Cristina is a visual design expert, art historian, and curator of experiences that celebrate rather than compete. We talked about living between worlds. The magical pull of home. The friction of New York. How she went from competitive art spaces to building something collaborative and real. And that's where the actual work happens—in the in-between.

Listen to Cristina process it all out loud.

cristinasamperc.com | @cristinasamperc.arte

Your space speaks. Are you listening?

The psychology of space reveals that our relationship with our home directly mirrors our relationship with ourselves. Upload 2 photos of any area in your home + answer 2 questions. I'll send you a personalized voice note revealing what your space is trying to tell you.

This isn't about perfect design; messy rooms are welcomed.

Start here: rhayni.co/voice and let your space speak.

We met a year ago at KU. I was visiting and at one point filling in for Jae Chang's design studio, where students were designing a food hall for the future of KC. I sat down with each student individually and asked them to look at me. Not the computer to show me their design because I want to hear them, look into the person who was designing first, not the computer or their creations.

That conversation with Drew and his classmates stayed with him. He came back a year later to talk about why.

Because here's what he discovered: architecture is really embodied. It's building space. It's locations for our bodies to exist, move, see, hear, and taste. And once you see that—once you actually feel it—you can't design the same way again.

Drew quilts. He's been quilting since he was seven. His mom, grandma, and great aunt, all quilters. He didn't understand the labor until he made one himself. The hours. The care. The intention is embedded in every stitch. That's when it clicked: this is what embodied work looks like. And it changed how he thinks about architecture.

We talked about AI. What happens when the data shaping our design tools carries bias? What does that mean for the spaces we build? But more than that, we talked about whose stories buildings tell. Whose are erased. Because architecture isn't neutral. It's deeply tied to gender identity, to race. It really is a humanities field now.

I shared a story about visiting land in the DR. One development, completely leveled and bare, I got sunburnt in minutes. Less than a minute away, totally different. Cooler. Softer. You could hear nature again. It's not just about cutting trees. But native soil develops over centuries. It manages water, supports root systems, and regulates temperature. When you bring in fill from outside, it doesn't know how.

Drew understood right away. He said something I needed to hear: we don't know better. We know differently.

That's the shift. That's what changes how you design. Not having all the answers. But respecting the other. Asking who this is for and who it's built on top of. Designing with communities instead of for them. That's the shift. That's the work.

Referenced:

• Citizen Architects: Other Ways of Doing Architecture — on citizen experts vs. expert citizens
• Bell Hooks — Killing Rage: Ending Racism (on rupture and transformation)
• Glenn Murcutt — architect drawing from Aboriginal Australian principles
• Phenomenology & biopolitics — frameworks for understanding how spaces encode power

📞 Connect with Drew:

Drew Graff is an architecture and design student exploring subversive spatial practices, phenomenology, and biopolitics. Portfolio: https://indd.adobe.com/view/1258482a-c0f0-450b-9132-f5bd295bd83e

🔗 Work with Rhayni: bio.site/rhayni

"What is your vision with money?"

That question stopped me in my tracks.

In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Alejandra Rojas—entrepreneur, Forbes contributor, and founder of Brown Way to Money—who helps women of color overcome financial trauma and build profitable businesses.

And here's what hit me: we talk about vision boards, manifestation, business goals... but how many of us have actually asked ourselves: What is my vision WITH MONEY?

Alejandra breaks down her BROWN Framework—a system that addresses what traditional financial education completely misses: the emotional baggage, the generational conditioning, the cultural beliefs that keep us small.

🎧 The Whispers We Shared:

• Why ambition is seen as a "bad thing" for women of color (and how that triggers everything)
• The carpenter and the hammer: why you can't use financial tools if you haven't healed your relationship with money first
• How "Calladita te ves más bonita" shapes our money stories (and keeps us quiet about wealth)
• The difference between a $47 offer and your BIG VISION
• Why underpricing is a financial trauma response, not a strategy
• How owning your voice = growing your income streams
• Building a business while being a mom: the real motivation behind showing up every day

🌬️ Soulful Tools Featured:

• The BROWN Framework (Big vision, Remove trauma, Own your voice, Will the right questions, Normalize success)
• Rapid Resolution Therapy (RRT) for healing financial trauma
• Visualization exercises: 10x your vision until it feels uncomfortably BIG
• Writing your big vision everywhere (room, desk, LinkedIn posts)
• Neuroscience-based approaches to rewiring money beliefs

Alejandra's work isn't about budgets and spreadsheets. It's about healing the relationship between YOU and money—so you can finally build the wealth you deserve.

☎️ Connect with Alejandra:

Podcast: Brown Way to Money Podcast

Website: brownwaytomoney.com

LinkedIn: Alejandra Rojas

Newsletter: Subscribe for her upcoming book!

🔗 Create with R H A Y N I: rhayni.co

✨ Your space is speaking to you—are you listening?