It Costs More to Be Poor: Real Talk on Housing, Hustling & Higher Ed for Shawntae Harris Mintline

“I used to think I had it all together—until I saw my own Facebook post saying I was studying in the library the same semester I failed every class.” This brutally honest, powerful, and uplifting Detroit is Different episode features Shawntae Harris Mintline, Detroit Center Director for Grand Valley State University’s OMNI program, who shares her incredible story of resilience through housing insecurity, financial struggle, and academic burnout. From couch surfing through the Great Recession to eventually earning multiple degrees and shaping innovative higher ed solutions, Shawntae breaks down how navigating systemic gaps turned her into an empathetic, radically student-centered leader. With raw reflections on poverty (“It costs more to be poor”), emotional truths about being a first-gen college student, and sharp insights into building support systems for adults with unfinished degrees, Shawntae shows how lived experience becomes expertise. Hosted by Khary Frazier, this episode is a masterclass in how personal transformation meets institutional change—with Montell Jordan playing in the background and a trip to Bert’s BBQ sealing the Detroit stamp of approval. Tune in to hear why Grand Valley’s Detroit Center is not just another campus—it’s a place where doors open, people say “yes,” and education bends to meet you where you are.