Entrepreneur: Dasha Kennedy
Biz: The Broke Black Girl
Tilt: Go-to financial literacy expert for Black women
Scene: Website, Instagram (196K), Facebook (80.2K), Twitter (8.4K)
Snack Bites:
- A former accountant, Dasha Kennedy, launched The Broke Black Girl as a popular Facebook group and drew 60K followers in its first year.
- Blogging, refreshingly honest posts on social media, and ebooks are among her content products.
- Dasha’s advice is informed by over a decade of professional experience in finance and her own experiences as a young Black woman. Clients and followers connect to her brand because of its authenticity.
Why We Stan:
Dasha shares her financial knowledge with Black women who are not regularly exposed to the topic. She can reach her peers and other young Black millennials by using four different platforms. She creates content she would have consumed over a decade ago when searching for advice on investing, budgeting, and other related topics.
The Story of Dasha Kennedy and Broke Black Girl
After graduating high school, Dasha Kennedy worked in the mailroom of an insurance company, where she developed an interest in personal finance. With the help and instruction of a colleague, Dasha eventually became a debt counselor at a bank. Unfortunately, that job wasn’t viable forever. After a second child, a divorce, and a broken foot, Dasha found herself with new expenses and new demands on her time.
In 2017, Dasha started The Broke Black Girl as a Facebook group, providing personal finance tips on everything from couponing to dealing with debt and bad credit. Much of her advice stemmed from her experience as a young Black woman and was intended for other young women of color, who are often excluded from broader discussions of personal finance. As Dasha articulated to Insider, “We do not feel seen and heard when it comes to finance. My community was hungry for advice they could trust.”
Dasha Kennedy created @BrokeBlackGirl to help young Black women feel seen and heard when it comes to personal finance, she tells @ThisIsInsider. #Stan #ContentEntrepreneur Click To TweetThat hunger proved to be very tangible because, in one year, The Broke Black Girl Facebook group had amassed 60K followers. Today, Dasha continues to spread her knowledge on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her website. Each platform is updated daily with financial tips and resources. Quick takes on how to manage money on a banking app, free finance worksheets, and retweets covering investment suggestions can be found throughout her platforms.
Dasha posts on social media with refreshing honesty aimed at educating and avoiding the trap of posting exclusively about financial success and personal luxuries that she says so many do with their financial content. Instead, Dasha shares her full experience in the hopes of helping her audience succeed in their own lives.
As she asserts in her bio, “ “By no means am I ashamed of my past financial struggle – in fact, I’ve completely embraced it.”
Earning money while teaching personal finance
As Dasha teaches financial stability to the masses, she’s produced multiple income streams. Digital books and guides that help people manage their money have become high-earning revenue for the creator. Ranging from $14.99 to $47, some of her digital books are step-by-step guides, and others deeply analyze different money topics.
Her If Your Money Could Talk, What Would It Tell You? 20-plus-page online book offers concrete strategies to tackle financial problems effectively. As she writes, “Baby steps might seem like the slow path to change, but how much have you changed over the last five years? Your current habits have resulted in your current situation.”
She also earns revenue from her brand partnerships and speaking engagements. Dasha has partnered with National Debt Relief, “helping amplify the importance of humanizing debt.” It’s a win-win for both her and content consumers.
@BrokeBlackGirl partnered with @NationalRelief_ to amplify the importance of humanizing debt. #CreatorEconomy #Stan Click To TweetQuality content, happy clients
Established brands like Elite Daily and Region Bank and individual clients have praised The Broke Black Girl brand. Elite Daily provided this testimonial about The Broke Black Girl “having honest conversations about money and a community to overcome the struggles together may, at the very least, reduce some of the stress or shame that being broke causes so many young Americans.” Tiffany Brown called Dasha “highly motivational. She’s knowledgeable about assisting individuals and sustaining financial stability and literacy.”The high quality of her content might reflect her passion for her work. Filling the void of reliable financial advice for women of color has been more than a business opportunity. It’s her mission. “I didn’t start off chasing a profit as much as I did chasing a purpose,” she explained to Insider. “Now I get paid for doing what I love.”
About the author
Shameyka McCalman is a wordsmith whose work often centers around fashion, art, and other creatives of color. She earned her communications degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston and enjoys sifting through clothes in local vintage shops, frequenting nearby plays, and gazing at exhibitions on view in museums.
