperative economics. Okay. It's it's a principle from Kwanzaa, which is the the celebration that happens after Christmas that, a lot of black and brown people, recognize Kwanzaa. And so it is one of the the principles within Kwanzaa that just speaks to cooperative economics. And that is, you know, people coming together to work for the the the better good of everyone. So there's something in it for everyone. And that is what I see, especially with the the collaboration of landowners and tiny house owners.
Jewel Pearson [00:17:39]:
Like, there's a benefit for the landowner, the the financial benefit that helps them, especially as I think about when I first started, doing this work, I was heavily reaching out to black farmers because over the years, they have, through racist practices as well. So many of them have lost farmland. Like, the statistics of of ownership for black farmers at this point is really and I I should have written down these numbers, but it's really, low compared to where it was, say, in the the 19 forties sixties or so. Mhmm. And so, the the cooperative economics, that thought process of, and then the other thing we find is that oftentimes, young people now aren't interested in farming. And so that is also something that is affecting land, black farmers and and land ownership. I'm assured it's also affecting, white farmers. But this is a way to put some money in the farmer's pocket, or the landowner's pocket to help them you know, you've got all this land.
Jewel Pearson [00:18:57]:
You probably aren't utilizing all of it. Very likely aren't you utilizing all of it. So to allow a tiny house owner to park their home on the land, again, we're not asking you to sell the property. Just rent the property, which brings income into the to that family, to that person, and then you're providing safe parking or parking for the tiny house owner. And there's also the the likelihood that the tiny house owner is interested in potentially helping on the farm. And so you you could be getting some income as well as, you know, some some helping hands. And so that is the cooperative piece of it that the cooperative economics piece of it that I think is so important. It's not it's not just for the tiny house.
Jewel Pearson [00:19:44]:
It's just not benefiting the tiny house owner. It is benefiting, you know, the community overall.
Ethan Waldman [00:19:52]:
Yeah. Yeah. I I mean, it's so I I don't have anything to add to that. I I but I agree that there's there's a lot of opportunities for for people who own land who might be struggling with owning the land to have a great relationship with with people who wanna live in a tiny house and don't own land. I'd like to tell you a little bit more about tiny house decisions, my signature guide, and the resource that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. It starts with the big decisions, which is, you know, should you build a tiny house yourself or with help? Is a is a prebuilt shell a good idea? Is a house on wheels better than on the ground and what works better for you? Deciding on the overall size, deciding on whether you should use custom plans or premade plans, different types of trailers, and more. Then in the in part 2, we get into the system. So heat, water, showers, hot water, toilets, electrical, refrigeration, ventilation, and we're only 2 thirds of the way through the book at this point.
Ethan Waldman [00:21:00]:
From systems, we go into construction decisions, talking about nails versus screws, sips versus stick framed versus advanced framing versus metal framing. We talk about how to construct a subfloor, sheathing, roofing materials, insulation, windows, flooring, kitchen. I know I'm just reading off the table of contents, but I just wanna give you a sense of how comprehensive Tiny House Decisions is. It's a total of a 170 pages. It contains tons of full color drawings, diagrams, and resources, and it really is the guide that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. Right now, I'm offering 20% off any package of Tiny House Decisions using the coupon code tiny when you head over to thetinyhouse.net/THD. That's THD for tiny house decisions. Again, that's coupon code tiny when you check out at thetinyhouse.net/THD.
Jewel Pearson [00:21:59]:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even when you think about, like, backyards. I've been in a couple of backyards. And as prices increase and and interest rates increase and all of those things, everybody can use some extra, you know, some extra cash. And so this is a way and I even think about it as I, you know, I see as I'm looking through Craigslist and you see people who are looking for a re a roommate because they can't afford, you know, the the whole house to pay the mortgage or whatever. An opportunity for as I think about it, an opportunity to rent the backyard to a tiny house owner brings in income, but it still allows you to keep your privacy. You don't have anyone in the house, which is, you know, sometimes the the preferred method.
Jewel Pearson [00:22:47]:
But at this point, you know, I'm kinda desperate, so I'm gonna rent out a room in my house to to a, you know, a stranger. But if I can rent out the backyard and that person is in their home and I can be in my home but still earn income, I think that is probably, you know, a win for everybody.
Ethan Waldman [00:23:05]:
Absolutely. So, should we take a look at the at the app before we I have more questions, but I I feel like it would be a great time. And so for those for those of you who are listening, we're gonna post a video of this segment, on the show notes page for this episode. And I will put the link to that in the show notes. I'll actually I'll say the link in the outro and the intro as well.
Jewel Pearson [00:23:35]:
Thank you. So, yes. And find tiny house parking is the easiest way to get here. Findtinyhouseparking.com. Yeah. Dotcom. Absolutely. So this is the, the the main home page when you come to the site.
Jewel Pearson [00:23:52]:
You can so it is a a a membership site. So the on the tiny house landowners, the tiny house owners, the community building and networking, and the builders are back behind a membership, a paywall.
Ethan Waldman [00:24:08]:
Okay.
Jewel Pearson [00:24:08]:
The tiny house is for sale or rent is the the part of the site that is open to everyone. And so you can come to the site and you see here you can search for tiny houses for sale or for rent. And so, this is that is open to everyone. I've got events. I'm hosting monthly events here in the Charlotte area. So I list those events and then I've got some some tiny houses in the news. And then for someone who wants to, kinda look at the site on their own, I also included a demo here so someone can just come to the site, see how it works. But, here in the for the properties for tiny house parking.
Jewel Pearson [00:24:53]:
So you've got the some listings of property owners, Poplar Creek, which is in Rutherfordton, North Carolina low, nearby, the Sea Breeze community has signed up and so you you get to see the property owners. You can see their listings. They tell you about the their property, how to get in touch with them, what their offering is, how, you know, how much parking they have available. The person coming in searching has the ability to contact them and send them a message so that they can be in communication. When you go in, for the profile and I'm I'm in as the admin
Jewel Pearson [00:25:37]:
I probably can't show you. Here we go. So if you're searching for properties for property owners, you can search, like I said, by a farm or rural area. You can search if you, you know, if you're looking for a backyard or urban area, an RV park, campground, raw, undeveloped land or tiny house community. And then you could also search by city or or ZIP code. And so all of the information, is here on whatever property you're able to see pictures, of the property, see details of the property, etcetera.
Ethan Waldman [00:26:13]:
Fantastic.
