We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers, published by HarperCollins Leadership in 2021, is a money book for women who run their own business or want to. Rodgers, a lawyer turned business coach who built her company Hello Seven, argues that women, and especially Black women and other women of colour, should set a clear goal of becoming millionaires. Her case is that money gives women safety, choices and influence, and that the standard advice to save harder and spend less keeps them small.
What is We Should All Be Millionaires about?
The book opens with a challenge to the usual personal finance message. Rodgers says frugality has a ceiling and earning has none, so women should focus on making more instead of agonising over small purchases. She ties women’s lower earnings to messages they absorb early: that wanting money is greedy, that they should be grateful for what they get and that asking for more is rude. She also names structural causes such as the pay gap and the racial wealth gap.
From there the book moves into mindset and practice. Rodgers asks readers to work out what a millionaire life would cost them, then plan backwards to the income needed. She pushes women to raise prices, sell offers that do not depend on trading hours for money, and hire help far earlier than feels comfortable so they can focus on the work only they can do. She mixes her own story of growing her business and family finances with stories from clients.
What makes it different is the tone and audience. The book is openly political about who gets rich and why, it centres women of colour, and it treats ambition for money as healthy. It reads more like a coaching session than a finance textbook, with plenty of energy and direct language.
What are the main lessons for founders?
- Do the millionaire maths. Work out what income would let you save and invest seriously, then divide it by your prices. The gap shows whether your current model can ever get you there.
- Raise your prices. Service founders tend to set prices by fear. Test a higher price with your next three prospects and track how many say yes.
- Sell beyond your hours. Group programmes, products and recurring offers break the link between time and income. Design one offer that can serve ten clients at once.
- Hire support early. An assistant or freelancer for a few hours a week frees you to sell and build. Treat that first hire as an investment in growth.
- Pick your circle. Rodgers stresses being around women who talk openly about money. Find a peer group where income goals are normal to discuss.
Who should read We Should All Be Millionaires?
It fits women running coaching, consulting, creative, legal or other service businesses, especially those stuck at a modest income while working long hours. It also helps women of colour who want a money book that speaks to their experience. Early founders who feel uneasy talking about money will find it a strong push.
Skip it if you want investing advice, tax planning or help with a venture-funded startup. The focus is on earning more in a business you own, and readers wanting technical finance should look elsewhere.
How do you put We Should All Be Millionaires to work this week?
- Write down your current price for your main offer and the price you secretly think it is worth. Quote the higher one to the next prospect.
- List every task you did last week and mark the ones someone else could do for a modest hourly rate. Pick two to hand off this month.
- Sketch one offer that serves several clients at once, such as a workshop or a group programme, and share it with five past clients for feedback.
If you want to check whether a new offer has a big enough market before building it, the free Market Size Calculator from Fe/male Switch gives you a quick estimate.
Where does We Should All Be Millionaires fall short?
Readers have noted that much of the book is Rodgers’ own story and motivation, with less concrete financial guidance than the title suggests. The model it describes suits online service and coaching businesses best, so product, retail and tech founders will need to adapt it. It says little about cash flow, taxes, investing or what to do with money once you have it. The advice to hire early also assumes some margin to spend. For a simple cash management system, read Profit First, and for a gentler reflection on money and values, read The Soul of Money.