Combining Culture with Currency | Afro

By Brianna Rhodes, Special to the AFRO

The award-winning creative agency, The Digital Footprint, hosted an interactive financial event called “CapTalk” on Aug. 24. Thi event, held in Washington D.C. is a way to combine culture with currency in partnership with Capital One. 

Hosted at the Capital One Café to a sold-out crowd, the event provided minority entrepreneurs and creatives a safe space to discuss money management and financial literacy. Attendees learned about their “capital in the nation’s capital” through a panel, workshops, and one-on-one sessions with accountants, legal aids, and personal financial advisors.

Founders of The Digital Footprint, Donye Taylor and Raymond Smith, hosted this event with Black millennials in mind. This affair is a fun way to expose the average person to knowledge about handling their finances and raising capital. 

“I know growing up whenever finance was taught to me, it was taught in a way that was really hard for me to understand because it was always somebody that was not in my generation,” Taylor told the AFRO. “So they didn’t understand how I digest information. With the certain jargon that they used, it just didn’t connect with me, so we wanted to create something where like people of the same generation could talk to one another in a way that they could understand.”

Taylor believes that events focused on finances, like CapTalk, can also move the Black community forward by creating generational wealth and closing gaps, like racial disparities. 

Panelists spoke about topics like intellectual property, contracts, managing debt, financial planning, and how to avoid comparing yourself to people on social media.

“One thing that I can say is just trust the process and don’t let the internet make you broke,” Smith told the AFRO. “We preach that a lot and we spoke about it at the event. A lot of times people look on social media and keep up with ‘The Joneses’ or they see this business person posting and they’re like, ‘Oh man….my business doesn’t look like that?’ or ‘What am I doing wrong?’ or ‘Should I just give up.’’’

“Everybody has a different race with a different pace and I feel like don’t let it get you down or make you feel like you’re doing less than the next person,” Smith added.  “Just ignore it and just keep putting out content and keep doing your thing.”

In addition to offering financial advice, there were free giveaways and free food and drinks. Attendees also played a game called “Cap or No Cap” to teach them financial secrets, like users being able to get a discount with Lyft or other places if they use a Cash App Credit Card. 

The game is one way that The Digital Footprint incorporates knowledge with Black culture, which is something that is always emphasized at their events. Culture is at the forefront of each event because the organization feels that essentially, we are the culture. 

“I’m one of those people where I believe Black culture is global culture when it comes to any industry and I feel like everybody uses our culture to sell stuff except for us,” Taylor told the {AFRO}. “By us taking the culture that we contribute to and we create, and using it back in our community, that people that look like us and think like us can learn from us. I think that’s the most important thing.” 

Be sure to be on the lookout for more events for the culture hosted by The Digital Footprint. To learn more about their company, check out their website and follow them on Instagram.