Dear Family,

Christian and I are entering a new season of life.

In just a few months, we’ll be welcoming our first child into the world, and with that joy comes a new sense of responsibility. We’ve always tried to live with intention, but now more than ever, we’re thinking long-term: How do we set our child up for success, not just while we’re here, but long after we’re gone?

That question led the two of us down a deeper path into legacy, wealth, and something we don’t talk enough about in our community: family offices.

A family office is a private organization built to manage a family’s wealth, values, and legacy across generations. The concept originated with ultra-wealthy families, such as the Rockefellers and Mellons, in the late 1800s. These families understood that wealth alone wasn’t enough.

They needed structure, including systems for investing, giving, educating, and governing.

The intent is that systems would ensure their wealth would last for decades, not just years. So they created institutions to handle it all: financial planning, tax strategy, estate planning, philanthropy, education, even mentorship for the next generation. Over time, these offices became quiet powerhouses, passing down not just money, but mission.

Unfortunately, family offices were never designed with us in mind.

For most Black families, especially those who built wealth in the first or second generation, there’s rarely a blueprint for how to protect it. Too often, the story follows a predictable cycle:

• Generation 1 – The Builders: Start from scratch. Grind. Sacrifice.

• Generation 2 – The Stewards: Maintain and expand—but often without full preparation.

• Generation 3 – The Consumers: Drift. Spend. And watch the wealth disappear.
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By the time you reach the fourth generation, the legacy is often gone. We want to change that.

Christian and I are creating our own family office, something we’re calling The 8th Collective.

It’s more than a name. It’s a mindset. Because the number 8 symbolizes new beginnings. Because we met in the 8th month, on the 11th day.Because by the 8th generation, most legacies have faded, but ours will be different.

We’re not just saving money. We’re building structure. We’re aligning our values with our vision, and designing systems to protect both.

The 8th Collective will help us:

• Steward our financial resources with clarity and purpose

• Teach our children (and their children) how to lead, give, and invest

• Launch philanthropic efforts that align with our faith and values

• Create governance systems so our family makes decisions together, not apart

• And model what’s possible when Black families build with intention

Our goal isn’t just to obtain success, but to sustain it. We’re not just building wealth, but making sure our children, and their children’s children, can keep it.

If you're reading this, maybe you’re being called to do the same.

Moving forward, you’re going to see me sharing a lot more about family offices and what I’m learning as we stand up our own. One of my goals at LUX is to help inspire you to think more long-term, with the potential of setting up your own one day, even if you’re not there yet.

But we know that when it comes to normalizing excellence, sometimes it starts with exposure, and so as we build ours in public, we hope it ignites what's possible for you as well. 

From LUX, With Love

Matt