REAL DADS OF THE METRO Quintin Hughes
BY LANCE EVANS . PHOTO BY TRACE THOMAS
GRAND ARCHITECT “He is a rascal,” Quintin Hughes said with a huge smile. Q—as he’s affectionately called by all those
Back to the beginning These concepts frame Q’s family structure. Like generations of Black men before him, Q stands alongside a powerful woman who is his partner in every sense of the word. He’s been married to his dream girl, Sasha Hughes, for five years. The Black love story went something like this: Girl walks into a bar. Girl completely enamors boy. Salutations are exchanged. Happily ever after begins. “I met her at Urban Roots in 2012,” Q remembers fondly. “I was an Urban Roots regular. I wanted to be there to absorb the culture. I was there to see [Oklahoma artist] Spencer Brown and I stuck around to see him perform. She pulled up. It turned out that Spencer is her cousin.” It all sounds like a fairytale, but none of it happened by chance. This was part of Q’s plan. He’s the grand architect behind his intricately designed life. The dream family—mom, dad and 2.5 kids—was the hope and desire of a young boy in search of a strong family unit. “My family was close growing up and we had a southern Black culture,” said Q about his upbringing. “I missed having a permanent male presence as a father in the house.” To understand Quintin as a family man requires traveling back to his humble beginnings in Little Rock, Ark. The son of a teacher, Q always valued the importance of family. His mom passed down her love of community: she never met a stranger and was a friend to all she encountered. Q makes a conscious effort to pass on the traits he learned from his beloved family matriarch. “I am intentional about how I show love,” said Q. “That’s something my mom passed down to me. A welcoming spirit [as well as] love and compassion for others.” Q says his intentions with Sasha were clear from day one. It was much more than love at first sight. Q longed for the same solid family nucleus that Sasha was already accustomed to.
who adore him—is about 30 minutes in to his interview for Real Dads . After speaking in detail on his parenting philosophy, Q is relaxed and at ease once the conversation finally shifts to the heart of the matter: his delight in his family. “My son’s name is Quintin Hughes Jr.,” Q said proudly with the same smile still lighting up his face. “He goes by QJ. He takes a lot after me with a whole lot more energy, charm and charisma. His mother’s beautiful so he’s a handsome young guy.” Q is the proud father of two amazing kids, 4-year-old QJ and his big sister, 11-year-old Nadia. QJ is an energetic preschooler and Nadia is slowly transitioning into her pre-teen years. Q says watching his bonus daughter grow into an affable tweenager has been an exciting process for the blended family. “Nadia is really smart,” said Q. “She’s 11 and in middle school. She’s basically a teenager, but she’s incrementally getting there.” The Hughes household is an operation. It’s a well-oiled machine where all members, including QJ and Nadia, move with purpose under guiding principles of love, family and responsibility. And it makes sense. Q is more than just a family man. He’s an entrepreneur who has used his success in corporate America as a blueprint for his home. He leads two successful business ventures in Oklahoma City: Kindred Spirits, a bar in Northeast OKC, and Northeast Renaissance Inc., an organization aimed at revitalizing Northeast OKC through ethical redevelopment. The lessons learned at work often find their way back to the Hughes household. “A lot about a household is just another operation,” said Q. “Why not apply the principles that create efficiencies? Why make it hard on yourself?”
14 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / JAN-FEB 2022
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