← 40 Rising Stars 40 & Under

KathrynFinney

By Sonja Mack | Published January 19, 2012 | Full size is 600 × 754 pixels

Kathryn Finney, 35 Founder, Creator & CEO TBF Group L.L.C. Finney, perhaps best known for her site The Budget Fashionista, took to the Web in the summer of 2003. Primarily in an effort to stay in touch with friends, the Rutgers and Yale graduate started writing about her shopping experiences before the term blog had taken off. She caught the attention of the Associated Press and the news service circulated an article about The Budget Fashionista in January 2004. Her site crashed the next day. And now 600,000 unique visitors a month clamor for her take on fashion advice. Finney has since acquired several trademarks in addition to her flagship site, and she’s currently working on a number of multimedia projects such as Jelly TV and Mighty Beauty Blog in addition to consulting, public speaking, and serving as an editor-at-large for BlogHer.com. Dream vacation: Patagonia and Antarctica Phone: Blackberry, iPhone 4S, iPad with Skype Laptop: A Macbook, a Dell and a netbook Other tech tools: "I have a digital camera, a Canon DLSR. Photography is a hobby of mine." Favorite store: "Hmm, that’s like choosing between children. There’s a store called ASOS.com. It’s a British site that now has a U.S. presence. Very on-trend, fashion-forward pieces. They have a plus-size section called Curve and it’s excellent!" Also, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom and Target. Favorite beverage: A glass of seltzer water with a splash of cranberry juice, a splash of orange juice, and a lime.

Kathryn Finney, 35

Founder, Creator & CEO

TBF Group L.L.C.

Finney, perhaps best known for her site The…