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00:02what up though detroit we are back for another detroit culture shifters and this woman is really
00:08a jane of all trades because what can she not do she is someone who has made it her mission
00:12to tell
00:13stories create opportunities and give people a platform to be heard she is a journalist a
00:17managing editor of model d a phd student call her doctor okay the founder of operation sash
00:25and a passionate advocate for literacy and youth empowerment and oh she just also happens to be
00:31miss north america 2024 like i don't i don't really know what else to say besides she's incredible and
00:37her name is kyla right how you doing i'm good what up though we were talking off air but like
00:44what
00:44don't you do so let's just start off here without giving like the titles that i just ran down because
00:50there's plenty of more who is kyla without all the accolades and who without all the titles when
00:55we meet you for the first time who are who are you honestly i'm just a girl from the west
01:02side of
01:02detroit who loves my city who loves people talking to people learning about people i'm social i'm a
01:09social butterfly and i i mean i am all the things i jokingly say i've lived a lot of lives
01:16but i really
01:16have a lot of dashes in their multi-hyphenate things but outside of that i'm i'm just kyla and
01:24that's what i always want people to know and to see about me yes i have titles and awards and
01:29accolades
01:30but at the end of the day i'm kyla i'm a people person like i can just sit down and
01:35hit you with a
01:36what up doe and we can you know sit here and kiki and talk about lions football or you know
01:41we can
01:42have a professional conversation so and i think honestly that kind of sums up what a lot of detroit
01:48is and detroit is about and you've done so many things like you just said you're very high multi-hyphenate
01:55so when it comes to media education advocacy pageantry like what all what connects all of them
02:02for you like how are you able to like is there a through line through anything through all the avenues
02:08that you are a part of i think people in connections and just
02:15a word i like to use is holistic i like to tell holistic stories i like to have holistic conversations
02:23whatever it is i think that that just goes through to to be in a pageant like you have to
02:27show your full
02:28your whole self holistically you can't be fake or be fraudulent because it will show so through all
02:34that i think that's the the i think that would be the through line so when you were lil kyla
02:39what
02:39was lil kyla wanting to do is she doing what she envisioned or was she trying to be a superhero
02:46like
02:46what was the vibe for lil kyla okay so lil kyla i think if lil kyla saw me today she
02:52would be like you
02:53know what yep this is this is what we wanted to do because lil kyla even as like eight nine
03:00ten years
03:00old i was giving speeches in rooms of hundreds of people yes so it's i jokingly say this and very
03:09much like not in a um braggadocious way but like i'm not new to this i'm true to this
03:16and it's like i've always i really feel like this has been my life's mission my life's plan to talk
03:21to
03:21people to i'm not shy by any stretch of the imagination i don't get nervous i mean everyone
03:27gets naturally nervous but once i get in front of that mic once i get in front of that stand
03:30i'm
03:31cool so it would be funny when i was like a girl scout and i was like eight nine ten
03:36years old and
03:37i would get in front of a mic and be like good morning my name is kyla right i am
03:41a brownie girl
03:42scout in troop 40393 and people would be like how old is she again like she's giving a speech to
03:49a
03:50home room so another like random fun fact i was the top cookie seller in michigan as a girl scout
03:57i knew that we were kinfolk yes because that was the same for me in dc i feel like maybe
04:03the girl
04:04scouts like really be doing you know girl scouts you know girl scouts really do give you courage
04:09confidence character it'll always be with me come on now it'll always be yours it's hello hello it always
04:15it's always there it's always been there i love that so when it comes to the the spaces that you
04:22hold space in what does it mean to have this power to decide what stories do get told because
04:28unfortunately there there are some stories that get left on the wayside unfortunately because you're
04:34only one person exactly so what does it mean to have that that responsibility and that power to you
04:39know be the one platforming these stories it it is something i do not say slightly whatsoever
04:45and it's something that i hold true to my heart it's something that i'm very prideful about
04:52especially because this is my city i was born and raised in detroit so for me to be able to
04:57tell
04:57detroit stories detroit's people and it's only detroit it's not metro detroit it's not southeastern
05:03michigan it is detroit proper i'm telling stories about who we are what we do where we're rooted why we
05:11do the things that we do and they're all important and i wish i could tell every single story i
05:16come
05:17across but i try to make space and make a place for as many stories as i can from every
05:24stretch of the
05:24imagination from the city because we make up so much we make up so much from our hurt and our
05:30trauma and
05:31our past to the resiliency that we are as a city to the diversity and culture that makes up what
05:37detroit is
05:38and i want everybody to know that i think detroit is the dopest city in the united states of america
05:44i it is the dopest city in the united states of america and you can't tell me otherwise because
