Pursuing Money While Keeping Your Values with Rod Dauphin

When you're a member of a marginalized community, it can be an intricate dance to engage within a capitalist framework. Capitalism is intentionally constructed with competition in mind - there are meant to be both winners and losers - and unfortunately, the losers are often those of us at intersecting minority identities. While we dream of higher salaries or better profit margins in order to live more comfortably, these aspirations can sometimes feel like they clash with our desire for a more equitable world. 

This week, we are honored to welcome Rod Dauphin, Education Services Director at the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program at LaGuardia Community College, to our conversation. Boasting a remarkable track record as a serial entrepreneur and business advisor spanning more than two decades, he brings his wealth of knowledge to the table in a conversation all listeners can benefit from. Dauphin guides us through the nuanced art of determining the extent of our participation in this system and the strategic instances when it becomes imperative to make sacrifices in order to disrupt the established norms, in the name of maintaining our values.

Abhainn and Rod don’t hold back on the sports metaphors, and Rod’s focus on community is sure to inspire even the most cynical of us. Plus, he shares the highest-ticket work “mistake” we’ve heard to date.