[00:00:00] Ellington Brown: Welcome to SpeakUP! International with Rita Burke and Elton Brown! 

[00:00:15] Rita Burke: A conversation with someone from California and the day before we spoke with someone from Seattle and here we are today from Atlanta. Kathryn is an Atlanta based MBA with over 10 years of experience. working and teaching marketing, web design, and social media. She's passionate about, um, reducing hurdles to success for women and minorities.

Kathryn is the principal consultant at an Atlanta based marketing consulting firm and co founder of the Black Lady Business School. There's so much more that I can tell you about Kathryn Smith. But I'd rather wait for her to tell her own story. And so Kathryn Smith, I welcome you to SpeakUP! International.

[00:01:09] Kathryn Smith: Thank you. Thank you so much for inviting me. 

[00:01:12] Ellington Brown: You are welcome! And I'm sure that this podcast will be entertaining, not only for our listeners, but between the three of us. So Kathryn , why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and then we'll go from there into our. conversation. 

[00:01:32] Kathryn Smith: Sure. Um, so my name is Kathryn Smith. I am the founder of Walton Birch and the co founder of the Black Lady Business School, both based in Atlanta, Georgia. Uh, I have been a full time entrepreneur for five years. So since 2019, uh, prior to that, you know, I joke that I did a tour of the fortune 500s here in Atlanta. So I had a career in corporate America of about, uh, 13 years before, prior to becoming a full time entrepreneur.

Um, so I think a lot of that was covered in my intro, but I am passionate about lowering barriers to success for all entrepreneurs and specifically women and minority entrepreneurs because entrepreneurship is hard. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm very excited to be here and excited for our conversation today. 

[00:02:17] Rita Burke: I like that statement. Entrepreneurship is hard. There's no question that it's a bit of a challenge. It is a challenge, but I'm going to invite you to walk us through your path slash journey journey. into a career in business. 

[00:02:33] Kathryn Smith: Sure. Um, so as I said, I, I started in corporate America and I thought that I was going to be in corporate America for my entire career.

Um, neither one of my parents really had kind of corporate jobs. Uh, my mom kind of sort of started out at a corporation, um, but ended up getting an injury like on the job that, uh, ended her career corporate career early, then that really shaped my, uh, she became an entrepreneur after that. And I'll say, um, and that really shaped my attitudes towards entrepreneurship because I was like, Oh man, my mom is struggling.

Like this is hard. Nobody takes her, her business seriously. It's so hard to find customers. Like, I never want to do that. I just want to go to work and get a paycheck and, you know, buy bins. Like that was the plan. Uh, and I shaped my corporate career kind of. Based on that, I, I thought to myself, like, how can I get a job at a very large company and just do my job really well and retire that way.

Um, but even, you know, once I had entered the workforce, it was a little bit different. That wasn't really. I would say how how things kind of worked. Um, so I started out my corporate career immediately after college. I worked at a small corporation based in Norcross, Georgia, which is outside Atlanta, a little north of the city.

Um, and that's how I got into marketing. Um, at the time. Uh, we were kind of transitioning from traditional kind of marketing into digital marketing, using websites, using email lists and things like that. And so, as a young quote, unquote, young person, they said, hey, you know how to use a computer. Would you like to be our marketing person?

And I said, yeah, I'll give it a shot. So, uh, Um, that's how I got my start in marketing. Um, and I built a career based on just that early position. Um, and so in 2009 is when I first started with AT& T. I became a web developer with the yellow pages when it was still a part of AT& T. Um, and I, that's how I learned web development prior to that.

I had never built a website in my life or a full website in my life. And, um, I learned a lot of what I know about web development through that job. But, you know, I kind of saw the writing on the wall. That's when everybody was saying, Oh, my nephew can build a website. Oh, my neighbor can build a website. Oh, this kid at my church can build a website.

And I didn't really feel like there was you know, a career path for me, um, specifically within AT& T and I wanted to grow in my career. So I decided to go back to school to get another degree and I wasn't sure which degree could help me, uh, you know, advance in my career. My undergraduate degree was in women's studies.

I didn't necessarily want to continue with women's studies, and I didn't really see how that could help me with a career in corporate America. So I decided to get an MBA, which is a masters of business administration. Um, and I chose Georgia Tech because it's, it's one of the top business schools in the country and also in the Atlanta area.

