I Built a Business With No Degree, No Plan, and Cancer w/ Jennie Smythe | Ep 365

The Futur with Chris Do

The Futur

Design, Self-improvement, Education, Business, Marketing, Arts

5 • 976 Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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. What You'll Learn: ✅ How to turn crisis and grief into clarity ✅ Why “no degree + no plan” becomes your edge ✅ What real leadership looks like through personal loss ✅ The mindset shift that makes building from scratch possible ✅ How to build a business rooted in values, not survival 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) – Identity shift: how to start over stronger About Jennie Smythe: Jennie Smythe is the founder and CEO of Girlilla Marketing, a Nashville-based digital marketing agency representing some of the biggest names in country music. With over two decades of experience at the intersection of entertainment, media, and strategy, Jennie has built a reputation as one of the most trusted voices in artist-first digital branding. Before launching Girlilla, she held leadership roles at Warner Music Nashville, Universal Music Group, and AOL Music. Her work is known for blending deep empathy with sharp execution — helping artists and entrepreneurs build lasting, values-driven communities online. Jennie is also a breast cancer survivor, advocate, and mentor to women navigating nontraditional leadership paths. Check out Jennie Smythe: https://www.girlillamarketing.com/about-jennie https://www.instagram.com/girlillajennie https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniesmythe Check out Chris Do: Website: https://zaap.bio/thechrisdo LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechrisdo/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/BizOfDesign Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thechrisdo/ Twitter:https://x.com/thechrisdo TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@thechrisdo Threads:https://www.threads.net/@thechrisdo Zaap: https://zaap.bio/thechrisdo Clubhouse:https://www.clubhouse.com/@thechrisdo Behance: https://www.behance.net/chrisdo Check out The Futur: Website: https://www.thefutur.com/ Courses: https://www.thefutur.com/shop Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-futur/ Podcasts: https://thefutur.com/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefuturishere/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theFuturisHere/ Twitter: https://x.com/thefuturishere TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefuturishere Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/thefuturishere

Transcript

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0:00.0	It was a terribly painful decision to make because I felt like I was letting myself down, letting my family down.
0:08.2	But I just, I just knew I wasn't going to follow that path.
0:14.2	I'm Jenny Smythe and you're listening to the future.
0:19.1	Today I'm speaking to Jenny Smites.
0:20.9	She wrote the book, Becoming, this is hard for me to say, becoming guerrilla.
0:25.1	Is that how I say it?
0:26.3	So it's kind of a running joke in the office because I have always said gorilla.
0:31.1	So I think both are right.
0:34.0	And I like the idea of girl Lilla because it perfectly explains everything that we've been trying to accomplish.
0:43.7	Yes, and I'm getting to learn more about you.
0:46.3	You're a digital marketer.
0:47.8	So there must be something related to like guerrilla marketing tactics.
0:51.0	And for people who don't understand where this word comes from, I think it comes
0:54.7	from the military, like guerrilla warfare, where there's an asymmetrical battle where one force is
1:00.1	much bigger than yours. So if you try to meet them force for force, you will lose. You have to get
1:04.8	inventive. You have to think outside the box. And I think that's where that comes from. It's
1:09.6	appropriated for marketing. Is that your
1:11.7	understanding too? That's exactly right. And it's meant to be, it was a tactical title for my company,
1:18.2	which is guerrilla marketing. Yeah. I love the subtitle here. It's in your book. It says,
1:23.3	My Journey to Unleashing Good in Real Life Online and Others. And in the very first chapter, there's a quote from E.T says, do good.
1:30.7	Do good, Elliot.
1:32.1	Right?
	...

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