05:48it produced me it produced so many greats so many great things so why not i mean like she said
05:55it
05:55produced her hello hello what do you mean and especially someone who originally was not from
06:00here you you hear all of the the the more somber stories of the city so what about your platform
06:07do
06:07you feel like the the city or maybe outside situations are getting wrong about detroit and
06:14is there a story that you feel like encapsulates detroit in a way that you feel like okay this is
06:20my city
06:20this is how you should see it is there a story like that that you've been able to tell so
06:24far
06:25oh that's good i feel like each story is a piece of the puzzle that all come together
06:33to be able to tell that i don't think that there's just one story if we're talking about
06:37the non-profit leader in southwest detroit who's working against pollution in that area or if we're
06:44talking about the fact that we have the first black female mayor of the city of detroit or if we
06:50talk
06:50about you know even me as the first um black female managing editor of model d like so it's so
06:57many different things that you put together that make detroit detroit but i don't think there's just
07:02one angle like we have to talk about black people in our culture we have to talk about music we
07:07have to
07:07talk about motown we have to talk about lgbt rights in the community we have to talk about women's
07:14rights in the communities so there's so much i don't think i think one story could but it'll be
07:20a really long one i mean honestly your story kind of encompasses the city of detroit because
07:26not only are you multi-hyphenate like everybody in this city honestly is but you're so talented and
07:32passionate and what you do and i feel like that really also encompasses detroit because the grit and
07:37passion is there too and you mentioned model d so we might as well get to it miss first ever
07:43black
07:43woman to hold the title of managing editor now explain what model d is for people because i know
07:49that a lot of people only think of like the the mainstream like headlines but model d is is a
07:56moment she's a platform all on its own so can you tell us a little bit about model d and
08:01then what you
08:02do as managing editor absolutely so model d we are what's actually called a solutions journalism platform
08:08and solutions journalism is journalism jargon obviously but basically what it means is we tell
08:14the good stories the feel-good stories and we also tell the stories that hold our city and hold people
08:20accountable so whatever that is a solution essentially to so a solution to um poverty you know there's a
08:29non-profit leader who is making sleeping bags and coats out of chip bags in the city of detroit that's
08:37a
08:37solution to people being cold and you know being on the streets in the cold nights of detroit or we're
08:45talking about how people need to feel open and seen and heard and felt in the lgbt community where we
08:52have what was the detroit lgbt chamber of commerce but has now expanded to the entire state of michigan but
08:58it branched out of detroit or we're talking about those stories of people who advocate for women
09:05women's rights teen moms who don't have the resources but give them safe spaces to experience
09:12their journeys and not shame them for the mistakes per se that they've made but actually giving them
09:19the resources diapers clothes funding breastfeeding classes so we talk about all of those things we talk
09:25about anything that could be a problem or could be a solution to a problem or it's something that will
09:33make
09:33you feel good like okay you know what yes maybe team pregnancy might have high statistics in the city
09:39of detroit but what are we doing about it right okay well there's a non-profit called a girl like
09:44me that
09:44is doing something about it so we have you know those stories to tell to make sure that people know
09:50we we got y'all for lack of better words like we our city no matter what it is we
09:57try to cover it
09:58and i always say we have a bi-weekly newsletter that comes out that i write that tells usually about
10:05the top four to five stories we've told over the last week kind of recapping them encouraging readers
10:10to read it and i always say at the end of my newsletters and my clothes if there's a story
10:15you
10:15think we should be telling let us know email me at editor at modeld.com and we'll get to it
10:22the best
10:22way we can when we can how we can and so that goes into some of my responsibilities is connecting
10:28those stories we have a small staff so in connecting writers with stories and making sure that they tell
10:37those stories well and you know with my journalism background and not only making sure the stories are
10:43told well but they're told authentically because we never want to get the ball wrong we never want
10:50drop the ball we never want to kind of miss the mark on anything so a lot of times in
10:55journalism
10:55you know of course you want to be the first to tell the story you want to be the one
10:58to break the
10:59story but that's not my ideology as an editor my ideology is to tell it right to tell it good
11:04doesn't necessarily have to be told first but what way can we tell it that may be a little different
11:09or a little more unique than the way that it may have initially been told so i have to filter
11:15through different stories sometimes i write my own stories i edit stories from all of so every
11:21story that you have read on model d i've touched so just make sure that it kind of has that
11:26seal of
11:27approval as someone who's a native detroiter as someone with journalism experience and background