Um, and it was close to work close to where I was working at the time. Um, so went back to school, got my MBA at Georgia Tech with a concentration on business analytics, which is kind of like, um, solving business problems using data and data analytics methods. Um, and it worked, uh, my career absolutely took off now after that, I ended up leaving AT& T, but I was able to grow in positions and get more and more authority and get a higher salary and everything was going really well.

Uh, until I'd say, maybe 2017 and, um, I ended up having a surgery and some, uh, health complications, uh, attached to that surgery. So, by the time 2019 rolled around, like, I, I would just kind of over it. It was really difficult to function in a full time job with those health issues. So I took what I thought would be a temporary break from corporate America, started my own business, Walton Birch, um, as a marketing research firm.

I had fully planned to be a marketing research firm. And I'll tell you the story about Walton, the name of Walton Birch a little bit later, but yeah, um, basically in August of 2019, I started Walton Birch, um, with the intention that it would be a marketing research firm. COVID had other plans in early 2020.

I pivoted back into the web development, which is a skill that I picked up early on in my career and the rest, as they say, is history. Um, but yeah, I don't know if that answers your question, but that's kind of how I started out in corporate America and ended up in full time entrepreneurship. 

[00:07:02] Rita Burke: It certainly answers my question.

Thank you so much.

[00:07:06] Ellington Brown: So what inspired you to focus your career on reducing barriers for women and minority entrepreneurs? 

[00:07:16] Kathryn Smith: That's a great question. Um, when I started in entrepreneurship, uh, I had an MBA. I had literally had a degree in business and I'd had over a decade of experience working in corporations. But as I got into running my own business, I realized that I was underprepared, even with some savings from my last job, even with an education in business.

Even with, you know, the network that comes with, uh, you know, having gone to business school, I felt underprepared for entrepreneurship and I felt really unsupported as an entrepreneur. Um, and that's not to say kind of moral support. So I got a lot of support from my family and from my partner. However, they weren't full time entrepreneurs.

So I didn't really have the support of successful entrepreneurs or I guess mentors at that point. Um, and I, The stats against entrepreneurs are not great. Like the, the statistics, the odds of success for entrepreneurs isn't right, especially in that first year. And so I knew that I was facing some pretty tall odds and even being as well equipped as I was, I struggled every single day.

I call the, you know, I joke that my return on struggle is two years because it felt like that. I felt like I struggled for two years and then all of a sudden I was All of the struggle began to pay off. Um, and so even as the pandemic kind of came to a close and all the restrictions were lifted, um, I didn't want to go back into corporate America because I had learned firsthand how difficult it was to build a business from scratch when you had access to a lot of the resources and the education, um, and the network.

To help you be successful. Um, and I realized that there are a lot of people out here doing web development, doing marketing, um, and not doing a very good job. And that even though, you know, having a website is. You know, potentially a small thing in the general scheme of things required to be successful in a business.

Not having a website is absolutely something that could put someone out of business. And so I just saw it as a way that I could help, you know, somebody be successful by reducing one of the many, many, many, many barriers facing people as they entered into entrepreneurship. 

[00:09:29] Rita Burke: So you are really investing time and energy to helping people who label themselves entrepreneurs as well.

Now, tell us about some of the hurdles women and minority entrepreneurs experience. 

[00:09:52] Kathryn Smith: Yeah, uh, there are so many hurdles and, you know, not to say that these, some of these same hurdles aren't faced by people who are not women or minorities, but I think, you know, there is a history of kind of separate, uh, Uh, and, uh, I want to call it oppression, but it's difference.

So sometimes it's difference and sometimes that difference translates into kind of disadvantage, if that makes sense. Um, so some of the things I think that could help people be successful in entrepreneurship would be, um, access to capital. Or access to resources to grow a business, um, would be access to mentors and sponsors and people that can introduce them to new clients or new suppliers, or really people that could just help them grow in their business.

Um, and then also that education to kind of understand the fundamentals and basics of business. So I don't think that all women and minorities don't have access to those things. I just think that the way, you know, history has kind of happened in this country means that women and minority have less access to some of those things than some of the other people that are entering into entrepreneurship.

Uh, and that puts them at a disadvantage. So access the capital, um, you know, access to mentors and support. Sponsors and like individuals with business knowledge that can help them grow their businesses. Um, and also just that education, um, attached to, um, being successful in business and running a successful business.

[00:11:23] Ellington Brown: Can you elaborate just a little bit more about the challenges that are faced by women and minority entrepreneurs in today's business landscape? 