Jewel Pearson [00:26:16]:
Okay. And so then for tiny house owners that are looking for parking, you're able to come in and create a profile, all of your information about what, you know, what you're looking for. I I'm a current tiny house owner, the type of tiny house that you have, what rental terms you're looking for, whether your house is on on or off grid, all of the details, the size of your house, how soon you're looking for, etcetera, etcetera. And then you're able to add some, you know, additional details about yourself, pictures of your house, all that kind of information. And then a person a property owner could reach out and contact this person that they were interested in, speaking to them about the potential to be on their property. Mhmm. And then the community building and networking, again, this is the piece where I'm, it's more of like a direct, like a bulletin board, old style bulletin board kinda, piece. So you come in and set up and this is a sample.
Jewel Pearson [00:27:27]:
You come in and set up the information about yourself. So in this example, you know, my family has been on a been living in a tiny house for 5 years. We're interested in connecting to purchase land. And so this allows you to list articles. So maybe you wanna have a discussion about, you know, what to get to know the people that you're talking to. Post some articles and have some discussions around the articles. I saw some property available. What do you all think about this property? We can have a discussion there and then just some overall discussions.
Jewel Pearson [00:28:02]:
What are your what are your thoughts? What are your requirements for an intentional community? So this is just going to allow people to to kinda commit to be in discussion, determine whether this was something that I'd be interested in, connecting with this person further, etcetera, etcetera. And then you have, a way to reach out and contact the person as well. Nice. And then for the tiny house builders, so you come in and you can create a profile and you list all your information. You can add a professional resume. I've asked questions like are you a licensed GC, and if so what year are you licensed? Do you have any tiny house certifications? What types of bills have you already completed? The number, etcetera. And then you also have the ability here to list, you know, pictures of your tiny houses that you completed and all the details of of of that house that you built. Nice.
Jewel Pearson [00:29:07]:
And then you have the ability again to connect with that that builder. You see their information. If you decide you wanted to reach out to them, you can connect with them. And then the final, opportunity within the site is for tiny houses for sale or for rent. And, again, you, create a profile. You list all of the tiny houses that you have available. You can list all of your details, your pricing, square footage, whether it's new or pre owned, self built, professional built, who built it, whether it's, you know, one of the if it's certified RBIA certification, you know, NOAA certification, whatever.
Jewel Pearson [00:29:51]:
If you are able to offer financing, delivery, all, you know, all the details, this is, and then you can add, you know, as many pictures as you'd like and as many houses as you'd like as well. And then, this one, like I mentioned, is open to members of the directory as well as members outside the directory.
Ethan Waldman [00:30:14]:
Very nice. Yeah. It it looks well built out and it's, you know, the opportunity for people to put in a lot of details, which are important details for for somebody who's either looking to buy a tiny house or looking for parking. Are you launching are you launch is this, like, nationally available? Or are you focusing on, you know, a particular area as as you launch the the app?
Jewel Pearson [00:30:43]:
No. It is nationally available. I want to make this, available to facilitate, tiny house parking, you know, especially with the focus on tiny houses for wheels nationally because we know this is the where can I park my tiny house is the number one question that is a barrier to the tiny house movement? And as we continue to do the work to legalize it, you know, not everybody like, I'm celebrating 10 years in my tiny house, and not everybody wants to to wait until it's all legal. You know? Some of us are living living the dream now, and I want to be able to facilitate the opportunity for people to be in the movement throughout the United States as I can.
Ethan Waldman [00:31:32]:
Nice. Yeah. It's it's probably the number one question that I get from my listeners and readers which is where can I park it and it's the question that I can't really answer for anybody either?
Jewel Pearson [00:31:48]:
Right. Right. Absolutely. And that's unfortunate, but I feel like, this is as I like I said, you know, to find parking locations, I've I've advertised on Craigslist and all of the things, you know, word-of-mouth and so all the socials. We, you know, we've had Facebook groups for that for years, and this designing this was me trying to be an opportunity for answering that question and and helping move the movement forward.
Ethan Waldman [00:32:24]:
Yeah. And I'm curious how you, you know, made the decision around who to charge, you know, because I've seen different models. Like, I know, you know, tiny house listings, for example. I think they charge the builder to list the house, or they charge it's there There are a lot of different business models out there. I'm curious, you know, how did you land on it looks like there's a quarterly or an annual subscription for for Basically everybody everybody. Yeah.
Jewel Pearson [00:33:00]:
Yeah. So I felt like this so as I was thinking through how to charge every folks. The property owners, if they find a tiny house people to live on their land, they're going to be making money. Tiny house owners seeking parking. This is this is facilitating the process for them. Yep. Tiny houses for sale. Obviously, you're gonna sell the house, make some money.
Jewel Pearson [00:33:26]:
Tiny house builders are gonna make some money. My my thought as I went into developing this is, 1, I've invested in this site. I heavily invested in this site. Yeah. It has to be it has to be maintained and and kept ongoing. I also facilitated this for, you know, like, 3 years just as a as a spreadsheet, just trying to be the help in the movement. And I've I as I priced it, I tried to be tried to, price it reasonably, but also with the understanding is things cost money. And and so I, I I want to be a help, but I also should be able to charge for it is is kinda how I went through the numbers.
Jewel Pearson [00:34:14]:
Again, trying to be reasonable with it, but also recognizing that this is a service and and you Yes. You know, you have to pay for service.
Ethan Waldman [00:34:23]:
As the saying goes, if it's free, then you are the product.
Jewel Pearson [00:34:28]:
That I like that I need
Jewel Pearson [00:34:29]:
to write that down. Yeah.
Jewel Pearson [00:34:31]:
Yeah. I, and and I oftentimes struggle with that question, but I also know that I put a lot of, work into the site so that it it wouldn't be just a a a janky bootleg, you know, site that it is answering the question. It is providing a lot of information. It is, very well done. And so with that, there's there's a charge for it. It can't be free.
Ethan Waldman [00:35:03]:
Yeah. And so, you know, it'll be probably late, you know, mid late October when this episode comes out. Is is the app, you know, ready ready to use? People can go to findtinyhouseparking.com right now and and sign up.
Jewel Pearson [00:35:18]:
Absolutely. It is out there ready and waiting. I am doing a a lot of marketing around it. I had a list of about I'm gonna say a 150 so property owners previously when I was doing the manual process. Yep. My initial thought was to put all of them in the site and but I I don't wanna put them in if they're not going to sign up for the membership and just have, you know, stale information out there. So I am, still collaborating with them to try to get them all signed up into the site.
