As a child, Jasmine Brooks’ playthings frequently included scrap pieces of lumber, nails, tape measures, hammers and other things used by her father to build or renovate houses.

The scrap lumber was used to make small houses or toys, including an airplane her brother built for her.

“Growing up, I never thought I would be in the [homebuilding] business because I was sick and tired of it,” said Brooks, who recently was hired as executive director of 6th Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Main Street Program. “I had my sights set on becoming a doctor.”

While at the University of Iowa, Brooks realized she didn’t have a passion for the medical profession and decided to pursue psychology, in which she earned her bachelor’s degree.

A few years later, as a married adult with children, Brooks said she and her husband, Darryl, began having conversations about serious issues, including ways to create generational wealth among people of color.

“My mind instantly went back to the things that my dad had taught me growing up – that real estate is the number one industry that makes millionaires,” Brooks said.

The couple was unsuccessful in getting a loan to buy a property to spruce up and rent, Brooks said. They shifted gears and bought a residential property that had been foreclosed on for a family home. When they needed a bigger house for their growing family, they opted to build new in a neighborhood near Easter Lake, she said.

The couple built and sold three other homes in the south Des Moines development and recently turned the first home they built into a rental property.

“It didn’t occur the way we had thought it would and not even in the neighborhood or price point we thought we’d be in,” Brooks said. “But now we’re moving full steam ahead and getting into the rental space.”

Earlier this year, a friend posted information on social media about the executive director’s position with 6th Avenue Corridor. Brooks said she saw the post and decided not to apply because of responsibilities with her business and family.

A week later, the post showed up again in her social media feed.

“I’m a very faith-based person and I believe God will close every door that’s not for me and open the doors that are good,” Brooks said. She applied for the job, thinking “If God doesn’t think this is right for me, he’ll close that door.”

Brooks was called for an initial interview and called back for a second interview.

In May, the nonprofit group that is coordinating the commercial revitalization of Sixth Avenue announced Brooks as its executive director.

The Business Record recently caught up with Brooks.

Talk a little bit about how your experiences prepared you for this position.

Everything I’ve done the past seven or 10 years is all rolled up into this one job. I have a background in homebuilding and development. I have connections with builders, developers and people in the trades. I’ve worked with the Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families, the Directors Council (a nonprofit organization of Black CEOs and executive directors that is working to improve Black lives in Polk County). All of the social development and work that I’ve done in the past is all rolled up in the job I’m doing now. And it’s in the exact neighborhood that raised me. … One of the things the board said to me during the interviews was that I seemed relaxed. I said it was because I’m at home.

What was Sixth Avenue like when you were growing up here?

It was like a mini expressway to get you from the freeway to north of the river. … It wasn’t until I was in middle school that I understood the term “the hood” and then I started telling people “Oh, yeah, I live in the hood.” It was a badge of honor. It wasn’t like, “Whoa, we are poor folk.” It was more like, “Look at people who are thriving with little, look at people who are developing community.”

Where do you want to see the Sixth Avenue Corridor in five years?

My top goal is to have an authentic grocery store. I know that C Fresh Market [at 801 University Ave.] has been serving as our grocery store for this area. It was a good idea when it opened but if we are being transparent, we cannot solely go to C Fresh to pick up our weekly items. We can get a few items there, but we cannot pick up everything. So, to have maybe an Aldi or something of that nature, that’s a top-level goal for me.

Do you think the community would support a full-service grocery store?

Yes, I do. But we have to have conversations on the business side to make sure [price gouging] doesn’t occur. It’s unfair to charge $5 for eggs simply because you know that there are a lot of people without transportation who can’t go to Walmart. That’s not right. We have to keep those things in mind and make sure that the grocer that decides to come here is aware of that and doesn’t begin to do things like locking certain cases and making [customers] ask a manager for items. People don’t want to be treated like they are being jailed in their own community.

Is there anything else you would like to see occur in the corridor?

I’ve been thinking about different programming we can put together to create infill lots that don’t solely go to Home Inc. (a Des Moines-based nonprofit group that develops, rehabilitates and builds affordable housing units). And, although we appreciate Home Inc. and all of the organizations that are doing great work, a lot of the time it’s a very long process to get a home built, and it doesn’t include Black or brown builders.

That’s actually what attracted me to this position. As a Black and brown builder, my dad and I would talk constantly about why we cannot get the lots that have been here for 10 or 20 years; what is it that makes these lots unattainable? It came down to price. A lot of the homes or lots would have liens on them. A lot of them would be so dilapidated that you would need to knock them down and then rebuild. And then, by the time you sell it, there’s such a gap that you have lost money. … This has literally been a seedling of mine for a decade: How can we create programming and work with other organizations like the city of Des Moines to give the lots to Black and brown builders? How can we wipe the liens off? How can we knock the houses down or assist in doing that so that we can create housing? It doesn’t always have to be – quote-unquote –  affordable housing, but it can be market rate housing, where the builders are not losing money on it.

What do you think is your biggest obstacle to achieving some of these goals?

The biggest obstacle – it almost feels like an intangible – but it’s changing people’s perception. I’ve had aunts and uncles who lived here over 25 years ago and their perception of this area is that it’s still limited. Even my perception and my kids’ perception are that we intrinsically believe that it’s still the hood; it’s still almost boxed in. Changing that starts with changing how the community feels about it.

When you say community, who are you referring to?

Everyone. People who live in this area. People who live in Des Moines. People who live in Central Iowa. If you have experience in Des Moines over the last 20 years, you understand what areas are considered the hood, what areas are impoverished, which areas don’t have good schools. You know those areas and you decide either to go there and try and make a difference, or you decide to go somewhere else and make a difference from the outside, or you just decide it’s too much and you don’t do anything at all. I definitely don’t want to be that person who made it out but I didn’t go back to make a difference.

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At a glance

Age: 33

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa

Lives: Waukee, Iowa

Family: Husband, Darryl Brooks, and two children

Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology, University of Iowa, 2012; master’s degree in marketing and communication, Drake University, 2022 

Work background: CEO, Brooks Homes LLC, March 2017 to the present; real estate agent with Keller Williams of Greater Des Moines, February 2022 to the present; appointed executive director of 6th Avenue Corridor in May

Other activities: Working out at the gymnasium, transporting her children to their various activities, and participating in activities at Kingdom Life Family Ministries

Contact: Director@6thavedsm.org