[00:11:35] Kathryn Smith: Yeah, I realize I didn't answer that question very well, so I'll, uh, attempt to elaborate here. So, um, uh, when, when comparing, so it is not just the specific group and an isolated experience.

It is considering, I think the entire group of people, like, all of the people who want to be entrepreneurs, um, and then taking into consideration some of the access to those things to help be successful in business. So, um, if you look at the average, you know, woman or minority business owner compared to the full body of business owners, not all of the women and minority business owners are going to have had a business education at all, whether that is a degree.

Whether that is experience running a business, whether that is experience, even working in a business, like, uh, from a corporate environment. Um, so there's a difference there from an access to capital perspective. A lot of people that own businesses, uh, either inherit those businesses from their families, or they start them with their families, or they have co founders that they start them with.

Um, so a lot of women and minorities are. Coming into business as solopreneurs, um, a lot of people are what I call entrepreneurs by necessity. So they didn't necessarily say, Hey, I have this great idea and I want to start a business around that idea. A lot of the people that I've met that have started businesses, specifically women and minorities have, um, started businesses because they have been laid off or furloughed from a job.

Um, or because they see a need or something that is missing in the market and they build something around it because they experienced that absence in their own lives. Um, so that's what I call entrepreneurship by necessity. And I think a lot of women and minorities are coming into entrepreneurship by necessity, not necessarily the same way that some people might say, Hey, I have an idea for you.

For a product or an app or a service, um, would be coming into, uh, entrepreneurship. Um, and then, uh, so I kind of hit on education and I touched on, uh, access to capital and access to resources. And I think the third thing is just, again, um, experts having access to either customers or clients, having access to people who can help you navigate business, help you grow business, help you, uh, Void some of the mistakes that people make in business or help you to bounce back from those mistakes.

And so, if you come from a place where you're either inheriting a business, or you're going into business with a co founder, or you've taken some sort of business education, you're a little bit better to. Uh, you're better equipped to kind of handle those types of challenges. And I think a lot of women and minorities are not coming to entrepreneurship from a place where they have, you know, inherited businesses or co founders or mentors and sponsors and just people with the expertise to help them grow a business.

[00:14:29] Rita Burke: So they're not, they're not beginning, they're not coming into entrepreneurship from a place of strength in many, many cases. That's what I'm hearing you say. 

[00:14:39] Kathryn Smith: Yes. Yes. 

[00:14:40] Rita Burke: No. What does a better future for the individuals you help, what does it look and sound like? 

[00:14:50] Kathryn Smith: Oh, man, I think about this a lot. Um, so a better future.

So the, the goal that my company, Walton Birch has when we work with clients is to help them launch their business to help them either get Kickstart the growth of their business, or get to the next level in their business. And so, um, our clients come to us from lots of different places. We do work with entrepreneurs and small businesses, but we also work with other creative agencies and sometimes large businesses.

So our goal is to help them get to whatever that next level is for them. Um, and so when talking about women and minority entrepreneurs, a lot of them are just starting out and they're like, Hey, I have this product. I have a service. I have a business. I need people to know that it exists so that they can, you know, patronize my business so that they can buy my products or my services or, uh, work with me.

Um, and so what success looks like for us in that case would be, uh, giving them the tools, whether that is a website, whether that is a marketing campaign, you know, whether that is a strategy, um, to help them accomplish those goals, whether that goal is to let people know that their business exists. Um, Whether that is to attract their first customers and complete their first orders.

Um, whether that goal is to make their business more efficient and more attractive to other organizations and partners, partnerships like that. I'm thinking kind of big picture, the big picture. The, the goal would be that women and minority entrepreneurs are showing up at all of those different levels.

So, uh, like they're beating the odds. So there's some odds that say that 99 percent of businesses will fail in the first year. So if more women and minorities are beating that odd, you know, that that's a win for me. If the, there's also a breakdown like that at the five year mark. That we're a certain percentage of businesses don't survive past five years.

So if more women in minority businesses are surviving past that five year mark, I think that, you know, we've, we've done what we set out to do. 

[00:16:55] Ellington Brown: Wonderful. As the co founder of the Black Lady Business School. What motivated you to establish such a platform and what impact do you hope it's going to have?

[00:17:10] Kathryn Smith: Yeah, Black Lady Business School was, uh, born out of not just my passion, um, but the passion of my co founder. Uh, we met during the pandemic or, yeah, in 2021, we met in the pandemic and we both work in marketing and we have our own agencies. And, um, We were commiserating one day that marketing doesn't solve all of the problems that women and minority businesses are facing.