Jewel Pearson [00:35:56]:
But, yes, it is open and available now, with the understanding that it is still new, so it's it's gotta grow. But, again, that's one of the reasons why I'm here so I can start share getting this information out because it is the question that hinders so many of us, so many people from being able to, take advantage of the tiny house movement.
Ethan Waldman [00:36:21]:
How do you see this app changing landscape in the tiny house movement?
Jewel Pearson [00:36:26]:
I hope it's the magic. It, as I think about it, I hope it is the magic that that grows the movement, that allows people to see the benefits of tiny house living, the the benefits to property owners from a financial perspective, the benefits to families who get to live this dream and how they'll they'll be able to, you know, do well financially, with or even have housing because that's that's also the thing. They oftentimes don't have housing. So, and just the opportunity to have all of this in a directory as I, again, as I launched it, I kept saying this is this is the thing that I wish has had always been available to me.
Jewel Pearson [00:37:19]:
And so kinda like, you know, being the change that you want to see. So I hope it's the magic that helps us, move helped us, move forward and grow and be able to collaborate, you know, throughout the country.
Ethan Waldman [00:37:35]:
Nice. Looking ahead, do you have any plans or any features that you, you know, you couldn't include in this first launch version that you are are hoping to add in the future?
Jewel Pearson [00:37:49]:
I don't right now. Obviously, I'm open to feedback, but I I try to think of, like, my last two ads to the site or or the community building and networking piece and then the the tiny house builders. Yeah. I I think I tried to look at this, again, try to look at this from what is it that I've needed within the movement. And unless somebody else comes up with something that, you know, is is big that I haven't thought of, I I've I think I thought of everything. You know? There could be some tweaks to, you know, the questions that we're asking or, you know, the information that's being gathered that people, you know, might say it would be helpful if if I could share this or, if I could know this about someone. You know, those types of things are small tweaks. But, I don't at this point, I don't have anything else that I think is missing right now from the site.
Ethan Waldman [00:38:51]:
Awesome. Well, I'm you know, I encourage people to feedback. Okay. Well, if you're listening and you wanna check it out, it's findtinyhouseparking.com. Sounds like Jewel is is interested in hearing from you. Or maybe that was just an invitation for me to give you feedback.
Jewel Pearson [00:39:11]:
It's both. I'm I'm interested in hearing from everyone, and I'm interested in people signing up and participating in the site. If you've got land, so that's
Jewel Pearson [00:39:19]:
the thing that as I think about
Jewel Pearson [00:39:20]:
this, people don't obviously, it
Jewel Pearson [00:39:21]:
can't be
Jewel Pearson [00:39:21]:
a community where you've got the HOA, you know? Yeah. But if you've got some land that is open and available to support the tiny house movement because I always say not everybody wants to live in a tiny house. But if you've got the the opportunity to support the tiny house, movement, then this is this is an opportunity to do so as well as, you know, make some extra money. Because as we keep going into challenges and people are, you know, losing land, losing property, this for me is a creative way to to mitigate that that happening if possible.
Ethan Waldman [00:40:06]:
I think just being connected on a platform, whether you you know, even if you have a tiny house and you already have a place to park it, it's like so many people have experienced essentially evictions or being forced to move due to legality changes. So it's probably a good idea to just stay connected through a platform so that way and it's unfortunate that you have to be thinking this way, but so that you kind of have your next move in your back pocket if you need it.
Jewel Pearson [00:40:37]:
I agree. And then, you know, even with with us, part of the the piece of it is having the ability to move if we want to. So you might be happy in your location, but decide you want to move to another state. This is an opportunity to be able to help facilitate that. As I share some information like the you know, I'm not doing it's up to the property owner whether they want to have the conversation with their local city county officials or if they wanna operate in a gray area like we know like, I've I've basically lived for these 10 years. It is up to that property owner and, you know, I, again, can consult on that. But, you know, however they want to whatever they the way that they need to proceed that works best for them is what I'm encouraging them to do.
Ethan Waldman [00:41:30]:
Alright. Well, for those of you listening, I also want to point out to the other 2 interviews we've done together. So the first one is gonna be episode 77. That's thetinyhouse.net/077. That's the interview where we talk about representation in the tiny house movement. And then the next episode that we did was 186. So thetinyhouse.net/186. And that was all about the addition that you put on your tiny house.
Ethan Waldman [00:42:01]:
That was a really fun conversation. And you don't see many people putting additions on their tiny houses. But, you know, as you as you hear from Jewel's bio, Jewel is the real deal. She's been living tiny since since 2015. So, you know, this is a real a real life person living in a tiny house, and, you just always have so much wisdom to share.
Jewel Pearson [00:42:25]:
Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I, October 2014 is when I went and bought my trailer for my tiny house and and and I started designing. So, Alright.
Ethan Waldman [00:42:39]:
So you're at 10 years?
Jewel Pearson [00:42:42]:
I'm at 10 years, and I absolutely still adore my house, and I still really am, for and engaged in the tiny house movement. I just as as you are, I still believe this is just really an opportunity to reimagine housing and and and wealth building and all of the things. So, I'm happy for the the third time. Well, I need to know figure out what episode number this is gonna be. So maybe these are some numbers I can Yeah. I will
Ethan Waldman [00:43:14]:
I will, I don't know it off the top of my head as we talk right now. It's gonna be it's in the low 300. So, you got you got 70 something, 180 something, and 300 something.
Jewel Pearson [00:43:26]:
Yep. The 3rd time's a charm for sure.
Ethan Waldman [00:43:29]:
Yeah. Yeah. 3rd time's a charm. So, Jewel Pearson, thank you so much for being a guest. It was great to chat and catch up.
Jewel Pearson [00:43:36]:
Absolutely. I always enjoy it. Thank you for having me, Ethan.
Ethan Waldman [00:43:40]:
Thank you so much to Jewel Pearson for being a guest on the show today. You can find the show notes for this episode, including a complete transcript links and a video demo that Jewel did live on the interview at thetinyhouse.net/307. Again, that's thetinyhouse.net/307. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to follow the show and share it with your friends and community. Your support helps us bring more valuable content and inspiring stories from the tiny house movement. Well, that's all for this week. I'm your host, Ethan Waldman, and I'll be back in 2 weeks with another episode of the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast.
