This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Makena Finger Zannini, founder and CEO of The Boutique COO and Brick by Brick Collective. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I knew from the time I was 5 or 6 that I didn’t agree with the principles that I was being raised by. My parents were part of an extremely conservative evangelical community in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. There were more cows than people in the town where I grew up.
As a woman, I was shown few paths. I could become a teacher or a nurse, but it was understood I would quit once I became a mom, just like my own mother had. Obedience was expected, and questioning was discouraged.
By 10, I was planning my way out of that environment. I saw college as my opportunity. I basically put my head down and worked harder than anyone else in my school. I got accepted to The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania for my undergrad degree.
I went to Wharton and got a Wall Street job
Being at Wharton was a culture shock. First, I had no idea just what a big deal Wharton was until I met peers who had been working to get in for their whole lives. I couldn’t relate to that or a lot of other things my peers talked about. I had barely seen any secular movies or television, and I didn’t get a lot of cultural references. Even today, at 29, there’s a lot I miss. You can’t make up for so much time spent away from mainstream culture.
My parents weren’t going to pay for school. Since we were lower income, much of my tuition was covered, and I took out loans to pay for more. I also worked four or five jobs at a time to pay my expenses. For four years, I worked and did school — nothing else.
It paid off when I was offered a Wall Street job after graduation. I was making about $80,000, which was more money than I had ever imagined. I was paying about $1,000 a month in student loans, and living in New York was expensive, but I was still in awe every time I saw thousands of dollars appear in my checking account.
I turned a freelance side hustle into a business
I was still working incredibly hard. In addition to my job on Wall Street and later at a tech company, I was also freelancing. I wanted extra income to pay off those loans and increase my savings.
I was working about 100 hours a week. Eventually, my freelance roster was full. I couldn’t squeeze any more hours into my day, so I knew it was time to hire someone. I consider that move, in October 2023, the true start of my business, The Boutique COO. I quit my day job about nine months later.
Today, I have about 120 employees, and the company generates more than $3 million in annual recurring revenue. We just launched a second brand, Brick by Brick Collective.
I’m hiring a surrogate to become a mom
Hitting the million-dollar mark in revenue was a big deal. My husband baked me brownies and wrote $1 million on them in icing. I’m not personally a millionaire (yet), but I can see a path to financial security through my businesses.
But my story isn’t shiny and picture-perfect. I don’t speak to my parents or three younger siblings. They’re evangelical in the truest sense of the word: they even try to convert people at the grocery store. Unfortunately, there’s no way for them to accept me if I don’t agree with them.
I’m not driven by money or material items. I’m uncomfortable in a too-fancy hotel, but my financial security has allowed me to take care of myself. One key example is that my husband and I have started the process of having a baby via surrogate.
For a long time, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a wife or mom. Now, I’m married and so happy. I want to have a child and see my husband as a dad. Using a surrogate is a luxury, but it feels like a way that I can find my own path to motherhood, different from the one option I was shown as a child. It’s expensive, but it’s also a way to take care of my mental health. That’s worth more to me than a second house or fancy car, and it’s something I’ll always spend money on.