Like, I mean, it solves some of the problems and arguably it solves some of the biggest problems facing women and minorities, especially during the pandemic, but it doesn't solve all of the problems. Um, and, and at the time in 2021, one of the big, biggest challenges facing small businesses were the supply chain challenges.

So a lot of the people we were working with didn't. They were not able to get packaging. They were not able to get, you know, um, raw materials to make their products. Um, and it was because huge retailers like Amazon and Walmart were being prioritized over small businesses in the supply chain. Um, and the idea was, Hey, if we could leverage economies of scale, so if we could get enough people together to put in big orders, we could get some of our small business orders prioritized.

So that our businesses could keep going, um, instead of, you know, one business ordering a box of jars here or one business ordering, you know, a pound of cocoa butter here. You know, we could leverage economies of scale to make orders that were big enough to prioritize them similar to how these big retailers are getting prioritized.

Um, so the idea behind Black Lady Business School was, you know, how can we leverage the community? How can we leverage economies of scale? How can we, you know, build a network to help? All of these women owned businesses be successful, specifically during the pandemic, but in general as well. Um, and then that turned into, uh, you know, how can we help women owned businesses be successful?

And the reason that we called it Black Lady Business School is because we wanted to provide the business school education. And the networking and like access without the cost or the time commitment. So it's not like a school, but the name of it is school because we wanted to replicate that business school experience.

[00:19:24] Rita Burke: And are you content? Are you happy with what you're seeing happening in the Black Lady Business School?

[00:19:35] Kathryn Smith: So within the organization, I am content. Sometimes it feels overwhelming, um, because it feels like, especially now that there is an attack on things that are labeled for black people specifically, or kind of, um, Based around, you know, the racial identity. So there's a little bit of anxiety around like, are we next?

Are we going to be targeted? Uh, but still knowing that what we are doing is important and what we are doing moves the needle, um, if only to create communities of, you know, other business owners that people can go to and lean on as a resource. What we're doing is important and it's helping people in business, but also just worried about what's next for organizations that are kind of similarly affiliated, um, and the attacks that we've seen on other organizations that label themselves for black women or for people of color.

Um, so to answer the question, I really enjoy what we do with Black Lady of Business School. And I think that we've helped a lot of people and, and. We are continuing the mission as long as we are able to. It's just, there is some, absolutely some anxiety around what the future looks like for us. And the amount of work that we still have left to do sometimes feels overwhelming.

So absolutely happy with what we're doing. Just, you know, a little nervous about the future. 

[00:21:00] Ellington Brown: No, I think we all are kind of nervous about the, about the future since the canvas is kind of bare. And you're just wondering what's going to be thrown on the canvas or should I say at us. So can you discuss a specific success story or milestone that you witnessed the impact of your support in small business or a entrepreneur.

[00:21:28] Kathryn Smith: Sure. Um, I'll talk about this from the Walton Birch perspective because, uh, in Walton Birch, I have a momentum or an internship program that it's called the Momentum Internship Program. And the goal of that program is to connect women and minority job seekers who want to build momentum in their careers with small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to build momentum in their marketing, um, for kind of collective support, uh, for both parties involved.

And so I've, I've, I can't remember the number that we've had so far, but it's been it's more than a dozen internships so far of just people that have been paired up together in these internships or apprenticeship apprenticeships, you know, to to grow in their careers or grow in their marketing. And so we've seen a lot of success with that program.

I think one of the challenges. And I'll pause here. My last corporate job was in talent acquisition. So sometimes I talk from a talent acquisition perspective. So if I start sounding like your local HR person, that's why. But, um, in the momentum internship program, we've seen a lot of people who are in careers that they're, that they also see the writing on the wall, the handwriting on the wall, or they're not able to kind of achieve the growth.

That they want to achieve in the careers, or they really just want to pivot. A lot of people want to pivot into tech. A lot of people want to pivot into entrepreneurship, but they're not really sure how to do that. And I've seen the momentum program provide either the structure to launch someone into, um, entrepreneurship.

So, uh, for instance, we worked with a young lady who was working at a pharmacy, one of the chain retail pharmacies, and she wanted to start her own photography And so through, uh, just the social media internship, she learned how to interact with clients, how to talk to clients about their needs and how to set up a project on a milestone basis and deliver a project to a client.