11:32just to kind of make sure it hits those points and i'm not perfect so sometimes something may need to
11:38get edited on the back end after publication but for the most part i just try to make sure that
11:44those
11:44stories fit what we what we like i take pitches from freelance writers who can pitch me and tell
11:51me they want to write and that is something i love too because that's how i got my start in
11:55journalism
11:56was cold pitching and freelancing so i never want to look past someone who i can give an opportunity
12:01to in the journalism industry and even eventually it's it's my hope and my goal to bring up young
12:07journalists when we're talking high schoolers and college students to be able to do the same thing
12:11because that's when i got my start in journalism so i love it i could talk about it all day
12:15if
12:16you can't sell i can see and i love it first of all the fact that model d is doing
12:20that i feel like
12:20a lot of news outlets are just like you said always trying to be first or they're just breaking the
12:26facts like they're not speaking to the people saying okay here's how we can change this moment exactly
12:32and i love that you guys not only are obviously you know newsworthy and giving out the facts but
12:37you're you're worried about how this is going to how this is going to change the city moving forward
12:43so with that not only is model d obviously for people of detroit but it's on a platform that anyone
12:50can see so how are you able to make sure that detroit's story is told but also for a national
12:58audience but also you know making sure that detroit sees themselves at the same time so like that's a
13:03tricky balance yeah a tricky balance to do so how are you able to do it with you and your
13:09team
13:10it's really an art but you have to think about issues that most likely are national
13:17make it local but not make it so local that only someone from the city will be able to read
13:23it and
13:23understand it so being able to tell it through a national lens in a local space it's kind of a
13:31good
13:32mix of making sure you're telling the issue as it is but also relating it back to where you are
13:40so whether it's i keep talking about teen pregnancy that's just one of the ones that's on the top of
13:45my
13:45mind right now but so if we talk about teen pregnancy it's not just the issue in detroit or chicago
13:50or la or
13:52new orleans like it's it's all across the country so that right there is a national topic but we have
14:00people in
14:01detroit who are working to make sure that people who are women who are teen moms have those resources
14:07that they need after okay they found out they're pregnant they don't have resources they don't have
14:12support how can we get them that support and what can we do about it how can we continue to
14:17reach those
14:17people reach those communities and give them access give them resources so that also is inspiring to
14:24somebody who's reading it from dallas texas because they say oh maybe we could do something like this
14:29in our city as well or maybe we can figure out a way to have a resource like this here
14:34because this is
14:35also a issue that is you know occurring in our city too so that's how you make an issue that
14:41is bigger
14:43as far as national to local to still be relatable to anyone who reads it i needed you to drop
14:49that gem
14:50because not only were you talking about uplifting high school and college journalists to me but
14:55you're also looking for people to pitch so because you just gave that gem where can people pitch to
15:00you girl because i feel like there's going to be some people after this that are going to be like
15:03well
15:03i love what model d is doing i have a story right now yeah where can they get these details
15:09to you from
15:09yes you can email me at um editor at modeld.com and oh i am so sorry editor at modeldmedia
15:18.com if you
15:19don't put the media in there it will not reach me but yes so email me and you can email
15:25me a pitch
15:26if you're a writer and say hey i'd like to write this story or if you are a founder of
15:31an organization
15:32or someone who's just involved or someone who just heard about something and you're like hey i'm not a
15:36writer but i think you guys should really cover this story so i take pitches from any angle and say
15:41okay hey i know a writer who would be you know good for this story i'll send this over to
15:45her i'll connect
15:46you guys set up an interview whatever the case is and let's get the ball rolling let's get the
15:51story told i know that's right and i would love to keep talking about model d but we need to
15:55move
15:55over to the crown okay because miss north america 2024 has a nice ring to it just a little bit
16:01i will
16:02say so what did becoming this title teach you about yourself whether that's just in general or with
16:09journalism as well ooh if i had to choose one word i'd say authentic when i won miss north america
16:172024 it was not my first time but i felt like it was the most confident moment i had competing
16:26on a
16:26pageant stage in my natural hair because a lot of times in pageants you want to straighten your hair
16:33you want to have the extensions you want to have the tape ends or the sewing or the wig or
16:38whatever the
16:38case is and that's fine if that's your prerogative and it's something that i did used to like but as
16:43i've gotten older i went to an hbcu so it also helped me to okay come on come on yes
16:48so it really
16:49helped me to embrace you know the natural beauty that's inside of me so i learned how to do my
16:53natural
16:54hair i learned how to do a a twist out of wash and go some bantu knots so now that
16:58really makes up
16:59more of who i am if it's not a protective style like braids like i'm wearing right now then i'm
