Rachel Harris is an accountant and entrepreneur making waves by taking a unique approach to business. When asked to describe herself, she calls herself a "disruptor in the accounting industry." So what makes her style so disruptive?
From a young age, Rachel's life has been shaped by her responsibilities as a carer for her disabled twin sister. As the older twin by 10 minutes, she took on a caring role early on that formed a big part of her identity. Rachel reflects that her natural tendencies to nurture and cultivate safe spaces for people has fed into her strengths as a business leader.
Despite humble beginnings, including relying on free school meals as a child, Rachel was driven to build financial security for both herself and her sister. This motivation to make "enough money for both of us to not worry about money" was a catalyst for her journey to entrepreneurship. Now, just a few years after starting her own accounting practice, Rachel has grown it into a business turning over £1 million annually.
The aptly named "Strive X Family" of businesses encompasses Rachel's expanding suite of professional services, including accountancy, consulting, mortgages, audit, and HR services. She explains how each arm feeds into the others in a synergistic way - with shared clients across the brands. Rachel has bold plans to continue exponentially growing the Strive X name over the next 5 years.
A key aspect of Rachel's disruptive approach is her advocacy and actions around accessibility and inclusion - despite facing her own barriers as a profoundly deaf person. She is open about the daily challenges her disability poses in the workplace and how it has shaped her focus on flexibility and empowerment of her team. Rachel also actively calls on event organizers and professional bodies to improve accessibility, even offering innovative win-win sponsorship ideas to make events more inclusive.
Rachel Harris is disrupting the accounting world by forging her own path as an entrepreneur, motivated by both her personal backstory and desire to create positive change for others. She is an advocate for opening doors in the industry - to those from non-traditional backgrounds, people with disabilities, and beyond. What are your thoughts on Rachel's innovative approach? Please share in the comments below!