The Futur

A college dropout, Jennie Smythe had no backup plan — but she had one moment of clarity: she wasn’t going to follow the path others expected. She was going to build her own. By her early 40s, while grieving the loss of her father and newly diagnosed with breast cancer, she had built an award-winning digital marketing firm - Girlilla Marketing. In this conversation, Jennie shares how she turned crisis into clarity, and what it really looks like to start over with nothing. If you feel behind, unqualified, or unsure of your next move, this episode is for you. Timestamps: (00:00) – Intro (03:40) – Cancer, grief, and dropping out (07:29) – Choosing herself over expectations (11:10) – Walking away from the conventional path (14:42) – Why Jennie refuses to fake confidence (19:08) – Building with purpose and integrity (24:01) – Leading through grief (27:35) – Starting her business with zero funding (31:54) – Conversations that shaped her leadership (36:42) – The truths of rebuilding from nothing (42:13) – Identit