17:04usually
17:05in like a curly wash and go type of style and i just felt like it was the time for
17:11me to embrace
17:12that on a huge pageant stage as miss michigan north america so i did compete in my natural curls i
17:20was
17:20i'm not going to say i was nervous but i had no choice but to to sit in it and
17:26it was like either
17:27you're going to sit in it you're going to be confident you're going to sit in it and kind of
17:31be a little i don't know and then it's going to show right so which one do you want people
17:35to see
17:35when they see you walking across that stage for the first time so i chose you know the former and
17:41i'm like you know what this is me this is all of me yes here i am in my natural
17:47curls representing
17:48the city of detroit representing the state of michigan and i'm so grateful and blessed still to this day
17:55when i think that that my name was called as the winner of miss north america because again i always
18:01say i'm just a girl from the west side of detroit i feel like i've been getting into pageant trees
18:07more because one of my best friends is obsessed with the entire pageant like he is one of those
18:13people that the moment that the miss competition is said he will start going down the list of people
18:19and start getting the judging yes yes yes and i'm like you know what friend you let me know who
18:23i
18:24need to support right so when it comes to pageantry it comes with a lot of visibility and a lot
18:29of
18:29expectations but clearly you like you said you're not new to this you're true to this how did you use
18:34that platform to amplify the causes that you were already caring about because i feel like a lot of
18:39people think okay it's the swimsuits of it all it's like how how you present yourself on the stage but
18:44it's also very much heavily about what you also are championing so how did you use that platform
18:52to amplify what you've already got going on honestly i just did what i was what i was already doing
18:57nothing changed nothing was a shape shift nothing was oh i need to do this instead of that it was
19:02natural it was a very natural transition to already do the work with my non-profit organization and
19:09actually get my 501c3 to be nationally recognized you know federally and being able to talk to little
19:17brown girls all across the country also beautiful just heartwarming because a lot of times i wish i had
19:24that and i didn't i was born and raised on the west side of detroit my family and i we
19:31moved to the down
19:32river suburbs when i was in like the first or second grade we were there for about five years and
19:37we moved
19:37back to the city and those were very transformative years for me as a six seven eight year old and
19:46not really knowing who i was yet and not recognizing my beauty and knowing i came from one of the
19:52blackest
19:52cities in the country and then moving to a suburb where i was the only little black girl in my
19:58class
19:58and there was one of maybe five in the entire elementary school and i didn't know how to take that
20:04and i had
20:05been asked questions i didn't even know about about my hair and about where i came from and about my
20:11parents and my background and i'm like what does all of this mean i just know that i'm from detroit
20:17and
20:17i love it now you guys are telling me that detroit is a terrible place to be from and i'm
20:21confused
20:22so in being able to reclaim my identity and knowing who i am was something that was really important to
20:29me
20:29at a really young age and i never want another little black girl to have to go through kind of
20:35that identity shift because you didn't see someone else in your classroom that looked like you or
20:40someone older as an influence who looked like you and i'm glad you know now we're starting to have more
20:45news anchors on tv and more actresses and more models pageant queens who are african-american who wear
20:52their natural hair who are embracing their natural beauty so it's a little bit less of that divide but
20:59anytime i can have face time one-on-one time with a group of girls and tell them hey everything
21:05is not
21:05perfect life won't go the way that you think it always will be you might not always think you're
21:09beautiful but you have to push past that because there's somebody who's looking up to you there's
21:14somebody who is looking at you and they think that you are the most beautiful woman young girl young lady
21:22ever because of your curls because of your braids because of the richness of your skin complexion
21:27and i want you to embrace that so i wish somebody could tell me that if little kyla if somebody
21:33could
21:33tell little kyla that that's what i would tell her but because obviously we can't go back now i reach
21:39back to those young girls who i see and just even if it's that i love your hair i know
21:44that that means
21:44so much to a little black girl just telling her that you love her hair and she's like oh my
21:49gosh thank
21:49you i love your hair there have been so many times where i've went to a school and talked to
21:54girls and either i was in my natural curls or like in braids and they're like your hair looks like
21:59my
21:59hair and you have a crown on and a sash and so that means i can do it too with
22:05my hair like this and i
22:06don't have to change who i am because this is how i feel most confident great and that's the goal
22:11right
22:11there how full circle is it to have a lack of something but then be the solution to what you
22:17didn't see like i can only imagine that those little girls were probably like oh my gosh kyla's
22:22so cool and you were probably like oh my gosh no y'all are y'all are cool right and
22:28i feel like having
