Welcome to The Balance Sheet

This is personal.

The Balance Sheet was born out of our shared journey—two people passionate about driving change and creating pathways to opportunity. Together, we’ve witnessed firsthand the barriers that underserved communities face and the untapped potential waiting to be unlocked. This platform is our way of saying: we see you, we hear you, and we’re committed to standing alongside you.

Kino Smith and I bring decades of experience from two distinct yet connected worlds—journalism and finance. Through storytelling, data, and practical tools, we aim to bridge the gap between challenges and solutions, helping individuals and communities navigate the complexities of today’s economic and social landscape.

Our Vision

At its core, The Balance Sheet is about equity, empowerment, and action. It’s about shining a light on the stories and people that matter most while providing clear, actionable insights to help communities thrive. But more than a website, this is a conversation, a resource, and a catalyst for progress.

We’re here to center the entrepreneurs, businesses, and community leaders who don’t always make headlines or find their way onto the nightly news. We’re interested in telling their stories—sharing personal profiles that reveal how people clear life’s many obstacles. From mental health to resilience, from failures to the hard-won lessons that fuel success, we want to explore the paths people take to thrive and uplift those around them.

This is also a safe space to talk about what inspires us—books that helped us through tough times, or the best advice we ever got, like wisdom from Black fathers who came of age during Jim Crow.

At the heart of it all, we’re just two kids from the Midwest—me, from Northeast Ohio, and Kino, from Detroit—committed to building community. We invite you to join us on this journey as we share stories, insights, and tools to help us all move forward together.

This journey is personal to us because we’ve seen what happens when the odds are stacked against you—and what’s possible when the right tools and opportunities come into play.

Our vision is to:

• Empower underserved communities by connecting them with information, actionable insights and strategies.

• Amplify voices that often go unheard, sharing stories of resilience, creativity, and innovation.

• Create pathways for meaningful economic and social progress through collaboration and shared knowledge.

A Journey Together

We’re just getting started, but our goal is clear: to inspire, inform, and drive change. With each step, we’ll share insights, stories, and strategies that reflect the heart of this mission. Soon, we’ll expand this journey with a newsletter designed to cut through the noise and deliver impactful updates that help you move forward.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. Together, we’ll reimagine what’s possible.

— Delano Massey & Kino Smith,

Co-Founders, The Balance Sheet