As I launched it, I kept saying this is this is the thing that I wish has had always been available to me. And so kinda like, you know, being the change that you want to see. So I hope it's the magic that helped us move forward and grow and be able to collaborate throughout the country.
Ethan Waldman [00:00:21]:
Welcome to the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast. The show where you learn how to plan, build, and live the tiny lifestyle. I'm your host, Ethan Waldman. And today, I have a returning guest who continuously brings valuable insights into the tiny house movement, Jewel Pearson. Jewel is a tiny house educator, advocate, and community leader with nearly a decade of experience living in her self designed tiny home. She's back to talk about her latest venture, the Cooperative Communities app, which aims to make tiny house parking more accessible and safer, especially for black and brown tiny house owners. We'll delve into her motivation behind creating the app, its unique features, and how it can foster cooperative land purchasing and community building. Plus, you'll hear about the financial benefits for landowners and how this initiative could expand the tiny house movement's reach.
Ethan Waldman [00:01:09]:
Stay tuned for an enlightening conversation with Jewel Pearson. And for those of you who wanna see the video demo of the app, you can head over to thetinyhouse.net/307 to see it, Or just check the show notes. We'll put a link there as well. I wanna tell you about something that I think will be super helpful as you plan, design, and build your tiny house. Tiny House Decisions is the guide that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. It comes in 3 different packages to help you on your unique tiny house journey. And if you're struggling to just figure out the systems for your tiny house, you know, like, how you're gonna heat it, how you're gonna plumb it, you know, what construction technique are you gonna use, like SIPs or stick framing or steel framing. Tiny House Decisions will take you through all these processes systematically and help you come up with a design that works for you.
Ethan Waldman [00:02:02]:
Right now, I'm offering 20% off any package of Tiny House Decisions. For listeners of the show, you can head over to thetinyhouse.net/thd to learn more, and use the coupon code tiny at checkout for 20% off any package. Again, that's thetinyhouse.net/THD, and use the coupon code tiny for 20% off. Alright. I am here with Jewel Pearson. After downsizing her homes and lifestyle over the course of 10 years, Jewel designed and built a beautiful tiny house in May of 2015 that she calls home. Her home represents a desire that many have to reduce their ecological footprint and focus more on practices of less and sustainability. Jewel's a tiny house educator, advocate and community leader sharing her experiences, offering consulting services and workshops throughout the country to assist others in achieving their tiny living dreams.
Ethan Waldman [00:02:58]:
Jewel also serves as representation within the movement focused on doing the work of changing and challenging the status quo of housing and community. Jewel Pearson, welcome back to the show.
Jewel Pearson [00:03:09]:
Thank you so much. It's been a minute. Happy to be back.
Ethan Waldman [00:03:12]:
Happy to have you back. I I this actually also might be this might be your 3rd time on the show. So you're you're joining the, like, the the top echelon of tiny house lifestyle podcast guests who have who have returned again and again. It means you're doing something right.
Jewel Pearson [00:03:27]:
I am pleased to be in the top echelon.
Ethan Waldman [00:03:31]:
Good. Well, so today, we are here because, you reached out to me, I think, via Instagram to share, a little preview of an app that you have developed.
Jewel Pearson [00:03:43]:
That is what I've been working on. This is my new baby.
Ethan Waldman [00:03:47]:
That's awesome. So if I have this correctly, it's called the Cooperative Communities app. Can you tell us about it?
Jewel Pearson [00:03:55]:
Sure. I tried to it's got 2 ways to get to it. So it is cooperativecommunities.org or also you can just use findtinyhouseparking.com. And, it is that that's easy. We know we you know, we're always looking for tiny house parking.
Ethan Waldman [00:04:14]:
Yeah. And that about tells you what it's for too. Absolutely. It's good. It's a good URL.
Jewel Pearson [00:04:19]:
Exactly. That plus, plus some other things. So this is something 2017. Like, I've I've been with you a couple of times to share my journey. Mhmm. And in 2017, when I had was at the second time of having to move my house because I'd experienced issues with racism and safety issues, in a in a rural space. First time was a RV park, and then the second time was a rural space. I had started manually connecting property owners and land owners with tiny house owners, with a a a focus on black and brown tiny house owners so that that safety issue that I was experiencing, hopefully, to be able to eliminate that for other people.
Jewel Pearson [00:05:17]:
There was some, you know, educational information if if folks who had property weren't aware of the challenges, ensuring that they were committed to kinda supporting what we were doing or what needed to be done, and then a matching process. And so it I did that for
Jewel Pearson [00:05:33]:
maybe about 3 or
Jewel Pearson [00:05:33]:
4 years manually with an Excel spreadsheet Okay. Going out monthly and sending emails to say, you know, this is what we have available. If you're interested, reach out. And from that, what this concept was born, to be able to because it became too much to manually do each month. Mhmm. And I knew it to be a need in the tiny house movement. And so I started working on developing this application that allows the that facilitates the matching process a whole lot easier. And so it offers, property owners, and it could be raw land.
Jewel Pearson [00:06:16]:
It could be, you know, a farm. It could be a tiny house community. It could be a campground, or as, you know, a back, backyard urban space. For it allows property owners to come in and create a profile and list what they have available for parking.
Ethan Waldman [00:06:36]:
Okay.
Jewel Pearson [00:06:37]:
Pictures, background details, anything that they want to include, and they can list as many properties, as they'd like. And then it also has an option for tiny house owners who are seeking parking to come in and basically do the same, create a profile. If they're currently if they own a tiny house, they can, add pictures of their house, indicate everything that they're looking for in the space, in a parking location, you know, give some information about themselves. For future tiny house people, it offers the opportunity to say, hey. I'm going to be looking around this time frame. These are still, you know, my desires, and, and I feel like that gives them an opportunity to be, in the process of building a tiny house and kind of offset that challenge of now I've got the house. Where do I park it? And so it's for current and future tiny house owners. They can come in.
Jewel Pearson [00:07:35]:
Property owners can search for tiny house owners. Tiny house owners can search for property owners. It it's the collaboration that's there. And then in addition to those two options, it also has a community building and networking, piece of it where people who want to or maybe own land or want to go in cooperatively and buy land with other like minded people. You know, if we pull pull our resources together, buy this land, we you know, I'd like to do this with other families maybe or, you know, other like minded people. So there's a a networking piece in there that allows people who are interested in doing that or people who already have land and are looking for people that they'd like to invite on the land to be able to connect and collaborate. And then the 4th opportunity within the site is for tiny house builders. And so think of this as kind of the tiny house builder who, it's not the large builder who doesn't need advertising.