22:29that representation and that access to seeing what you could be can just open up doors for little
22:36people like i feel like as a young girl in dc i think my mom was my biggest like inspiration
22:43because i could see that she was pushing boundaries and i could see what she was doing so the fact
22:48that you have now created a platform and a space for yourself to do the same for these young girls
22:52in detroit and honestly across the country is beautiful especially with what you're doing with
22:57operation sash as soon as i heard about this non-profit i said yeah no we need to get her
23:03on this here platform so explain what operation sash is and what originally compelled you to create this
23:10non-profit yes so operation sash is my non-profit organization sash is an acronym for sexual assault
23:17stops here and it's a call to action to stop secrecy demand accountability and create safe forces
23:22oh excuse me safe spaces for support and healing for survivors of sexual assault and it initially started
23:30as honestly i needed a safe space because unfortunately i was victimized when i was in college in my
23:38undergraduate years and i felt like i had nothing no one no support no one understood and i was alone
23:45and
23:45i was depressed and i didn't know what to do or where to go and actually again coming full circle
23:53everything kind of has a tie-in to each other i decided to do a pageant and i did a
23:58miss black and gold
23:59on campus and i said oh you need a platform something you care about that you want people to hear
24:06about
24:08oh well i would talk about sexual assault but that might be a little too risky i don't know
24:14and i was talking to a friend and she was like and risky is exactly what we need because if
24:19you're
24:20having this issue so many other people are having this issue and i looked up the statistics and found
24:25out that one in five women are sexually assaulted while in college and the statistics have drastically
24:32changed because that was over 10 years ago and i'm like wait so i'm not alone okay so what can
24:39i do
24:39about it if i'm not alone and other people probably feel alone too so i would have tea parties and
24:45brunches
24:46on campus just to like raise awareness and when i had my first event it was called sip and sash
24:50and it was
24:51literally like a tea party and it was in a conference room on campus and i was just like
24:56okay i feel like a couple of my friends will show up to support me and you know that'll be
25:00great and
25:01cool and it was an overwhelming i think it was like 30 or 40 people and i was like wait
25:08hold on and it was
25:09so many people unfortunately who had the me too story and men and women which also really hit me deep
25:17because i'm like wait i'm really not alone which makes me feel good but makes me feel bad at the
25:24same time so what can we do to try to raise awareness about this issue but also to allow
25:30people these spaces to talk and to lean on one another from people who actually understand and
25:36support you and and get it because i did have friends who i tried to lean on for support and
25:41they
25:41were like i'm sorry i just don't get it i don't understand why you're not eating i don't understand why
25:46you're not sleeping or why you're sleeping all the time or why you're crying all the time or why you
25:50don't want to leave your dorm or you only go to class and come back and you don't do anything
25:54else
25:54this doesn't make sense like just shake it off just get over it and i'm like it's not a shake
26:00it off
26:00it's not a get over it it is a process that will forever be with me no matter how far
26:06i am in my
26:06healing journey or not and that was extremely early in my healing journey but being able to find people
26:12who understood and who related who i could talk to and lean on and being able to expand that from
26:19speaking to people on campus to it just being a organization where people could look for resources
26:27to different creative outlets where we would do like spoken word and dancing just to feel free and
26:34have some type of relief at different workshops we will have to i was on podcasts and i was like
26:41people
26:42think what i'm saying is important wait what and this is coming from something that was so traumatic
26:48for me that was so hard for me to get over and for me to continue to push through like
26:54i was ready to
26:54drop out of college i don't tell people that a lot but i was ready to go and then i'm
26:59like wait and i
27:00kind of had that revelation like that person is going to take that much power from you where
27:06you know your ancestors weren't allowed the opportunity to have education and go to college
27:11and yes this is a roadblock and yes it matters and yes it hurts and yes it is something that
27:17is
27:17unfortunate and never should have happened to you but a part of reclaiming your power is not letting
27:22that person take all of that imagine if i would have let that person take my education from me if
27:28i would
27:28have just finished or not finished if i would have finished as in left and not been complete as what
27:35a
27:35sophomore in college and that's a transformative year i was victimized my freshman year in college
27:42i just got here i'm just i'm thousands of miles away from home i am in virginia i am from
27:47michigan
27:48there is no my family's not here i have i had one friend from home who was on two friends
27:55from home
27:55who was on campus with me and i'm like i am here by myself i have no one and actually
28:02since we're being
28:03transparent the person who was my assailant was someone i thought was a friend from home
28:11so it's like and then that goes into a deeper conversation because nine times out of ten it's
