Mechanical resonators are seeing a surge in interest within quantum information and quantum sensing communities due to their capability for long phonon lifetimes, readiness to interact with a wide variety of quantum systems, and state-of-the-art sensitivity to small forces. Defect center spins in solid-state materials like diamond are also expected to play a key role in future quantum sensing and quantum information protocols by virtue of their long coherence times, straightforward optical control, and proven suitability for studying phenomena at the nanoscale. We are working towards unifying the strengths of these disparate systems by realizing a spin-mechanical system consisting of silicon vacancy (SiV) centers strongly coupled to a diamond optomechanical resonator via lattice strain. Demonstrating strong coupling between spins and phonons in this way is a notoriously challenging feat, requiring spins with long coherence times to be placed in extremely carefully engineered mechanical resonators without degrading the properties of either one. However, such a platform would have important, interdisciplinary implications for fields of study ranging from entanglement-enhanced sensing, interconnects between existing quantum technologies separated by large energy scales, and cavity quantum acoustodynamics (CQAD).