My First Hustle? Free Shampoo Samples. My End Game? Financial Independence and Living My Ikigai.

Hi, I’m Alana — and I’ve been obsessed with money since I was a kid.

Not in a Wolf of Wall Street way (though I did end up working on that street), but in a how can I make some? how can I get things for free? kind of way.

My earliest hustle: Calling 1-800 numbers on the back of shampoo bottles to ask for free samples. And honestly? I lived for it. I asked my mom if I could sell her stuff on eBay. I begged to run a lemonade stand or go door-to-door with Girl Scout cookies. Hustling, scrappy, curious - I was always thinking of the future.

Frugal Roots, Big Dreams

I grew up in a working-class household. My dad was blue collar, my mom stayed at home and later worked in civil service. Frugality in our house wasn’t just about need - it was also about habit. My parents grew up that way, and it shaped how they approached money.

I have memories of my dad calculating the price per sheet of toilet paper before buying a roll. We flew once in my childhood - a vacation burned into my memory not because of the destination, but because of how rare it was.

So when it came time to choose a career, I was ambitious, but undecided — so I chose something that seemed solid and practical. My parents pushed for me to become a doctor or lawyer. I picked “Finance” after liking a 101 class and thinking, hey, tests > papers, I can do this.

Spoiler: finance and I had a complicated relationship.

Corporate Burnout: Round 1

I landed my first job at Morgan Stanley. My textbooks had promised six-figure salaries. Reality handed me a lot of data entry work, a pair of uncomfortable, closed toed shoes, and $40K/year.

For two years, I choked back tears while doing mindless work and wondered if I really needed a degree for this. Eventually, I landed a more interesting role, but got slapped with “internal transfer” rules that kept my salary flat while my new coworkers earned $20K more. I was bitter… but motivated.

So I maxed out every opportunity I could. Took night classes for my MBA (on the company’s dime). Took out $25K in student loans I didn’t need (on me), and $17K in credit card debt. I used the money to fund my lifestyle - weekends in the Hamptons, skiing in the winter, living it up in NYC.

And Then… the Crash

2008 hit like a brick wall. Lehman Brothers collapsed across the street from my office. My work grounded to a halt. I waited for a layoff and severance check that never came.

Instead, I was stuck - $100K in debt, very underpaid, and no clue what was next. But I was scrappy. I’d head to the Fordham Law library on my lunch breaks to job hunt because external sites were blocked at work (yes, really).

Eventually, I found a scrappy little startup called Indeed in Stamford, CT. Jeans instead of suits? Free snacks? That was all I needed. I reverse-commuted from NYC and started a new chapter.

The Startup Rocketship

My time at Indeed is its own saga. It was a rocketship. I rose fast, built teams, ran Customer Success and Operations for the Americas. We scaled from ~50 to 6000+ employees during my time there. It was wild and fulfilling. And when Indeed was acquired by a Japanese company - Recruit, their executive team introduced me to something that changed how I thought about work and life: ikigai — the Japanese concept of reason for being.

And that brings us here.

The Turn

After nearly nine years at Indeed, I had my second child and took a career break. During that time, I volunteered with Junior Achievement and SCORE, teaching kids about money and coaching entrepreneurs. I loved it.

I also discovered the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. I devoured podcasts like ChooseFI, Martinis & Your Money, and Afford Anything. And for the first time, I saw people who thought about money like I did. These were MY PEOPLE.

Financial coaching became my lightbulb moment. This was the finance career I’d always wanted - personal, empowering, practical.

Today

After years of applying FIRE principles, I reached CoastFI, LeanFI, and built a solid “FU Money” cushion. And let me be clear - I didn’t get there by giving up joy, or lattes. I continued to live my best life: traveling, raising my kids, doing work I enjoyed. But I was also optimizing - automating savings, investing consistently, leveraging employer benefits, and making intentional decisions with every paycheck, bonus and raise.

In 2023, I cashed in that FU Money — and said FU (at least for now) to the corporate world. I launched my own practice, coaching women in tech to take control of their money and build wealth on their terms.

This path — guiding women to build wealth without shame, confusion, or compromise — is my ikigai. And I’m just getting started.