28:16people it's people you know it's not a random person in the bushes kind of like those stereotypes try to
28:21portray but it's literally someone that you know so i say all that to say it was a really hard
28:28time but i
28:29didn't want all of my power to be taken from me because of this unfortunate terrible ugly thing
28:35that happened to me but i wanted to transform it i wanted it to transform me and it did that
28:41in ways
28:41i couldn't even imagine and just using my platform and using my voice to address it and to hold people
28:49accountable and even just to say yes me too but i made it through it and if i did you
28:56can too
28:57first of all thank you so much for sharing your story i can only imagine how vulnerable you have
29:04to be to not only talk about it but then create a platform so that other people feel safe i'm
29:10truly
29:10sorry that that happened to you thank you like i've had moments in college where unfortunately my
29:17friends have dealt with that and i've immediately been like what do you need yeah what it like and i
29:23feel
29:23like a lot of the times especially as someone from the outside looking in you don't know what
29:26questions to ask yes or what there is to do for someone so the fact that you've created operation
29:32sash out of your own struggle is beautiful and you're welcome and i think that creating a conversation
29:41not only for women but men also i think a lot of times especially with sexual assault you don't realize
29:47that it actually is sexual assault and so maybe someone brings it up to you because there's even
29:54been moments where i've been talking to someone i'm like no no friend that's not okay like actually we
30:00need to actually let let's let's go back let's actually sit down and talk about this really quickly
30:05so how have you been able to create a space and create conversation that is honest without making
30:14the survivors or victims feel like they're putting themselves on display like i know a lot of people
30:20feel like well i don't want to be like like i don't want to get that shame or i don't
30:25want to feel that
30:26pity but i feel like i need that resource or someone to talk to but i don't want to feel
30:31i don't want to
30:32feel what you're thinking you'll feel in your head how have you created those spaces or what are you
30:38needing from the city to create those spaces because also completely separate question do you feel like
30:43there are spaces besides operation sash that have also pushed the agenda of okay let's let's figure
30:50out how we can help people yes absolutely so to answer the first part of the question it takes a
30:57lot
30:57of vulnerability on my part and anyone's part just to say hey yeah let's sit down and have this
31:02conversation but also part of my mission that i think maybe about over the last two years is talking to
31:13girls and women of all ages so hopefully addressing it before it happens and i mean of course
31:20unfortunately women are victimized from extremely young ages so you know you can't always talk to
31:26someone where they could be in a preventative state but it's already it's in a state of recognition
31:31like you said like wait that wasn't right that wasn't supposed to happen that was
31:36not okay yeah so in talking to middle school and high school girls i make sure you know i tailor
31:42it
31:43to healthy relationships to boundaries to yes and no what it should and shouldn't look like as far as
31:50okay i like this boy or i like this girl i'm comfortable i'm not comfortable this is good this is
31:56not good i feel safe i don't feel safe this is a boundary if i say no and they try
32:01to convince
32:02me otherwise that is not okay so in breaking that down in those type of spaces so that there is
32:08awareness and also in people like you like unfortunately everyone doesn't have people who
32:15are of positive support of moral support to them but a lot of spaces i'm not always talking to people
32:21who are experiencers but people who are potential supporters so and you also knowing that verbiage
32:28and you knowing the questions to ask and knowing hey what do you need from me hey what do you
32:32want
32:32your next step to be do you want to report this do you want to just move on do you
32:38want to go to the
32:39hospital asking those type of questions do you just need me to sit here with you so and knowing those
32:44things as well is a part of our programming when we do workshops in different places in different
32:49spaces and i do also i feel like and i'm glad that detroit does have numerous resources outside of
32:57operation sash because we're we're small in number but we're big in spirit and i'm a one woman team
33:06but if you know if anyone would love to you know come on and help please feel free to reach
33:12out to us
33:13in any way shape or form or on our platforms on social media you can email us info at operationssash
33:19.com
33:20to volunteer to help out but we have so many different ways that we try to connect with other
33:27organizations that are like ours there's the sasha center in detroit where they specifically focus on
33:33healing from women of the diaspora from black women there's the avalon healing center also in detroit
33:40that does the same thing and they have resources and connections with doctors and with um testing
33:47facilities that allow you to process your grief in your own way with therapists which is something else that
33:54we are actually starting to do which i'm very excited about with operation sash is connecting
34:00women to life coaches as well as professional mental health providers to work through their journeys and
34:07at no cost to them of course and so organizations like the sasha center like avalon like haven have set
