Choosing to Prosper

CHAPTER 5My $100k Savings Story

People may not always like what you have to say, but stand in your truth and remember your why.

One of the first major pivotal growth points for Clever Girl Finance was as a result of me sharing my personal savings story of how I saved $100,000 in a little over three years right after college as a single woman. While I've reached many milestones in my personal finances, this was my first major milestone and a story I chose to share publicly after a lot of deliberation.

I was about a year into the business and at this point was sharing weekly success stories on the Clever Girl Finance blog and Instagram account from different women about how they'd saved money, paid off debt, or overcome financial obstacles as part of our inspiration series. I wanted to showcase the success stories, including stories in progress, from different women who came from all walks of life as a way to inspire our audience regardless of where they were in their financial journey. One day I was going through the comments when I noticed someone said, “Bola, I'd love to read your own story about how you've achieved your financial goals.” And so, I thought to myself, maybe I should share how I crossed my first $100,000 savings milestone. However, being the introverted person that I am, I was extremely hesitant and, to be honest, even afraid.

To me, this was very different from sharing my savings story on my lifestyle blog in my little old corner of the internet. It felt more ...