Episode 4: Bernice Radle
A reflection on what it means to get unstuck.
I can’t honestly remember the first time I met Bernice. Which is kind of surprising because she is not easily forgettable. I’m pretty sure it was through a conference or gathering where you meet a hundred people and only a handful really stick. What started as just crossing paths has over the years turned into a real friendship. Bernice has also became someone I look up to as a mentor, whether she’d call herself that or not. What’s always struck me about Bernice isn’t just what she’s done, but how she’s done it.
She didn’t come from money. She didn’t come from a real estate family. She didn’t have a roadmap. She grew up in deep poverty, in a family that never owned anything. And yet, somehow, she’s built a life doing some of the most creative real estate work I’ve come across.
Getting unstuck
If you’ve ever been around Bernice, you know what I mean when I say: she has energy.
She’s the kind of person where you end up staying out way too late talking, and somehow she’s still going the next morning… usually up earlier than everyone else. She says yes to things. She puts herself out there. She talks to people. She follows up. That’s how she’s built her own luck over the years.
Bernice always says she’s in the business of “getting people unstuck.” It’s a pretty accurate description of her impact and probably something she learned by doing it for herself first. Early on, she made a decision to stay in Buffalo and invest in a place most people were leaving. Buffalo was a city that had lost half its population and was tearing down buildings faster than it could save them. It wasn’t the obvious path, but it was the right one for her.
Today, through her work with Neighborhood Evolution, she’s helping other people do the same. She helps people figure out how to take that first step — how to buy their first duplex, how to make a deal work when it doesn’t quite pencil, how to navigate all the things no one really teaches you. Because no one really teaches you this. You learn by doing. Or by talking to someone like Bernice.
Why her work matters (to me)
I think there are a lot of people (especially women) who love old buildings, who care about their neighborhoods, who could be doing this work… but don’t feel like they belong in real estate.
What Bernice shows, just by being in this space, is that there isn’t one way to do this. You don’t have to be a big developer. You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to maximize every dollar. You can start small. You can care about design. You can care about people. You can figure it out as you go.
Real estate can feel intimidating. Construction can feel intimidating. The financial side can feel overwhelming. Bernice doesn’t pretend those things aren’t real… she’s dealt with all of it: bad deals, difficult partnerships, financial constraints. But she also shows that there’s another way to approach this work. She’s made real financial tradeoffs to keep rents lower than market, to maintain affordability, and to prioritize stability for the people living in her buildings. She’s been incredibly deliberate in her work.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching Bernice, it’s that this work is deeply relational. It’s not just about buildings. It’s not just about numbers. It’s about who you partner with, who you trust, who you call when something goes wrong, and how you show up in your neighborhood. Bernice talks a lot about the importance of knowing your contractors, being honest with your partners, and communicating even when it’s uncomfortable. This all might sound simple, but it’s not. And it’s probably one of the biggest barriers for people trying to get into this space, not just the money, but the relationships and the willingness to get unstuck.
Why I’m excited for this conversation
Bernice is one of my favorite people I’ve met in the urban planning and development world. She’s generous with her time, open about what she’s learned (and what she’s gotten wrong), and deeply committed to helping other people find their way into this work. We need more people like her. Honestly, we need more Bernices in more places because every city has “cute old buildings” that need someone to care enough to save them.
I’m really excited for you to hear this conversation. I hope you’ll walk away inspired, but also with a clearer understanding that this kind of work is possible.
Just not easy.
Bernice is a god damn queen!