Personal finance for people who want to be great with money — written by the friend who already is.
Bootstrapped two companies to seven figures. Writes about the money side of building something of your own.
About Rachel
Rachel's lane is the honest math of self-employment: what to pay yourself, how to think about runway, when to hire, and the tax and retirement moves W-2 employees never have to think about.
On the Side Hustle and Small Business Desks, she'll cover the transition from side income to real business — and the moment you should (or shouldn't) quit the day job.
In their own words
“Revenue is vanity, margin is sanity, cash flow is oxygen.”
— Rachel Oduya, The Entrepreneur
The money story
Rachel quit a comfortable ad-agency job at 29 with six months of runway and a client list of two. Ten years and two companies later, she's convinced almost every founder underpays themselves for too long and calls it 'discipline' when it's really avoidance.
Signature playbook
Treat yourself like the most important vendor your company has. Pay yourself first, on a schedule, or the business will consume every dollar it makes.
Set the Number
Decide the salary you need to live — not the max the business could pay. Write it down.
Automate the Transfer
Every 1st and 15th, move the number from business to personal. Non-negotiable line item.
Tax Account First
25–30% of every deposit into a separate tax account, same day. You never see it, so you never spend it.
Profit Distribution Quarterly
Anything left after salary + tax + reinvestment gets distributed on a schedule. Not on vibes.
A taste of the beat
Sample headlines from Rachel's desk.
Rules I won't break
The non-negotiables — the things Rachel refuses to recommend, no matter how good the pitch.
Filed by Rachel
Jul 11
Side Hustle Desk
The owner's paycheck framework — the one solo creators, consultants, and freelancers should have set up in month one, not year three.
1 min read
Evergreen
Jun 18
Small Business Desk
For self-employed savers, the wrong choice quietly costs five figures a year in missed contribution room.
1 min read
Evergreen
The weekly dispatch
The kind of financial advice you'd get from a friend who's already figured it out. No hot takes, no leaderboards, no affiliate hustle.