34:15the precedent for operation sash to move in different ways and for us to also create additional space because
34:22there can never be too many resources there can never be too much help i don't think anybody's
34:27ever said this is this is too much right right no we have we have too many resources we don't
34:32we don't
34:33need any more resources we don't need any more assistance so you know there's the more the merrier
34:39there's always room for us to all grow and there's room for us to all grow and have space to
34:46touch the next
34:47woman or man who unfortunately has been victimized or someone who wants to support someone who has been as
34:52well come on now guys volunteer show up for you people because you never know
34:58unfortunately you could be the person who needs these resources so definitely reach out to operation
35:04sash because kyla everything that she's sharing today clearly shares that your heart is in the right place
35:10thank you let's pivot real quick because i want to do a little quick this or that and you'll see
35:15why i'm
35:16doing that okay okay so you're probably gonna easily get this one east side or west side
35:21west side all day um okay coney or detroit style pizza
35:27oh wait oh i told you it was gonna be hot the first one was easy then you just hit
35:34me
35:36oh detroit style pizza okay crown or press pass oh
35:46press pass okay okay journalism or pageantry
35:55um journalism detroit summer or detroit fall detroit summer race nothing like a detroit summer
36:01nothing like it and then my last one lions game or pistons game lions one pride all day i'm a
36:09different side of me comes out when the lions come up i mean thing is though you were fan of
36:14the year
36:14or whatever i don't know like i mean it's only fitting right so tell me how did that come to
36:19be
36:20was there a process like how does one become fan of the year for the lions yes so it's a
36:24process so all
36:2532 nfl teams have a fan of the year program so there are not quite 32 because some teams have
36:33duos so the detroit lions had a duo in 2025 which happened to be my mother and i and we
36:40were the
36:40first ever duo to represent the lions as fans of the year making everything stop stop so it's a it's
36:48a
36:48process it's an application or nomination process where you have to be heavily involved obviously in
36:53lions fandom and culture and being a fan but also involved in the city that the team plays in in
37:00detroit you have to be a servant because you know plenty of players are servant leaders in the
37:06community as well they have their own foundations they make sure that they reach back the lions
37:10reach back with you know the detroit lions foundation detroit lions academy so they want to
37:14make sure that someone is aligned with all of those values and pillars that the detroit detroit lions
37:19hold as well so it's a application nomination process that goes through goodness i have no
37:26idea how many people but i'm sure hundreds maybe even thousands of fans who apply or are nominated
37:32every year and i'm so so grateful that my mother and i were selected last year as the fans of
37:38the year
37:38through our service that we do with our church with operation sash my non-profit and the different ways
37:46that i've you know had educational initiatives in the city and as miss north america just in the
37:53different things that i am but also the way that i encompass the pride of the lions as well because
37:58we're season ticket holders we're a legacy of detroit lions fans and my grandfather rest his soul
38:06he was a season ticket holder way back when the lions play at the pontiac silver dome
38:11and then when the pontiac silver dome closed they went to fort field he had his season tickets there
38:18as well and then unfortunately he passed away in 2017 and my mom's like this is something that is
38:23way too important to our family so we were for lack of better words but actually quite literally
38:28grandfathered in and so now we have my grandfather's season tickets that we keep in our family for
38:35hopefully for generations to come and so we're at every home game every home game cheering on our
38:42lions and i even made a really fun series randomly because i was bored one day of my mom's outfits
38:50that
38:51she wears in fort field because my mom i like style her outfits and everything is like a custom like
38:56she
38:56has a lion's costume she has like a a suit and like she's like a lion tamers like jack jackets
39:03and
39:03sparkles oh y'all don't play no all the things so it was like i would do series like okay
39:09this is
39:09what my mom wore to the lions game this game and then like she has like a lion santa claus
39:15outfit
39:15that she wears like the game before christmas it's a whole thing and then it turned into me doing
39:20renditions of dan campbell in the locker room the speeches after the game and like giving out game
39:25balls so i guess all of that put together kind of just solidified the fandom a little bit to become
39:31fans of the year i mean it makes sense you were doing everything but being actual dan campbell you
39:36know okay so this is going to be hard for you for him no sorry no who's your favorite lines
39:40player
39:45take your time on the current team or i'll be nice of all time
39:50what is that nice no that's that actually current current okay
39:58oh no that didn't make it easier um
40:05i love sonic i love sonic i have to go to mir gibbs love sonic miss knuckles
40:15i'm just gonna leave that right there yeah mm-hmm but the fact that you have loved so like your
40:22your
40:23love of the lions is so like family tied yeah it's incredible the fact that you can literally count back
40:29generations that like it's pictures of me when i was a baby and like lions onesies oh yeah that was