Um, so that's, that's really cool. That was the confidence that she needed to say, okay, I could absolutely start accepting clients as a photographer and open my own photography studio and potentially, you know, get away from this retail pharmacy job that I have. And I'm not particularly passionate about, um, but that's been the success of the momentum program is just, uh, providing, uh.

paid experience opportunities for people to build their resume. Um, I, you know, when people think of internships, especially unpaid internships, they're just like, but I didn't really do anything, you know, from a job seeker perspective, they're saying I didn't really do anything. And I didn't get paid. But if you get paid to do something, it just feels more legit.

And so I think a lot of what we do in the momentum program is to help people feel legit about the experiences that they're gaining. Um, and also because my background is in talent acquisition marketing, I'm helping them to write that entry on their resume, uh, to say like, these are the things that I accomplished.

These are the skills that I learned and that I exercised. This is the success of the project. And to help them talk about that and confidently in interviews, which I think is a huge key to moving them up in their careers. Um, anyway, so it's, it's not really groundbreaking. I think it really just gives them the confidence to talk confidently about what they accomplished in a job, which helps them to get their next role.

So, um, Those are the two main ways that we've seen successes, uh, in Walton Birch through that momentum internship program is to help people launch into, uh, entrepreneurship confidently and learn some of the skills that are incredibly important for, um, entrepreneurs, especially solopreneurs to have, uh, and also to help, uh, you know, those job seekers build that momentum in their careers by giving them paid experience that they feel confident about and can speak confidently to in an interview.

[00:25:18] Rita Burke: You sound so passionate about the paid experience, and I concur with you. There's more value to paid experience for both the person that's offering the apprenticeship and the person that's participating. I agree with you totally on that one. Now, many people have got a quote, a quotation that guides their life or that informs their life. Do you have such a thing? 

[00:25:50] Kathryn Smith: Oh, there's so many. There are so many. Um, the one that applies to me that I end up telling other people the most is start somewhere, um, as a solopreneur specifically, and as an entrepreneur, sometimes everything feels big, every single thing feels big. And it feels like you have to do all of the things.

Um, but I say, start somewhere, do one thing. Every day that gets you closer to where you want to be. Um, and I have to tell myself that sometimes when I'm overwhelmed, um, but yeah, just do start somewhere and do one thing that gets you closer to where you want to be, um, are things that I tell myself and others frequently.

Uh, I have so many of those though. I could, I could talk all day about that. 

[00:26:37] Ellington Brown: Start somewhere. I love that expression. It reminds me of when this podcast started, and it felt so overwhelming. And the person who really helped me and this was after a year, and that was just jump. Just jump. Don't just close your eyes and jump. You'll come up for air. Don't worry. You'll come up for air.

And so this thought somewhere just falls right in line with, with my scene. So I guess, um, we, there's some truth in that. Being recognized as part of Georgia Tech's 40 Under 40, ooh, is a significant achievement. And so I'm wondering how this recognition has influenced your career, directory and personal aspiration.

[00:27:33] Kathryn Smith: Now we're going to get deep. So as, uh, I, I don't know if it's just as an entrepreneur, as a woman entrepreneur, as a woman of color entrepreneur, I get imposter syndrome a lot. Um, it is sometimes. Even it's difficult for even me to kind of comprehend how far I've come as an entrepreneur. And so I talked to people and they're like, wow, you made it your business.

You know, you've been in business for five years. You must be great! And I'm just like I'm I, but, uh, you know, accomplishing something like being named to the Georgia tech 40 under 40 list. It was, it, it, it, Reinforced that, um, and, you know, just even meeting the people in my 40 under 40 class, just and just being just.

In awe of some of the things that they have accomplished and to just say, like, oh, wow, my name is included next to this person's name as well, uh, really helps out with the imposter syndrome thing. Um, and it also has provided, uh, additional visibility for me as well. Um, and then just a drive to live up to the title.

Sometimes I cannot believe that I am on that list and I'm like, well, they've given me this title. Like I absolutely need to live up to it. And so it just drives me even more to make an impact in what I'm doing in business. 

[00:29:00] Rita Burke: I might as well. I might as well lean into it if they've given it to me, huh? 

[00:29:04] Kathryn Smith: Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. 

[00:29:08] Rita Burke: So then, we are speaking with Katherine Smith, who is currently in Georgia. And as you know, and SpeakUP! International, we speak to inform, we speak to inspire, and we seek to educate. And so, I'm going to ask you a question that we ask most of our guests. Who or what would you say is responsible for the person's work today?

