Dime

When I was a kid, someone stole the hoop from the front of my house.

I’d earned one unstoppable shot from the right side of the arc on that hoop, and just like that, it was gone.

The hoop was my consolation prize... because girls weren’t allowed to play team sports in my childhood home. So I shot around alone and found one reliable bucket. Everything else—trash. No one could take the satisfaction of watching the ball go in from my spot though. My heart shattered when the hoop went missing. But I never stopped studying and loving the game.

Years later, I found yoga when someone let me attend class without asking for money that I didn’t have. I thank God every day for those donation-based classes because the practice saved my life.

Eventually, I became a yoga and meditation teacher to share the healing practice. Like my first teacher, I regularly held donation-based classes so that others never wondered if they could afford to be there.

While service-based teaching felt purposeful, I longed to have a bigger impact. I went back to school for more tools to support the underserved communities that I identified with. I lived in my car while attending UCLA because that was what it cost to be there.

After graduating, I taught math in public schools. It was work I loved and believed in. But working in a broken system again made my heart ache to do more—my students deserved more. So I went to law school.

It was a long journey, but I am a licensed attorney in California, Colorado, and the District of Columbia. I still donate more labor than is sensible through my pro bono work. But I have yet to find a good reason to stop—trying to help alleviate the suffering of others is one thing I never get too exhausted to pursue.

The Dime Collective is where everything collides for me: the game I continue to love from childhood, the doors I’ve spent my life as a teacher trying to hold open for others, and the legal education I obtained specifically to do more good, and to do that good better.

Named for the elite basketball assist, this is my way of being in your corner—to support your foundation or community service efforts, and whatever legacy you are trying to build beyond the game.

with deep respect & humble gratitude,

kayla marie