Centering the research process on building, rebuilding, and maintaining relationships, this multi-vocal article highlights the need to revisit practice. We consider research conducted in a city where all public schools are charter schools and discuss tensions between the implementation of our research approach and the university as we trouble the notion of 'authorship,' collaboration, and 're-presentation.' Bringing our unique positionalities to the forefront, this article focuses on voice (oral story) and how voice functions in (written) text for researcher and participants in dissertation research. We argue that dissertation research is a collaborative and relational process that involves: the participants, the author, the advisor, the bodies of knowledge, and the ethical and moral principles that frame the process. Long-term, reciprocal relationships constructed a foundation for this study's knowledge production and may be needed in all research studies, especially those that include those who are 'marginalized' and whose voices are often silenced.