The Podcast
Build the Damn Thing
The Question of U: What it Takes to be a Successful Entrepreneur
Vision, ambition, and intuition about how to generate revenue are characteristics of the most successful entrepreneurs. According to her mom, teachers, and best friends from high school, Genius Guild CEO Kathryn Finney had all of these qualities early on growing up in Minnesota. In this episode, listen to those who were there at the beginning of Kathryn’s journey as a young builder and what led her to become one of the most influential women in tech.
In this episode of Build The Damn Thing, Kathryn Finney talks to those people who were present at the beginning of her journey as a young builder and what led her to become one of the most influential women in tech. All the people in Kathryn’s life speak of how they always knew she was “different” from a young age -- and that’s a good thing. They also share that she had the unique ability to bring people around to her way of thinking to impact change. But it wasn’t easy: Kathryn shares a painful and transformative childhood experience when she ran for school president against a white kid and the hate that she endured during her campaign.
Kathryn Finney is known as a pioneer in the fashion blogging community thanks to her blog “The Budget Fashionista” which has helped thousands of women dress cheap and chic. Kathryn not only has built a huge blogging community but also has been featured among "America's Top 50 Women In Tech" by Forbes and is greatly recognized by books like How to Be a Budget Fashionista and The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less. In fact, Kathryn is the living definition of a businesswoman who is always trying to generate new ways to share her knowledge about fashion and entrepreneurship just like she does through her platform the Genius Guild which apart from having the podcast “Build that Damn Thing”, invests in companies led by Black founders.
Insights from the Podcast
How her entrepreneurial family background impacted her to build against all odds
Strategies on monetizing your skills and ideas
How to build, grow and make things bigger and how to do good in this world
Understanding how to fight against the entitled
Strategies to getting people to come to your way of thinking
Understanding how to create your own identity
Quotes from the show:
“I challenge each and every one of you to be your full self and to give others a space to do the same and to know that you, in all your imperfect imperfections, are more than enough for this world” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #2
“Maybe my work ethic is genetic, I may not be as smart as you, I may not as good as you, but you will not outwork me” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #2
“People misunderstand that I have this incredible work ethic that you might not even see” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #2
“Money allowed me to have the life that I wanted to live, and I saw that very early: the options that it gave me” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #2
“When I joined high school, I was different, I tried to figure out how to fit in and not realizing as that 14/15-year-olds that you will never fit in when you are the type of person that I am” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #2
“Sometimes there is a price to pay when you go against the entitles” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #2
“I really think I wouldn’t have dreamed as far as I did, or gone as far as I did or had the initiative to prepare for college if it weren’t for Kathryn” -Ann McCarthy, Guest Speaker, Build The Damn Thing Episode #2
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Produced by Genius Guild Content Studios
Executive Producers: Kathryn Finney and Darlene Gillard Jones
Post-Production Company: Prosper Digital TV
Post-Production Manager: Joanes Prosper
Post-Production Supervisor: Jason Pierre
Post-Production Sound Editor: Evan Joseph
Co-Music Supervisors: Jason Pierre and Darlene Gillard Jones
Show Music: provided by Prosper Digital TV
Main Show Theme Music: "Self Motivated" Written & Performed by Tamara Bubble
Add’l Music: "Lil' Sumn" by Dreamadai
"Walk" by Saucy Santana
Audio Sample Courtesy of: the Minnesota Historical Society's Black History, Black Voices Initiative; Washburn High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Season 1 Episode 2
July 30, 2021
36 mins, 34 secs (34.1MB, Audio)
#BlackExcellence #Entrepreneurship #DreamBig #Startups #BlackWomen #KathrynFinney #BlackOwned #Minnesota #Minneapolis #BlacksInTech #AfroTech #Yale #Rutgers #Ghana