[00:29:46] Kathryn Smith: Oh, that's a big question. I think there are so many influences. I would be remiss without, of course, mentioning my parents for being the ones who raised me and the ones who to this day just support me unconditionally in entrepreneurship. It is so difficult to do this and to feel like you're doing it by yourself.

It's just. It makes it impossible to, so to have the support of my parents, um, you know, has just been tremendous. And my parents and my partners and generally my community just to have my community around me to support me. And this has been huge. Um, I think that. Every single person who's ever been an entrepreneur before me has shaped the industry has shaped the role.

Um, all of the jobs that I have had have shaped me as a person and have given me experiences that, um, have helped me or, or, you know, given me insight into what I'm doing as an entrepreneur. And I say, uh, I definitely want to give a shout out to Georgia Tech as well. Um, even though when I went to business school, the goal was not to be an entrepreneur.

Uh, the only reason that I have been able to be successful in entrepreneurship is because I had a foundation in business. I knew what net margin and gross margin were, but I understood the foundations of operations and marketing and fulfillment and supply chain and finance and accounting, even though I don't do any of those things.

I pay people to do those now. If I did not have that foundation in business, I don't think I could have done it because I would have had to learn all of that. Before doing it. And that I think would have either dramatically delayed, um, or put my business out of business altogether. Um, so it was a huge, huge, uh, influential impact in my success as an entrepreneur.

Um, but I don't think that there is any one thing, uh, you know, that I can speak to that has, uh, You know, contributed to who I am today. I think all of those things come together. All of those experiences, the knowledge and the support come together to help me be the person that I am today and to have the goals that I have today and the drive and desire to help other people be successful.

All of that comes together, uh, You know, to, to create that. 

[00:32:12] Ellington Brown: You are a member of the Leadership Cobb, not corn on the cob, but Leadership Cobb class of 2024. So what initiatives and or special projects are you involved in that align with your passion and supporting entrepreneurs? 

[00:32:34] Kathryn Smith: Oh, yeah, that that's a great question!

So Leadership Cobb is a cohort program that brings together leaders in the community in Cobb County, which is where I'm located and and teaches us about some of the challenges that our community is facing. But also how the community is responding to those challenges and what other great stuff is happening in the community and how that contributes both locally here to the economy and the growth of Cobb, but also to the state of Georgia and to the country.

Um, and so again, I came into this, uh, with imposter syndrome and being one of a few people in the class. My class has over 50 people in it, but a lot of them either come from government or they work at large companies. And so, uh, being one of the few like entrepreneurs, I felt imposter syndrome, like, how, how am I in this program?

How am I among all of these great elected officials and citizens? Senior leaders in these giant corporations, you know, how am I here? Why am I here? And what lesson am I supposed to take from this? Um, and so Leadership Cobb, the lesson of Leadership Cobb has been, uh, a lesson of, um, just being a servant to the community.

Uh, these, my entire class is extremely involved in the community. Every single weekend they're donating. They're out and about, they're hosting events, they're visiting events, you know, they're doing all of these things. Um, and so I've learned about, uh, advocacy within the community. I've learned about things that are going on in the community to help, um, all of the populations within Cobb and, and in the state as well.

And how some of my classmates are, uh, individually and with their organizations, uh, helping to, you know, fight some of these challenges and make progress for for the Community. And so the tagline, or I guess the theme of our class this year has been ignite your passion. And so my passion for supporting small businesses for supporting my classmates for supporting businesses and Cobb and entrepreneurs and Cobb has just been ignited.

And I think being a part of a leadership program, like leadership, Cobb has just shown me different ways that I can be involved that I can, uh, as an individual and a very busy person, uh, contribute to initiatives, to programs, to campaigns, um, you know, to, uh, actually move the needle and make change within the community.

I'm, I'm super excited about that. I don't know if you can tell, it has been a truly eyeopening year. And like, I just would tell anybody who has the opportunity to go through something like that, to go through a program like that, I have learned so much and met some amazing people. And my passion. Has indeed been ignited.

[00:35:21] Rita Burke: Sounds like you are a super person. You have super powers. And do you know, Kathryn Smith, the people that we interview on SpeakUP! International or people that we label community builders, and it sounds to me as if you are at the forefront of building your community and I applaud, I applaud you for that. 

[00:35:50] Kathryn Smith: Thank you so much.

