Kathey Porter

A small business expert with an impressive cadre of experience spanning nearly two decades in marketing, small business development, supplier diversity and entrepreneurship, Kathey cut her teeth in the world of business early on. In her capacity as a supplier diversity director and consultant for the government, higher education and corporate sectors she has successfully assisted small businesses to receive over $10 million in contract opportunities. She has served as chair of the SWaM Committee (small, woman and minority-owned businesses) for VASCUPP (Virginia Association of State College and University Purchasing Professionals), a consortium of Virginia state colleges and universities, where she led the organization of SWaMfest, the largest and most anticipated annual event for small, woman and minority-owned business professionals, corporations, higher education institutions and state agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Previously a marketing executive in the beauty industry for companies including Carson Products, Revlon Professional and Colomer USA, Kathey was responsible for new product development, launch strategy and marketing activation for brands targeting multicultural consumers.
An owner and operator of several businesses during the course of her career, Kathey most recently founded BusinessFAB™ (Fearless. Awesome. Boss), a boutique multiplatform media initiative that advises women entrepreneurs on starting, growing and sustaining a business through the development of content, communications and customized events. It’s core public components include the BusinessFAB™ Women’s Entrepreneurship + Leadership Conference and the Women in Business Leadership Lecture Series.
An adjunct business instructor with over a decade of diversified teaching experience, Kathey has lectured at Virginia Tech- Pamplin College of Business, Savannah State University, Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), Strayer University, Columbia College and University of Phoenix. Her areas of specialization include undergraduate and graduate coursework in a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, marketing, management, introduction to business, business ethics, public relations, business communications and leadership.

Kathey is the author of 50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership (Palgrave Macmillan), which was nominated for the 2015 NAACP Image™ Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Non- Fiction and ranked as the #1 New Release in Business and Entrepreneurship by Amazon. A frequent speaker, panelist and workshop facilitator, she served on the Advisory Committee for the World of a Woman Conference by Hudson Egypt, Cairo, Egypt and has been featured in numerous media outlets including Ebony, Black Enterprise, The Huffington Post, Sirius XM, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Fox 5-DC and is the featured Small Business Expert in Essence Magazine.

Kathey received her MBA from Georgia Southern University, BBA from Savannah State University and a CPSD (Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity) through the Institute for Supply Management and served as a Supply Specialist in the Georgia Army National Guard.