As part of its Home for the Holidays campaign, Flint & Genesee Group connected with Genesee County natives who moved away and have since come back. They shared with us their experience of returning to Flint & Genesee — why they left, why they came back and why they’re here to stay.
Below is one of those stories.
For Kyona McGhee, the two-and-a-half years she spent working and living in the city of Detroit was a great experience – one that she describes a “stay-cation.”
“I loved it,” says McGhee, a graduate of Carman Ainsworth High School. “It was an adventure for my family. But in early 2020, we knew that it was time to come back home. It was time to start investing deeper into our careers, our long-term goals and our time spent being with our family in Flint.”
So, McGhee and her husband packed up and moved their small family back to Genesee County. They purchased a home in Grand Blanc. McGhee then gutted and remodeled an office space in downtown Flint’s Paterson Building. It was there that she opened the brick-and-mortar location for Trademark My Stuff, a law firm that specializes in protecting and scaling minority owned small businesses.
“This is a great place for entrepreneurs,” McGhee says. “You don’t need millions of dollars, or even thousands of dollars, to start a business. There are so many different resources available to help you get off the ground. I’ve met so many people who have done it, and they’ve done it from here.”
Among those businesses are some of McGhee’s favorites: I Am My Billboard, a family owned gym in Burton; Prime 810, a restaurant on Pierson Road; and Red Wagon, a soul food eatery with two locations in Genesee County. “This community here is very encouraging. They want to see you win. As a family, we try to be as intentional as possible with supporting the people and businesses that are putting themselves out there and betting on themselves.”
According to McGhee, it’s that room for investment that really sets Flint apart.
“We started dabbling in real estate,” says McGhee, noting that she and her husband have an investment property in Flint and are looking to open an Airbnb as well. “Compared to other cities, Flint is very affordable. Whether it’s housing or business-related, this is a great place to start something new.”
And, she adds, there’s the added benefit of relatively little traffic. “We don’t have to drive 40 minutes to get to groceries,” she says. “There’s no long commute to work either – it’s literally a 14-minute drive from my front door to work!”
Are you interested in the possibility of making the move back home? Complete this quick form and someone from our team will follow up with you to discuss your goals, interests and why moving back to Flint & Genesee is right for you.