How I Started & Why (Let’s Talk)

Hi, my name’s Ruth and I’m the founder of Tax Twerk.

I would LOVE to invite you to join me a this journey as I build my company from the ground up. Here’s a little bit about me…

Keep It 100!

My personal pledge is, ‘Keep it 100!’. This means keeping it real, keeping it straight to the point and giving information that is 100% authentic. The only way I can keep it 100 is by telling you my opinion, experience or story.

How Did I Start in Life?

My mum’s family is from the beautiful island Grenada in the Caribbean. My Dad’s family is from Jamaica. They were both born in the UK, and in 1988 I was born in Hammersmith Hospital, West London.

The way that my story starts off is not very different from thousands of children up and down the UK (and around the world).

Shortly after I was born my parents separated, and I grew up living with my mum. I have two younger sisters on my mum’s side and 4 siblings on my Dad’s side.

My mum grew us up as a single-parent and I didn’t see my Dad much growing up. Occasionally I would wait for him the window to come and visit. A few times this meant waiting the whole day with tears rolling down my face until bedtime… As he never showed up, neither did he call to say why he couldn’t make it. This was probably one of the most painful experiences as a child.

I guess this moulded me into the type of child, teenager and adult I became. I’m naturally quiet and mellow, but I became even more introverted and came to expect that people around me would ‘disappear’ or become unreliable.

The Fatal Flaw Holding Me Back

My fatal flaw has always been low confidence and low self-esteem. E.g. The common feedback from teachers was always, ‘She’s doing good at studying, but she never participates in class discussions, she doesn’t talk up.’

I decided to keep my head down, ‘follow the rules’ (except participating in class discussions), and get lost in my books, or laptop, to avoid worrying about family issues.

Time Scarcity & Money Scarcity

After a few years my mum began studying for her degree and working full-time. She was the first in her family to graduate from university and this was the number one achievement she wanted for myself & my sisters. To make her proud I was an A-grade student and I graduated from the University of Manchester with a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Accounting.

Time was scarce growing up, and today both my parents still work almost 7 days a week.

There is little or no time freedom for me to enjoy ‘being with them’ or for them to ‘get to know the real me’.

The thought of a ‘recession’ irritated me, but it doesn’t scare me.

I believed that money had to be held onto tightly. I was very sensitive to the fact that money was tight for my mum raising three girls. She gave us treats and I’m grateful for all of the wonderful memories I have growing up with my mum & grandparents.

However, at the back of my mind I had the thought that I need to grow up quickly, take care of myself quickly, and move out to stand on my own two feet quickly.

The Turning Point

I’m not perfect and I’ve had plenty of challenges along the way. I didn’t talk about it much, but as I grew up the constant financial pressures of adulthood really started to give me serious anxiety. 

The turning point in my life was when I was offered my dream job at Xero. A company I really respected and a role I was extremely excited about. However, even though everything seemed perfect, it did not feel right. I just could no longer put up with the rat race for the rest of my life. It felt like after sacrificing so much time, and ‘following the rules’ there was no guaranteed stability or deeper reward.

That ignited my fire to start my own company. I turned the job offer down. Despite being pregnant, moving to a new home & being in desperate need for the income.

Probably not the ideal time to start a business, right?

I made a decision that I never wanted a mediocre life. I made a personal commitment to have faith in greatness, growing my own business to a 7-figure valuation and knocking it out after the park! I don’t know what the journey entails, but I will use one of my strengths to keep going – CONSISTENCY.

My superpower is simple. I am great at LISTENING. (Not as sexy as twerking, but, more valuable)

And now I have a passion for getting others to take action (translation: Telling them what to do & when!)

Why Do I Do This?

Because I didn’t think much of my strengths and superpower growing up. In fact, people would often call me ‘shy’ or ‘selfish’. The truth is, I didn’t want attention. I was just focused on putting all of my energy into advancing and improving my situation.

But nowadays so many people ask me about how I’ve taken steps for success.

I went through a lot of internal pain by avoiding talking up, so if I can share a few things now and help change and improving other people’s financial situations then I’m happy to do this.

My Mission

Now I’m on a mission to make a change about time freedom and financial freedom. Not just for myself, or my daughter, or my clients, but I also commit to helping charities and social causes every month that bring other people around the world increased freedom.

Forget the excuses about ‘recessions’, ‘no money’, or ‘waiting for the right time’!

There has never been a better time in history to start a business or make money as an entrepreneur.

Want to talk to me?

So now that you know about me, I’d like to hear more about you. And I’d be super grateful if you’d introduce yourself in the short survey below and tell me your ideal outcome when it comes to saving time & money on tax.

Don’t feel pressure to produce a novel, I just want to get to know you a bit. Thank you,

Ruth