Nola Mutogo, Copywriter, Social Media Strategist and Founder at Havilah Creative
"My first memory of money was when my 8-year-old self decided to take control of her money situation. I got into a squabble with my father over pocket money. Everybody else in my class was getting a lot more pocket money from their parents and I was tired of getting the same amount of pocket money week after week. My father wasn’t particularly amused when I brought that up in our conversation. I probably should have let it go but I decided to make a statement. I ripped the crisp $2/$5 dollar note that was in my hand and that didn’t go as well as I thought it would. Long story short, I went to school drenched in tears with that two-dollar note in my pocket. I had to tape it together to make it work.
My father taught me everything I know about money. As someone who worked in the banking/financial industry, my father was a stickler when it came to money. He wasn’t the handout type. Back then my sisters and I just thought he was too frugal but now I realise that he understood the value of money and he always tried to avoid misusing it. My parents instilled a lot of money principles in us and one of the biggest was the power of generating your own income. My parents built a successful business and I watched how that impacted our family’s finances and empowered them to pursue new opportunities.
When I was in my teens, I realised that the only way I was going to get enough money to do what I wanted was to come up with ways to make money grow. So, I did. I started saving my pocket money. It gave me a sense of freedom because I didn’t have to continually ask my parents for money to buy things that I needed. I would save to buy what I wanted without having to answer too many questions.
It was that sense of freedom that got me into business. During my final year in Uni, I started buying and selling accessories to a few of my sisters friends. It wasn’t big but I made a good profit and after that I was hooked. It inspired me to dream up opportunities that would empower me to pursue what I wanted the most and now I empower other women to do the same.
For me, true wealth is freedom. Freedom to live life without worrying about your next paycheck, next job, debt or about the bills. Freedom to know that you have financial independence and money saved up to support your children and the generations to come."