Today, we are joined by the fabulous Nicole Casperson, Founder of WTFintech? 🤑 & Content Creator at Workweek! Workweek is an innovative, new kind of media company and is a growing collective of industry experts who are changing the world of business. Over the past several years, Nicole has covered niche financial markets.
With this, she realized that traditional media lacks female perspectives and storytellers— and Nicole has brought her A-game to change the narrative and make HERstory known.
WTFintech? 🤑 is a weekly podcast and newsletter (with over 16,000 subscribers) that provides industry professionals with the news and analysis they need to get ahead in their careers. She also hosts interviews with founders and investors you won’t hear anywhere else. Wondering why? Because, unlike other mediums, Nicole’s focus is to give a platform to those underrepresented voices in fintech, particularly women and people of color.
Just like traditional finance, FinTech has a systemic diversity issue. Nicole Is determined to change the industry’s mindset and encourage the people covering the sector to do a better job.
We cannot keep providing stories in one dimension in the same pale, male, and stale voices that dominate the space.
Nicole is looking for diverse leaders building products that make finance human. She believes it’s not just about creating viral stories but about sharing meaningful connections that’ll help create a new financial system that gives equal access to everyone– after all, ‘people follow people, not institutions.’
This belief, her experience, expertise, and skills as a journalist allowed her to provide culturally relevant content that explores how technology sparks innovation, inclusion, and fun in financial services.
To further her mission, she also hosts Fintech is Femme and events throughout the year to give a platform to those underrepresented voices.
Some of the world-class industry leaders she’s had the privilege to talk with include Tank star Kevin O’Leary, Rishi Khanna from StockTwits, Flori Marquez from BlockFi, Henry Yoshida of Rocket Dollar, Jean Smart of Penelope, and more. The common thread between all of her guests is that, just like her, they were once ‘outsiders.’
Coming from different backgrounds and origins, she and her guests have taken the path less traveled to progress in their careers and make their mark in the industry. In their interviews, each of them describes how they’re moving the dial in their way to reshape FinTech for the better. Nicole is not okay to be okay with unjust situations, and she is very ambitious to change the financial business landscape.
In the podcast, her passion and determination to change the industry’s landscape are clear. From our conversation with Nicole, below are our top takeaways:
- Embrace New Technology: Nicole observes that despite the positive effects of technology, people are still protective of the old way of doing things. Nicole encourages everyone to embrace and learn more about technology as significant work in cryptocurrencies and NFTs can help provide financial freedom to more people, including the unbankable.
- ‘Go Viral’ Is Not a Smart Strategy: The truth is that going viral isn’t an effective marketing strategy. It repels the audience you’re trying to attract. She encourages everyone to focus on quality and community building rather than getting viral results, as you may just get more shares in the process.
- Build Human Connections: Nicole reflects on her background and upbringing, and sharing that connection is essential in fintech journalism. “Connecting with the people making an impact in social or good, or using those operational tech-like tactics that they have in strategies in a B2B industry,” she says.