40:36kind of like me with the ravens sorry it was i was grandfathered in you know what playing in the
40:42team
40:42you know what i love lamar jackson i do and that's homey it is but i love the lions thank
40:48you one pride
40:49thank you so much thank you so for the fact that like i i wish that i had so many
40:54more questions for
40:55you but like unfortunately we've got to end yeah and clearly they need to go and follow you and get
41:01all
41:01the details about everything but before we go the purpose of this platform in this show is to highlight
41:07people who are doing incredible things for the city not only that deserve the recognition but don't
41:14get the recognition or the platform to say what they do there's a lot of times where i've even learned
41:19like oh crap you were doing that this entire time you didn't even know that so who is someone
41:24who you feel like is pushing the culture for the city whether they're here or whether they're out
41:28in the world and they're just showing what detroit it's all about i can only say one you can say
41:34a
41:34couple okay okay i have a couple i have a couple i will say so okay i'll say three three
41:40all strong
41:41positive amazing black women so the first one i'll say is janeba sharif she is in education and she is
41:51a
41:51hampton woman shout out to hampton university and she is of a mentor but also is a friend of mine
41:58and um i call her dj dj is making strides in making sure that black children are being educated in
42:06every
42:07stretch of the imagination and it's so inspirational the way that she cares for all of her students and
42:13she just strives every day to make sure that every child in detroit doesn't get left behind and i think
42:21that's so amazing because education obviously is the foundation of whatever we're doing next making
42:27sure literacy we're hitting our goals we're hitting our numbers and with covid being behind us relatively
42:36there's some catching up that a lot of our youth needs to do and she makes sure that she targets
42:40that
42:41so i'll definitely say dj i'll say rakayla cosley wallace she is making her mark in not only in the
42:49fashion industry but in marketing and she is a marketing guru genius she does all the things and plans
42:58events around the city and activations and also she's a model and i think that she shows what it means
43:06to
43:06be a model a mom a business woman literally all the things in one and she's literally to me she's
43:14she's another another superwoman she's so dope and so amazing beautiful inside and out and always
43:21striving to make a difference again in the detroit community and the last one i'll say is a native
43:28detroiter who no longer lives in detroit but is still always uplifting the name of detroit
43:33is maya jones maya is the founder of what is formerly do good detroit and has now expanded to do
43:43good
43:43nigeria and the do good foundation and she actually lives in nigeria now but she is still doing the work
43:51of do good detroit and it's now an international non-profit organization working toward education and
43:58literacy and youth empowerment and i actually had the opportunity to attend her launch in nigeria in
44:052024 and it was amazing just to see the network that she's created in nigeria because i was a part
44:12of
44:13the network in detroit but to see her in africa reaching the diaspora and showing people the good
44:21name of detroit community service literacy initiatives education is so inspiring and
44:29also she's a pageant queen she we competed in miss michigan usa together and now she's competing for
44:35miss universe nigeria oh so miss universe is not to play not to play with okay not to play with
44:42i can't
44:43wait to see my name on that yes come on now so yes some really dope people i could go
44:47on for days and
44:48days and days about people who i know are just making substantial changes and you know really
44:54making their mark in the city and i love it because i love to see it's nothing like a detroit
44:58woman okay
45:00can i be honorary you know what here's your crown thank you so much absolutely thank you so much we
45:06welcome you feel powerful because you gave a very hearty what up though and i feel like it came from
45:11the spirit thank you so much and you can tell when it's fake right right i've been really working on
45:16it
45:16real hard thank you so much we can sell but i just want to say thank you for everything that
45:22you've
45:22done not only is your vulnerability bounds but just the fact that you have created so many initiatives
45:30so many spaces so many platforms to uplift other people i think it shows your humility it shows your
45:38humbleness it shows who you are as a person if no one has ever met you i bet that they
45:43are obsessed with
45:44you after this interview because you based off of what i know research and what you've shared you
45:49are truly incredible i cannot wait to see what continues on with miss kyla right and what continues
45:55on with operation sash please let everyone know where they can follow you where they can stay up to date
45:59where they can pitch to you and all the details again yes so on my personal you can find me
46:06at kyla
46:07right media k-y-l-a last name right w-r-i-g-h-t media on instagram you can
46:13email me at editor at
46:16modeldmedia.com if you'd like to pitch any stories if you'd like to help out volunteer with operation
46:22sash you can dm us at operation sash on instagram or you can email us info at operation sash.org
46:29and for anything else i won't be too far so it's it won't be hard to find me thank you
46:36so much for
46:36being here and girl you are definitely a detroit culture shifter thank you
46:40you
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