Jewel Pearson [00:08:40]:
They're welcome to advertise here, but, you know, they are their names are out there, so they don't necessarily need this. But this is someone that is getting into the tiny house market, has built a few tiny houses, you know, a a local GC who's built a few tiny houses or someone who is trying to transition into building tiny houses, there's an opportunity for them to go in and create a profile, share all of their, you know, their credentials. If they built tiny houses on wheels, share those pictures. And this this also allows if it's on on foundation or on wheels, if they built them and they just wanna share that information, they can do that as well. And they can list all of their information, and then they have obviously a dedicated, you know, audience of people who are looking for their services.
Jewel Pearson [00:09:26]:
And so they can search for people. People can search for them. And then the final piece of it, the the last opportunity membership is for, tiny houses for sale or for rent. So people who have tiny houses that they're, you know, maybe listed on Airbnb or on their property and they're looking for, you know, longer term rentals, they can go in and advertise their, tiny houses. Again, include all of the pictures, all of the details, or people who are trying to sell tiny houses. And and this could be for, you know, if you have the the person has the opportunity to list multiple tiny houses. So, there's that opportunity there. And, again, an a dedicated office audience of people who are looking for tiny houses.
Jewel Pearson [00:10:15]:
And so all of this collaboration happens within the directory. And so that was I I feel like it's magical. It's it's the directory that I wish we could have had many years ago. Of course, we weren't this far along, in the movement, but I tried to think of all the things that I have wanted or needed to know and put this in this one directory to make this available to you to the movement.
Ethan Waldman [00:10:43]:
Yeah. It's it's a wider range of of features or of kind of categories than I would have thought just going in, you know, because you go beyond just the, you know, owner seeking tenants and tenants seeking owner kind of listing service. I'm curious, you know, you mentioned that when you were doing this by hand on a spreadsheet, it was because, you know, in in a way, you were vetting the both the property owners and the the tiny house owners and making sure that that people were were friendly and good, you know, good hosts, not racist. Right. Right. So is there a vetting that goes into the the directory?
Jewel Pearson [00:11:31]:
So there's not a there's not a vetting. And, again, my vetting is limited to asking a few questions. You know? Mhmm. This is why this is necessary. These are the challenges. Do you support this? That's basically all I can ask unless, you know, I'm going out doing conducting interviews, and I don't wanna go that deep into it. So I explained what what the reason is for, what we're looking for. It is open to everyone, and and the hope is that, as and it's within the agreements as as the person is signing up on the site.
Jewel Pearson [00:12:07]:
This is why this site is here, and this is the the reasoning behind it. And so, I feel like someone who is just, I think overtly is is the word I'd be looking for, overtly racist Mhmm. Would be bothered by the fact that these terms are asking them to Yeah. You know, understand that this is for safety of black and brown people. Like, I I feel like that would be something that would turn them off and and and therefore make them say, you know, I'm not getting ready to to to participate in this at all. That is the hope. But I have a lot of, you know, as I'm talking about how it works, I have a lot of encouragement. As I'm doing my work, I'm always saying to people, you know, do your due diligence.
Jewel Pearson [00:12:56]:
I have a lot I do, within the site, offer the opportunity to indicate whether, you know, the bill the business is a black owned business if you if you want to indicate that. Open to all but prior the priority of understanding this is for this was developed with safety in mind so that the movement can be accessible, to all of us.
Ethan Waldman [00:13:22]:
That's awesome. Yeah. I I agree that the the language that's used on the website is probably gonna turn off somebody who who doesn't agree with with that language.
Jewel Pearson [00:13:33]:
Right. Absolutely.
Ethan Waldman [00:13:37]:
So tell me about the cooperative land buying because I this is something that I'm I'm fascinated with, and I hear people talk about it a lot, but I haven't seen a lot of examples of of people actually doing it. Have have you facilitated this to to happen?
Jewel Pearson [00:13:55]:
I haven't actually facilitated other than connecting people
Ethan Waldman [00:13:59]:
Uh-huh.
Jewel Pearson [00:13:59]:
Because somebody might would reach out and say, hey. I've got this land in such and such and I'm open to other tiny house people being there. And then I I because people are always reaching out to me to say hey. Do you know anybody in this area? I can make those connections. So this for me, I and I see it a lot on, like, the socials, like, on Facebook where people will go post in a group and say, you know, hey. I'm I would like to buy land and such and such, but, you know, I I can't afford it. If I could find, you know, 2 or 3 other people who are also interested in this, maybe we could go in and collaborate. But that that the opportunity to find those people is is not always available.
Jewel Pearson [00:14:45]:
And so when I was putting this together, that's what I was thinking. Like, this is is that that section of the site is almost like a, maybe a board, like a community board of sorts where somebody can go in and create a profile and say, hey. These, you know, these are the properties that I've been looking for. You know, I'm looking for families that are interested in homeschooling their their kids. We're, you know, we're that looking for that type of community. And so I felt like it would be, an advantage to have one location so these people could collaborate. Nice. And however they work out the details, like, I don't wanna be involved in the details and the money side of it or any of that.
Jewel Pearson [00:15:27]:
I just wanna facilitate those conversations and the connection.
Ethan Waldman [00:15:31]:
Okay. So this this basically just gives this just makes the connection and then, you know, people can kind of take that take that as they will.
Jewel Pearson [00:15:41]:
Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. When I first started doing this, I was more hands on in. Having the conversations, offering consultations, like, with property owners to help them understand how, you know, they might need to set up their property, things to consider, you know, rental agreements, all of those things. I can provide some of those resources, but I really want this to work all by itself. If somebody wants to reach out as an add on and and consult with me, I'm absolutely open to that. But I really want, you know, I keep saying do your own due diligence.
Jewel Pearson [00:16:18]:
Like, these are the things to think about and you all go off and and and do this well.
Ethan Waldman [00:16:25]:
Yeah. Yeah. So you mentioned I'm gonna I'm not gonna pronounce it correctly. Ujamaa or Ujamaa?
Jewel Pearson [00:16:35]:
Ujamaa. Yes.
Ethan Waldman [00:16:36]:
Ujamaa. So for our listeners who might not be familiar, myself included, what is Ujamaa, and how is it well, no. I already asked how it was pronounced, and I probably did it wrong the second time.