[00:35:50] Rita Burke: Now, talk about some of the changes that you have seen since you've been involved with marketing, with web design, with social media. What are some of the change in your face changes that you've observed? 

[00:36:09] Kathryn Smith: Oh, that's a big question. I guess I'll speak to that in a few different ways. So from an industry perspective, I do operate in the marketing and web development industry.

Um, COVID made a lot of changes to the way that all of us do business um, and, and also during the past five years of operating, I went from being a solopreneur, so Kathryn Smith operating as Walton Birch to being basically a founder and a CEO. So I don't do web development anymore. Like I have a team that does that.

So I went from doing all of the things myself to having to managing a team to do those things. Um, and so some of the changes that I've seen from an industry perspective, um, have been just. You know, by increased exposure to hiring and to working with freelancers and other people, um, that are working. So a lot of my team, the job, the job at Walton Birch is not their only job.

Like, they have other jobs or they are full time freelancers um, and so just understanding some of the challenges that are facing freelancers and just understanding how many people have like full time jobs or other jobs and are looking for additional jobs has really given me insight into kind of the economy now and just how thoughts around jobs and careers are changing.

I could literally talk about this all day, but I'll try to wrap it up. So some of the things that I think about a lot, um, just having learned about how the workforce is changing and some of the challenges that are facing, not just me as an employer and a small business, but also some of the people that are like the workers and the, you know, gig workers and freelancers and just employees in this economy, um, is that we need to think differently about.

Work, I'm not entirely sure what that means, but something about the current setup isn't quite working for everyone. So some of the things that I think about are, you know, what does workforce development mean and how does workforce development change if, um, you know, the traditional paradigm or the traditional trope of, Hey, I'm just gonna get a good job and work there until I retire and get a pension.

Like, how does working change when that is not? The case, you know, when that's no longer the case, um, how does hiring and onboarding and retain recruitment and retainment change when people are changing jobs every 12 to not even 12, sometimes 18 months for reasons that are beyond my control as an employer.

Um, you know, how, how does work change when the nature of work is changing just industry wide? Um, and that is especially true for marketing, um, and web development, because there are a lot of platforms that can do a lot of things that web developers and marketers used to be able to do. So there are still people out here that are doing those jobs, and they're finding it increasingly difficult, um, to be paid a living wage for doing those jobs.

So that's where, as an employer, I'm trying to find ways to utilize people, um, over platforms, because there are some limitations to platforms. Um, so how do we Um, leverage people and utilize people and give them stable employment and meaningful work to do. Um, but also kind of keep my overhead in check because we need to keep overhead in check.

So that, you know, our clients can afford our services. So that's just 1 element of, uh, things that have changed in the past 5 years, since I've been a full time entrepreneur, working with Watson Birch, um, I'll speak also to some of the challenges facing the community and just ideas around economic development as well.

Um, and I guess my involvement in that, you probably want to know. Things that I've seen change as a result of what I've done. Um, I have been very active since becoming a full time entrepreneur in my local chamber of commerce, um, in some of the local organizations that are dedicated to businesses in the community.

And I found it extremely empowering, uh, you know, to be a full time entrepreneur, um, and someone who works closely with organizations like a chamber or organizations like my local commissioner's office to implement and advocate for change on a local level. Um, I previously thought that you had to be an elected official to be able to implement some of these changes.

And, um, I've just found that that is not true. So, some of the changes that I've been able to bring about as a, I guess, a community advocate would be, um, changes to the way that business licenses are done locally, uh, to help protect the privacy of home based businesses. Uh, which also gives small businesses an opportunity to apply for.

Programs to, you know, that require proof of business to apply for grants that provide or to apply for grants that require kind of proof of residency or proof of business ownership by enabling them to protect their privacy. If their business is home based, um, I am currently working on, um, a, uh, program to, uh.

Get input from business owners that are impacted by changes at the county level, um, related to Department of Transportation work. So, the Department of Transportation is making a change to an intersection. There is an impact to the businesses at that intersection and the county has access to the landowners.

But the business owners are not the landowners. So just being able to connect the business owners with the decision makers around that project so that they, their businesses don't suffer while the construction is happening during, um, you know, that project has just been incredible to see, you know, cause they're just like, we didn't even know this was going on.

And they're extremely grateful for that. And if we can keep those businesses in business, um, you know, we're helping the community and we're helping the, the community. People being served by those businesses. Um, so I guess those are two examples of like, some of the changes that I've seen both in the industry and in my field and also changes that I've seen in my community as a result of some of the work that I've been able to do, which is exciting! 

