My Parents Called Me A Dropout. “Look At Your Sister.” I Secretly Built…

Ethan squeezed my hand supportively. I walked to the stage in my $7,500 dress and $1,000 shoes, shook hands with the Governor of Texas, and was given a crystal trophy by Governor Harper as the room exploded in cheers.

“Please welcome to the stage Rachel Taylor, founder and CEO of Client Flow,” the announcer said.

“Rachel,” the governor shouted into the microphone.

“Tell us what drove you to build Client Flow,” she said.

I took the microphone, looked out at 500 of the most influential people in Texas business, and spoke clearly. It was heavy, substantial, and unquestionably more prestigious than Sophia’s industry magazine award.

“I noticed that small business owners were not receiving enough support, so I founded Client Flow,” I said.

“They couldn’t afford the tools they needed to compete. I aimed to make technology that may revolutionize their enterprises more accessible to all,” I explained.

“And you left college to pursue this?” the governor asked.

“Yes, I did. It was the most difficult choice of my life. My relatives didn’t comprehend,” I said.

The audience chuckled and cheered as I said,

“They thought I was throwing away my future. Turns out I was building it.”

Then I paused.

“What guidance would you offer to young business owners who don’t have family support?” she asked.

“Build it anyway,” I firmly stated.

“When you succeed, the people who genuinely love you will rejoice. And if they don’t, then you’ve built something even more important: your independence,” I continued.

This time, there was more, louder applause. The governor sat for pictures with me, and expert photographers recorded the moment from every perspective.

A Viral Sensation

Within minutes, Forbes shared the pictures on social media, tagging me, tagging Client Flow, and tagging the governor.

The caption said,

“Rachel Taylor, 26, receives the prestigious Governor’s Under 30 CEO award for building an $83 million company that’s revolutionizing small business technology.”

The governor was giving me the trophy, and we were both grinning. The Client Flow logo was displayed on the screens behind us, with hashtags like Texas Tech, Under 30, and Women in Business.

I was trending on social media while Sophia was saying her vows at the Rosewood mansion. My phone began buzzing non-stop.

I had turned it off for the ceremony, but I could feel it vibrating in my clutch. The post received 50,000 likes in the first hour, with comments from journalists, business leaders, and entrepreneurs, and shares from prominent tech accounts.

I ignored it, concentrated on the evening, spoke with journalists who wanted interviews, and spoke with CEOs who wanted to discuss Client Flow’s growth strategy. I pushed for more pictures of Ethan, my team, and other award winners.

At 10 p.m. during the reception, I checked my phone and saw that there were 127 unread messages.

“You’re on Forbes! The governor!” said Rachel, my roommate from college.

“What is the real thing?” she asked.

My old study group followed, followed by others I hadn’t spoken to in years, who all expressed their shock and congrats before being buried in the avalanche.

“You built an $83 million company!” they wrote.

At Sophia’s wedding celebration, Mom sent a timestamped message at 7:47 p.m.

“Rachel, I’m seeing pictures of you with the governor. Is this authentic? Give me a call, please,” the text read.

“We need to talk about what we’re seeing online,” said Dad, whose timestamp was 8:15 p.m.

“How come you didn’t inform us?” Sophia wrote.

“My wedding guests are all on their phones looking at your Forbes feature,” she added with a timestamp of 9:03 p.m.

“You intentionally did this. In any case, how could you?” she finished.

Ethan saw my look, and I put my phone aside without answering.

“Family? Family, are you all right?” he asked.

“Better than okay,” I replied.

“For the first time in my life, I don’t need their approval,” I said.

The fallout was amazing. By midnight, 200,000 people had shared the Forbes piece, and pictures of me and the governor were all over the place.

The Aftermath

Business publications were requesting interviews on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Venture capital firms were emailing about Series C funding discussions.

Client Flow’s website traffic grew by 847% in a single day. Our sales team was overloaded, and the Texas business community was small but connected.

Yeah, the news reached Nathaniel’s parents in less than 48 hours. Sophia called me on Sunday afternoon, two days after her wedding.

I was in my apartment, still wearing my Client Flow t-shirt and sweatpants, discussing demo request prioritization with my sales team over Zoom.

I let it ring, and when she called again, I declined, and she texted.

“We need to talk, please,” the text said.

“You didn’t invite me to your wedding because I would make you look bad,” I retorted.

“What more can we discuss?” I asked.

“I didn’t know. You never inquired,” she replied.

“Therefore you were unaware. You made an assumption,” I typed.