Jewel Pearson [00:16:47]:
That's okay. It is a a Swahili word, and it means, like, sharing, it's cooperative communities or cooperative economics. Okay. It's it's a principle from Kwanzaa, which is the the celebration that happens after Christmas that, a lot of black and brown people, recognize Kwanzaa. And so it is one of the the principles within Kwanzaa that just speaks to cooperative economics. And that is, you know, people coming together to work for the the the better good of everyone. So there's something in it for everyone. And that is what I see, especially with the the collaboration of landowners and tiny house owners.
Jewel Pearson [00:17:39]:
Like, there's a benefit for the landowner, the the financial benefit that helps them, especially as I think about when I first started, doing this work, I was heavily reaching out to black farmers because over the years, they have, through racist practices as well. So many of them have lost farmland. Like, the statistics of of ownership for black farmers at this point is really and I I should have written down these numbers, but it's really, low compared to where it was, say, in the the 19 forties sixties or so. Mhmm. And so, the the cooperative economics, that thought process of, and then the other thing we find is that oftentimes, young people now aren't interested in farming. And so that is also something that is affecting land, black farmers and and land ownership. I'm assured it's also affecting, white farmers. But this is a way to put some money in the farmer's pocket, or the landowner's pocket to help them you know, you've got all this land.
Jewel Pearson [00:18:57]:
You probably aren't utilizing all of it. Very likely aren't you utilizing all of it. So to allow a tiny house owner to park their home on the land, again, we're not asking you to sell the property. Just rent the property, which brings income into the to that family, to that person, and then you're providing safe parking or parking for the tiny house owner. And there's also the the likelihood that the tiny house owner is interested in potentially helping on the farm. And so you you could be getting some income as well as, you know, some some helping hands. And so that is the cooperative piece of it that the cooperative economics piece of it that I think is so important. It's not it's not just for the tiny house.
Jewel Pearson [00:19:44]:
It's just not benefiting the tiny house owner. It is benefiting, you know, the community overall.
Ethan Waldman [00:19:52]:
Yeah. Yeah. I I mean, it's so I I don't have anything to add to that. I I but I agree that there's there's a lot of opportunities for for people who own land who might be struggling with owning the land to have a great relationship with with people who wanna live in a tiny house and don't own land. I'd like to tell you a little bit more about tiny house decisions, my signature guide, and the resource that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. It starts with the big decisions, which is, you know, should you build a tiny house yourself or with help? Is a is a prebuilt shell a good idea? Is a house on wheels better than on the ground and what works better for you? Deciding on the overall size, deciding on whether you should use custom plans or premade plans, different types of trailers, and more. Then in the in part 2, we get into the system. So heat, water, showers, hot water, toilets, electrical, refrigeration, ventilation, and we're only 2 thirds of the way through the book at this point.
Ethan Waldman [00:21:00]:
From systems, we go into construction decisions, talking about nails versus screws, sips versus stick framed versus advanced framing versus metal framing. We talk about how to construct a subfloor, sheathing, roofing materials, insulation, windows, flooring, kitchen. I know I'm just reading off the table of contents, but I just wanna give you a sense of how comprehensive Tiny House Decisions is. It's a total of a 170 pages. It contains tons of full color drawings, diagrams, and resources, and it really is the guide that I wish I had when I was building my tiny house. Right now, I'm offering 20% off any package of Tiny House Decisions using the coupon code tiny when you head over to thetinyhouse.net/THD. That's THD for tiny house decisions. Again, that's coupon code tiny when you check out at thetinyhouse.net/THD.
Jewel Pearson [00:21:59]:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even when you think about, like, backyards. I've been in a couple of backyards. And as prices increase and and interest rates increase and all of those things, everybody can use some extra, you know, some extra cash. And so this is a way and I even think about it as I, you know, I see as I'm looking through Craigslist and you see people who are looking for a re a roommate because they can't afford, you know, the the whole house to pay the mortgage or whatever. An opportunity for as I think about it, an opportunity to rent the backyard to a tiny house owner brings in income, but it still allows you to keep your privacy. You don't have anyone in the house, which is, you know, sometimes the the preferred method.
Jewel Pearson [00:22:47]:
But at this point, you know, I'm kinda desperate, so I'm gonna rent out a room in my house to to a, you know, a stranger. But if I can rent out the backyard and that person is in their home and I can be in my home but still earn income, I think that is probably, you know, a win for everybody.
Ethan Waldman [00:23:05]:
Absolutely. So, should we take a look at the at the app before we I have more questions, but I I feel like it would be a great time. And so for those for those of you who are listening, we're gonna post a video of this segment, on the show notes page for this episode. And I will put the link to that in the show notes. I'll actually I'll say the link in the outro and the intro as well.
Jewel Pearson [00:23:35]:
Thank you. So, yes. And find tiny house parking is the easiest way to get here. Findtinyhouseparking.com. Yeah. Dotcom. Absolutely. So this is the, the the main home page when you come to the site.
Jewel Pearson [00:23:52]:
You can so it is a a a membership site. So the on the tiny house landowners, the tiny house owners, the community building and networking, and the builders are back behind a membership, a paywall.
Ethan Waldman [00:24:08]:
Okay.
Jewel Pearson [00:24:08]:
The tiny house is for sale or rent is the the part of the site that is open to everyone. And so you can come to the site and you see here you can search for tiny houses for sale or for rent. And so, this is that is open to everyone. I've got events. I'm hosting monthly events here in the Charlotte area. So I list those events and then I've got some some tiny houses in the news. And then for someone who wants to, kinda look at the site on their own, I also included a demo here so someone can just come to the site, see how it works. But, here in the for the properties for tiny house parking.
Jewel Pearson [00:24:53]:
So you've got the some listings of property owners, Poplar Creek, which is in Rutherfordton, North Carolina low, nearby, the Sea Breeze community has signed up and so you you get to see the property owners. You can see their listings. They tell you about the their property, how to get in touch with them, what their offering is, how, you know, how much parking they have available. The person coming in searching has the ability to contact them and send them a message so that they can be in communication. When you go in, for the profile and I'm I'm in as the admin
Jewel Pearson [00:25:37]:
I probably can't show you. Here we go. So if you're searching for properties for property owners, you can search, like I said, by a farm or rural area. You can search if you, you know, if you're looking for a backyard or urban area, an RV park, campground, raw, undeveloped land or tiny house community. And then you could also search by city or or ZIP code. And so all of the information, is here on whatever property you're able to see pictures, of the property, see details of the property, etcetera.
