We know real people experiences!
A conversation with Apt-122 Founder, Tachand Dubuisson
What is the story behind the name Apt-122?
Well funnily enough, that’s the apartment my brother and I were raised in as kids. Our parents are immigrants, making us first generation Americans, so the ideologies that we lived by are very Haitian.
The only places we were allowed to go were “l’ecole, lakay, l’eglise”, translation: school, home and church. As we got older, there were after-school programs and sleepovers, and our family was not having any of it. So to resolve this, we opened our doors to our friends, rather than going to other people’s homes. Our home became a place where the doors were always unlocked, and people knew “we’re stopping by Apt-122 after school!”
Apt-122 was where we dreamed of who we would be as adults through our daily adversities. And even now while we’re grown, it still serves as a safe haven where we continue to dream. The nature of that inspirational hub is one I wanted to bring to my business. This is an ode to home.
When did you realize you wanted to design other people’s experiences?
I was always a part of the arts. I grew up thinking I was going to be a dancer, until I found my voice, then thought I would be a singer and songwriter. But I was forced have more realistic dreams, so I went to business school for accounting, but kept it cute and minored in vocal jazz.
I fell into producing experiences on our college campus, which planted the seeds that I didn’t know I would use when moving to New York after graduation. I worked on the trading floor for many long years, before I decided to “find myself”.
The turning point was halfway through a Tidal Concert in Brooklyn. My friend turned to me and asked “are you having fun? Do you even want to be here?” Confused, I responded “yeah, of course, what are you talking about?” She says “you’ve critiqued every single thing that has happened in this space, from waiting in line, to watching someone perform.” I went off on a huge rant that ended with “these MF’s need to hire me!” And she said, very nonchalantly, “well… maybe they should!”
It was like a light bulb that has never turned off.
Things got reeeeeaaal spicy after that—eventually, I left my job, cut my hair, dyed it red and went to China for a month, came back and went for the freelance streets.
How’s that for a story for my kids?
How does your background feed into how you’ve created the agency?
A spirit of excellence. I come from a people of class!
Haiti is said to be one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. But our people have deep character. We’re raised to be civil, to speak many languages, to keep composure when the cards are stacked against us. One thing you’ll never take away from us is our spirit of self worth. I always knew I was destined for greatness. My ancestors told me so!
Now take us and our ideologies and place us in low income communities, identifying as being Black in America. That’s layered. If we’re talking poverty, that is a very complex phenomenon, and I don’t think I can properly speak upon it without touching on the racial wealth gap or decades of Jim Crow or redlining, so I won’t go into detail.
What I can say is that I am one version of blackness, one facet of it. Many people can identify with the version of blackness that I am, but there are so many people who look like me, who cannot, and when you don’t make space for everyone, you fail, you truly miss the mark.
This narrative of what a diverse agency looks like is something I would like to change. Here at Apt-122, diversity isn’t just a number, it’s not a problem we’ll ever need to solve. Apt-122 is in a lane of its own because we understand that the true competition is a systemic and lifestyle change.
I’m talking about institutional change — its about coming together, making a space for everyone’s voices and moving beyond diversity as a capitalistic-like tool and more of a holistic approach. Companies have not acknowledged the specific ways their systemic problems manifest in the everyday experiences of black employees.
Thinking about what it means to bring your authentic self to work? Far too often, we’re told to do that, and then penalized for not meeting the status quo. I’d like to create an automatic system of safety where everyone can show up as their full, authentic selves. That translates into the work that we produce.
What is a change you’d like to see within the experiential industry?
I’m interested in how we create more opportunities for people that look like us. As I’ve been reaching out to people, the reality is, the majority of us didn’t come from this industry, because it’s so new. So there’s this question of ‘what does the creative pipeline look like?’ How are creatives of color gaining the experience they need to even start having the conversations to be in this space?
Our industry is like every other industry — it hires and promotes a disproportionate number of white people. How do we shift this pipeline and create a system that makes it easier and more comfortable for people of color to tap in?
Lastly, what keeps you going?
For me, it’s the walk — the walk in purpose. One of the things I’m most proud of myself for doing is trying to step out of survival mode — it’s work in progress. But this idea that, once you’ve stepped out of survival mode as a creative, and you can pay your bills and maybe have a couple of dollars to spare — what are you out here to do? I’ve afforded myself that privilege, it wasn’t handed to me. I’m recognizing that not many people have that privilege to find their purpose.
To those who have chosen to find theirs, I believe there’s no way you can find happiness without immersing yourself in truth. What moves me? I could have kept my finance job and made the money and lived that life but I chose the road less traveled, and it does fulfill that crazy thing inside me. I don’t know what it is, but I have that and it feels good.
We’ll see you later @WeAreApt122