“Please, Rachel. The Forbes piece was viewed by Nathaniel’s parents. They want to know why you missed the wedding. They believe we are fighting. This is hurting our reputation,” she wrote.

After giving the message a lengthy look, I typed:

“Not my problem. Have fun in your marriage.”

Mom called an hour later, but she didn’t answer. So I answered just out of curiosity.

“What’s going on, Rachel Maria Taylor?” Mom said.

“Hi Mom,” I said.

“Avoid saying hello mom to me. Forbes, the governor, an $83 million firm, and you kept it from us!” she exclaimed.

“You never inquired about my actual job duties,” I said.

“Customer service, you said,” she replied.

“Customer service is what I do. 8,200 consumers are being served by me. In addition, I am the company’s owner,” I explained.

On the other end, there was silence.

“What kept you from telling us?” her voice cracked a little.

“Did you think I was real? What if I had told you four years ago that I was starting a business and that I had left school to pursue entrepreneurship? Would you have stood by me, or would you have warned me that I was wasting my life?” I asked.

More quiet.

“You must comprehend, Rachel. We were concerned. You left school. You occupied that small flat. You never appeared to be wealthy,” she said.

“I was putting all of my money back into the business. Startups operate in this manner,” I said.

“We were unaware of that. You failed to provide an explanation,” she stated.

“I shouldn’t have to explain myself to earn basic respect from my own family,” I spoke in a stern but calm tone.

“You have been treating me like a failure for the past four years. At every chance, you have disparaged my work, patronized my decisions, and made negative comparisons to Sophia,” I continued.

“We never got to meet,” she said.

“Sophia didn’t ask me to her wedding, Mom, because I would make her seem bad in front of the Grants. It’s not a miscommunication. It is not a lack of communication. She didn’t give me much thought. How little you all gave me any thought,” I said.

“She didn’t mean it like that,” she argued.

“That’s exactly how she meant it. And what do you know? I would have embarrassed her, but not in the way she believed. Therefore, she was justified to refuse my invitation,” I told her.

If you’ve ever had to prove yourself to individuals who ought to have trusted you from the beginning because of what transpired next, hit the subscribe button.

Mom made an effort to keep the conversation going.

“The parents of Nathaniel would like to meet you. They are quite impressed,” she said.

“Let me stop you there,” I cut her off.

“Forbes says I’m successful. So now the Grants want to meet me. Not because I’m the sister of Sophia. Not because I’m a valuable person. Because they regard me financially,” I stated.

“That’s not fair,” she said.

“It’s entirely equitable. I was not invited by Sophia for the same reason: for her social advancement. I was worthless. I do now. However, that does not imply that I am at your disposal,” I explained.

“Rachel, please. This is tearing our family apart,” she pleaded.

“No, mother. This is exposing the true nature of our family. There is a distinction,” I replied.

The Business of Sincerity

The response from the business community was tremendous. Within a week, I received requests for interviews from the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Business Insider, and Forbes.

I hung up, switched my phone to do not disturb, and resumed my work.

My CFO, James, was constantly taking calls, including invitations to speak at three major tech conferences, offers of Series C funding from seven venture capital firms, acquisition inquiries from two public companies that I turned down, invitations to join two corporate boards, and a request to speak at the commencement of UT Austin’s business school.

“We need a public relations specialist, Rachel. I can’t handle this. In addition to the finances, take action. Find a decent person,” James said.

Our first piece of advice from Rebecca Harris, a former tech PR professional with experience working with three unicorn startups and who is unrelated to Ethan, was to lean into your story.

“A young Latina founder who dropped out of college, created an $83 million business out of nothing. That’s the narrative investors and press are hungry for,” she suggested.

“I’m not going to exploit my ethnicity for marketing,” I said.

“I don’t advocate for exploitation. I’m advocating for sincerity. Your narrative is important. The success of someone like them is needed by hundreds of other Latina businesses. Avoid hiding from that,” she responded.

He was correct. That month, I conducted three significant interviews in which I discussed being a first-generation student, the pressure to follow a conventional path, the possibility of quitting out, and creating something from nothing.

The responses were amazing. While Sophia’s life was falling apart in slow motion, I received hundreds of emails from young women, first-generation students, and people whose families didn’t understand their entrepreneurial aspirations, telling me that my story gave them courage.

It turned out that the Grant family was fixated on connections and status. They were incensed to learn that Sophia had purposefully left out her sister, who was now a well-known businesswoman with the governor’s personal support.