Ethan Waldman [00:26:13]:
Fantastic.
Jewel Pearson [00:26:16]:
Okay. And so then for tiny house owners that are looking for parking, you're able to come in and create a profile, all of your information about what, you know, what you're looking for. I I'm a current tiny house owner, the type of tiny house that you have, what rental terms you're looking for, whether your house is on on or off grid, all of the details, the size of your house, how soon you're looking for, etcetera, etcetera. And then you're able to add some, you know, additional details about yourself, pictures of your house, all that kind of information. And then a person a property owner could reach out and contact this person that they were interested in, speaking to them about the potential to be on their property. Mhmm. And then the community building and networking, again, this is the piece where I'm, it's more of like a direct, like a bulletin board, old style bulletin board kinda, piece. So you come in and set up and this is a sample.
Jewel Pearson [00:27:27]:
You come in and set up the information about yourself. So in this example, you know, my family has been on a been living in a tiny house for 5 years. We're interested in connecting to purchase land. And so this allows you to list articles. So maybe you wanna have a discussion about, you know, what to get to know the people that you're talking to. Post some articles and have some discussions around the articles. I saw some property available. What do you all think about this property? We can have a discussion there and then just some overall discussions.
Jewel Pearson [00:28:02]:
What are your what are your thoughts? What are your requirements for an intentional community? So this is just going to allow people to to kinda commit to be in discussion, determine whether this was something that I'd be interested in, connecting with this person further, etcetera, etcetera. And then you have, a way to reach out and contact the person as well. Nice. And then for the tiny house builders, so you come in and you can create a profile and you list all your information. You can add a professional resume. I've asked questions like are you a licensed GC, and if so what year are you licensed? Do you have any tiny house certifications? What types of bills have you already completed? The number, etcetera. And then you also have the ability here to list, you know, pictures of your tiny houses that you completed and all the details of of of that house that you built. Nice.
Jewel Pearson [00:29:07]:
And then you have the ability again to connect with that that builder. You see their information. If you decide you wanted to reach out to them, you can connect with them. And then the final, opportunity within the site is for tiny houses for sale or for rent. And, again, you, create a profile. You list all of the tiny houses that you have available. You can list all of your details, your pricing, square footage, whether it's new or pre owned, self built, professional built, who built it, whether it's, you know, one of the if it's certified RBIA certification, you know, NOAA certification, whatever.
Jewel Pearson [00:29:51]:
If you are able to offer financing, delivery, all, you know, all the details, this is, and then you can add, you know, as many pictures as you'd like and as many houses as you'd like as well. And then, this one, like I mentioned, is open to members of the directory as well as members outside the directory.
Ethan Waldman [00:30:14]:
Very nice. Yeah. It it looks well built out and it's, you know, the opportunity for people to put in a lot of details, which are important details for for somebody who's either looking to buy a tiny house or looking for parking. Are you launching are you launch is this, like, nationally available? Or are you focusing on, you know, a particular area as as you launch the the app?
Jewel Pearson [00:30:43]:
No. It is nationally available. I want to make this, available to facilitate, tiny house parking, you know, especially with the focus on tiny houses for wheels nationally because we know this is the where can I park my tiny house is the number one question that is a barrier to the tiny house movement? And as we continue to do the work to legalize it, you know, not everybody like, I'm celebrating 10 years in my tiny house, and not everybody wants to to wait until it's all legal. You know? Some of us are living living the dream now, and I want to be able to facilitate the opportunity for people to be in the movement throughout the United States as I can.
Ethan Waldman [00:31:32]:
Nice. Yeah. It's it's probably the number one question that I get from my listeners and readers which is where can I park it and it's the question that I can't really answer for anybody either?
Jewel Pearson [00:31:48]:
Right. Right. Absolutely. And that's unfortunate, but I feel like, this is as I like I said, you know, to find parking locations, I've I've advertised on Craigslist and all of the things, you know, word-of-mouth and so all the socials. We, you know, we've had Facebook groups for that for years, and this designing this was me trying to be an opportunity for answering that question and and helping move the movement forward.
Ethan Waldman [00:32:24]:
Yeah. And I'm curious how you, you know, made the decision around who to charge, you know, because I've seen different models. Like, I know, you know, tiny house listings, for example. I think they charge the builder to list the house, or they charge it's there There are a lot of different business models out there. I'm curious, you know, how did you land on it looks like there's a quarterly or an annual subscription for for Basically everybody everybody. Yeah.
Jewel Pearson [00:33:00]:
Yeah. So I felt like this so as I was thinking through how to charge every folks. The property owners, if they find a tiny house people to live on their land, they're going to be making money. Tiny house owners seeking parking. This is this is facilitating the process for them. Yep. Tiny houses for sale. Obviously, you're gonna sell the house, make some money.
Jewel Pearson [00:33:26]:
Tiny house builders are gonna make some money. My my thought as I went into developing this is, 1, I've invested in this site. I heavily invested in this site. Yeah. It has to be it has to be maintained and and kept ongoing. I also facilitated this for, you know, like, 3 years just as a as a spreadsheet, just trying to be the help in the movement. And I've I as I priced it, I tried to be tried to, price it reasonably, but also with the understanding is things cost money. And and so I, I I want to be a help, but I also should be able to charge for it is is kinda how I went through the numbers.
Jewel Pearson [00:34:14]:
Again, trying to be reasonable with it, but also recognizing that this is a service and and you Yes. You know, you have to pay for service.
Ethan Waldman [00:34:23]:
As the saying goes, if it's free, then you are the product.
Jewel Pearson [00:34:28]:
That I like that I need
Jewel Pearson [00:34:29]:
to write that down. Yeah.
Jewel Pearson [00:34:31]:
Yeah. I, and and I oftentimes struggle with that question, but I also know that I put a lot of, work into the site so that it it wouldn't be just a a a janky bootleg, you know, site that it is answering the question. It is providing a lot of information. It is, very well done. And so with that, there's there's a charge for it. It can't be free.
Ethan Waldman [00:35:03]:
Yeah. And so, you know, it'll be probably late, you know, mid late October when this episode comes out. Is is the app, you know, ready ready to use? People can go to findtinyhouseparking.com right now and and sign up.
Jewel Pearson [00:35:18]:
Absolutely. It is out there ready and waiting. I am doing a a lot of marketing around it. I had a list of about I'm gonna say a 150 so property owners previously when I was doing the manual process. Yep. My initial thought was to put all of them in the site and but I I don't wanna put them in if they're not going to sign up for the membership and just have, you know, stale information out there. So I am, still collaborating with them to try to get them all signed up into the site.
