I’m a disabled founder building a financial wellness startup with $0, my pilot launches December 7th, and this week AWS Social Impact asked if I’d like their support beyond it.

I’m Ruby “SunShine” Taylor, founder of Financial Joy School®, and in Episode 8 of Building Financial Joy I share where the Financial Joy Index™ stands: the prototype is built, the demo video is done, and our pilot for HR and employee benefits teams is seven weeks away. You’ll hear who has said yes without any funding behind it: the National Disability Institute, 2Gether-International, AWS Social Impact through the Halcyon Fellowship, and MUI.com. I’m also sharing my acceptance into SeedSpot DC Launch Camp, where I’ll sharpen my pitch and pitch deck.

I also take you to DC Startup Week, which I attended in person and left early because it was overwhelming for my brain. I’ll tell you why I think you have to be a little delusional to start a company, how to find the thin line between delusion and practicality, and a reminder from a Johns Hopkins professor and serial founder that when people don’t see you, you are still seen by God.

This is startup building, entrepreneurship, fintech, HR, employee financial wellness, social impact, and disability advocacy with nothing smoothed over. Wins, setbacks, and faith, told as they happen.

Work in HR or total rewards at a corporation or a large nonprofit? Sign up for a demo at https://Grean.US

A note before you listen: I’m a stutterer and a traumatic brain injury survivor and thriver, so you’ll hear me stumble a time or two. This is my journey building a startup with zero money. Yes, yes, and yes.

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I’m a disabled founder building a financial wellness startup with $0, and a customer discovery meeting just changed who I’m building for.

I’m Ruby “SunShine” Taylor, founder of Financial Joy School®, and in Episode 7 of Building Financial Joy I share a mid-build pivot for the Financial Joy Index™. I started with banks and credit unions because I’d worked with several and knew the industry.

But asking a bank to skip the upsell is a hard sell, and every conversation drifted away from piloting my software. Then someone in HR said, “This is perfect for us to pilot for our employees.” That was real enthusiasm, and it made me rethink my whole go-to-market strategy.

I also share the apple tree advice that changed how I think about early customers: pick the low-hanging fruit. You’ll hear why employee benefits and total rewards teams may be the first market for an employee financial wellness program, what it takes to land a pilot (it’s as hard as a sale), what a pivot costs a founder in time and energy, and why I’m aiming for a December pilot launch. We’re also moving the build onto AWS with the AWS Social Impact team.

This is startup building, customer discovery, entrepreneurship, fintech, HR, employee benefits, financial wellness, and disability advocacy with nothing smoothed over. Wins, setbacks, and faith, told as they happen.

A note before you listen: I’m a stutterer and a traumatic brain injury survivor and thriver, so you’ll hear me stumble a time or two. This is my journey building a startup with zero money. Yes, yes, and yes.

New episodes every Tuesday. Learn more at Grean.US

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A disabled founder with a traumatic brain injury and stutter becomes the developer of her own fintech startup, because she can't afford to hire one. In Episode 6 of Building Financial Joy, Ruby "SunShine" Taylor, founder of Grean Wealth and Financial Joy School®, woman founder, social worker, and stutterer, builds the Financial Joy Index™ with $0, an AWS Social Impact support team, and her Technical Advisor, who tells the room: "She is the developer."

This week: starting to code and test in VS Code, a Codex that connects to the wrong one, and a seven-week countdown to Thanksgiving, when AWS support from Darasimi wraps up. Can a non-technical founder learn to code, build on AWS (Amazon Web Services), and launch a financial wellness platform between naps? Ruby also shares the hunt for a credit union pilot partner and a new discovery, Filene, the nonprofit doing research and accelerators in the fintech and credit union space.

And life doesn't pause for a woman founder. Ruby heads to the Bronx to support her parents through her mother's surgery, balances motherhood and caregiving, and talks about what it's really like to be a woman founder with a disability building a company with no funding.

This is startup building, entrepreneurship, financial wellness, fintech, learning to code, and disability advocacy with nothing smoothed over. Wins, setbacks, and faith, told as they happen.

A note before you listen: Ruby is a stutterer, so you will hear her stumble a time or two. She also lives with a traumatic brain injury that has impacted her entire life, and she keeps living and dreaming anyway. Yes, yes, and yes.

New episodes every Tuesday. Learn more at https://Grean.US

Support the show