[00:42:19] Ellington Brown: Looking towards the future now. What do you envision as key components of a better, more equitable landscape for entrepreneurs and from diverse backgrounds? 

[00:42:33] Kathryn Smith: Oh, yeah, I think about this a lot. Also, I think that we need to continue to lower barriers to success for entrepreneurs and I understand that the logistics of that are challenging because.

In order to lower , historical barriers to success, you have to acknowledge that historical barriers to success have been set up, and I think that there's a little bit of resistance to that now, but I still think the work can be done, um, because some of the barriers to success for women and for minorities, lowering those barriers will help all entrepreneurs.

Um, so looking to the future, I think that it is important to effectively advocate for lowering some of those barriers. Barriers, and I've seen a lot of programs that are geared towards women and minority businesses. And, you know, my chief kind of criticism of those programs is that they try to help women and minority businesses in the same kind of cookie cutter way.

Um, and then it's really difficult to move the needle. Doing those particular things, like, there are some businesses that will be helped by those particular initiatives. My business is one of those that were helped by some of those initiatives, but I don't think that they go far enough. Um, and so I think partnering some of these private organizations and corporations partnering with.

Um, like government and, uh, like large nonprofits, I guess, for that are focused on economic development that are focused on community building that are focused on, um, developing an ecosystem for entrepreneurs. I think those kind of public private partnerships are incredibly important, um, because. Between resources and access, uh, you know, there's a challenge of either side kind of doing those things.

[00:44:18] Rita Burke: Here is a very. I want to say a delicate. My mom used to say delicate question, but do you believe that. People who are aspiring to become entrepreneurs should get schooling first in business like you have?

[00:44:43] Kathryn Smith: I will answer that by saying entrepreneurship is hard to bring this full circle. Entrepreneurship is extremely difficult. So if at all possible, you are able to equip yourself with all of the tools that will help you be successful or with tools that will get you closer to success, I would say absolutely do that.

Absolutely do that. However, um, I would not necessarily advocate for doing that if it puts you at a further disadvantage. Um, because the way that formal education is kind of set up currently is that, um, it can create a lot of debt and having a lot of debt also influences your ability to be successful in entrepreneurship.

So if there is a way to get a lot of education with not a lot of debt. I would say yes, um, but I do think that education is important and I think education was important for me specifically. So I think that there are ways that people, um, individuals and organizations are making education more success or accessible.

There are ways that organizations are making education more accessible, um, i. e. less expensive, so that it may not be necessary to have formal education in business in the future and still get those skills and education that you need to be successful as an entrepreneur. So to answer the question, if you can get a lot of education for not a lot of debt, go for it.

Uh, if not, there are some great resources coming about that are providing some of that foundational education that can help you be successful in business, um, without the, you know, without it being formal education and without a ton of debt that's associated with formal education. 

[00:46:37] Ellington Brown: Wow, we have learned so much from you today, Kathryn . I think our audience will be so thrilled in getting a overview of what it takes to create a successful business. You talked about how to reduce barriers for women and minority entrepreneurs. You are the co-founder of the Black Lady Business School. I like that name that motivates you to establish a platform that actually help minority women.

We discussed about your success story and how you're able to help, your, companies that you support. You are a Georgia Tech 40 under 40, which is quite prestigious. Leadership Cobb, I thought that was another organization that really seems to lend itself to your passion and supporting entrepreneurs.

You are all over the place, but you also seem to be very, very focused in what you are doing. And as one entrepreneur to another. I want to say that I am so proud of you for what you are doing for yourself and for your community, because at SpeakUP! International, we look for people just like you who are community builders.

And for that, I want to thank you and wish you a wonderful, wonderful afternoon. 

[00:48:17] Kathryn Smith: Thank you so much. 

[00:48:20] Rita Burke: Thank you so much. And I'm going to leave with you that my mother was an entrepreneur before the word, before I knew the word. In those days, we would call her a hustler, but I certainly thank you for sharing your experience and your story with us.

[00:48:41] Kathryn Smith: Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure to be here and talk with you. 

[00:48:46] Ellington Brown: Thank you for listening to SpeakUP! International! If you wish to contact Ms. Katherine Smith, please be prepared to submit your name, your email address and the reason why you wish to contact Ms. Katherine Smith to waltonbirch.com. That's spelled W A L T O N B I R C H.com. 

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