Jewel Pearson [00:35:56]:
But, yes, it is open and available now, with the understanding that it is still new, so it's it's gotta grow. But, again, that's one of the reasons why I'm here so I can start share getting this information out because it is the question that hinders so many of us, so many people from being able to, take advantage of the tiny house movement.
Ethan Waldman [00:36:21]:
How do you see this app changing landscape in the tiny house movement?
Jewel Pearson [00:36:26]:
I hope it's the magic. It, as I think about it, I hope it is the magic that that grows the movement, that allows people to see the benefits of tiny house living, the the benefits to property owners from a financial perspective, the benefits to families who get to live this dream and how they'll they'll be able to, you know, do well financially, with or even have housing because that's that's also the thing. They oftentimes don't have housing. So, and just the opportunity to have all of this in a directory as I, again, as I launched it, I kept saying this is this is the thing that I wish has had always been available to me.
Jewel Pearson [00:37:19]:
And so kinda like, you know, being the change that you want to see. So I hope it's the magic that helps us, move helped us, move forward and grow and be able to collaborate, you know, throughout the country.
Ethan Waldman [00:37:35]:
Nice. Looking ahead, do you have any plans or any features that you, you know, you couldn't include in this first launch version that you are are hoping to add in the future?
Jewel Pearson [00:37:49]:
I don't right now. Obviously, I'm open to feedback, but I I try to think of, like, my last two ads to the site or or the community building and networking piece and then the the tiny house builders. Yeah. I I think I tried to look at this, again, try to look at this from what is it that I've needed within the movement. And unless somebody else comes up with something that, you know, is is big that I haven't thought of, I I've I think I thought of everything. You know? There could be some tweaks to, you know, the questions that we're asking or, you know, the information that's being gathered that people, you know, might say it would be helpful if if I could share this or, if I could know this about someone. You know, those types of things are small tweaks. But, I don't at this point, I don't have anything else that I think is missing right now from the site.
Ethan Waldman [00:38:51]:
Awesome. Well, I'm you know, I encourage people to feedback. Okay. Well, if you're listening and you wanna check it out, it's findtinyhouseparking.com. Sounds like Jewel is is interested in hearing from you. Or maybe that was just an invitation for me to give you feedback.
Jewel Pearson [00:39:11]:
It's both. I'm I'm interested in hearing from everyone, and I'm interested in people signing up and participating in the site. If you've got land, so that's
Jewel Pearson [00:39:19]:
the thing that as I think about
Jewel Pearson [00:39:20]:
this, people don't obviously, it
Jewel Pearson [00:39:21]:
can't be
Jewel Pearson [00:39:21]:
a community where you've got the HOA, you know? Yeah. But if you've got some land that is open and available to support the tiny house movement because I always say not everybody wants to live in a tiny house. But if you've got the the opportunity to support the tiny house, movement, then this is this is an opportunity to do so as well as, you know, make some extra money. Because as we keep going into challenges and people are, you know, losing land, losing property, this for me is a creative way to to mitigate that that happening if possible.
Ethan Waldman [00:40:06]:
I think just being connected on a platform, whether you you know, even if you have a tiny house and you already have a place to park it, it's like so many people have experienced essentially evictions or being forced to move due to legality changes. So it's probably a good idea to just stay connected through a platform so that way and it's unfortunate that you have to be thinking this way, but so that you kind of have your next move in your back pocket if you need it.
Jewel Pearson [00:40:37]:
I agree. And then, you know, even with with us, part of the the piece of it is having the ability to move if we want to. So you might be happy in your location, but decide you want to move to another state. This is an opportunity to be able to help facilitate that. As I share some information like the you know, I'm not doing it's up to the property owner whether they want to have the conversation with their local city county officials or if they wanna operate in a gray area like we know like, I've I've basically lived for these 10 years. It is up to that property owner and, you know, I, again, can consult on that. But, you know, however they want to whatever they the way that they need to proceed that works best for them is what I'm encouraging them to do.
Ethan Waldman [00:41:30]:
Alright. Well, for those of you listening, I also want to point out to the other 2 interviews we've done together. So the first one is gonna be episode 77. That's thetinyhouse.net/077. That's the interview where we talk about representation in the tiny house movement. And then the next episode that we did was 186. So thetinyhouse.net/186. And that was all about the addition that you put on your tiny house.
Ethan Waldman [00:42:01]:
That was a really fun conversation. And you don't see many people putting additions on their tiny houses. But, you know, as you as you hear from Jewel's bio, Jewel is the real deal. She's been living tiny since since 2015. So, you know, this is a real a real life person living in a tiny house, and, you just always have so much wisdom to share.
Jewel Pearson [00:42:25]:
Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I, October 2014 is when I went and bought my trailer for my tiny house and and and I started designing. So, Alright.
Ethan Waldman [00:42:39]:
So you're at 10 years?
Jewel Pearson [00:42:42]:
I'm at 10 years, and I absolutely still adore my house, and I still really am, for and engaged in the tiny house movement. I just as as you are, I still believe this is just really an opportunity to reimagine housing and and and wealth building and all of the things. So, I'm happy for the the third time. Well, I need to know figure out what episode number this is gonna be. So maybe these are some numbers I can Yeah. I will
Ethan Waldman [00:43:14]:
I will, I don't know it off the top of my head as we talk right now. It's gonna be it's in the low 300. So, you got you got 70 something, 180 something, and 300 something.
Jewel Pearson [00:43:26]:
Yep. The 3rd time's a charm for sure.
Ethan Waldman [00:43:29]:
Yeah. Yeah. 3rd time's a charm. So, Jewel Pearson, thank you so much for being a guest. It was great to chat and catch up.
Jewel Pearson [00:43:36]:
Absolutely. I always enjoy it. Thank you for having me, Ethan.
Ethan Waldman [00:43:40]:
Thank you so much to Jewel Pearson for being a guest on the show today. You can find the show notes for this episode, including a complete transcript links and a video demo that Jewel did live on the interview at thetinyhouse.net/307. Again, that's thetinyhouse.net/307. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to follow the show and share it with your friends and community. Your support helps us bring more valuable content and inspiring stories from the tiny house movement. Well, that's all for this week. I'm your host, Ethan Waldman, and I'll be back in 2 weeks with another episode of the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast.
