Goodness Somtochukwu Odiaka joins the crew of teenage millionaires in Nigeria. At 19, the teenager made the declaration via a post on her LinkedIn page. Somto is a product of Anambra State University, where she studied Philosophy and graduated as the best student in the department.
Somto, the last from a family of six, started writing in her secondary school days as a member of the Press Club.
She noted how she got the idea to embark on a copywriting freelance journey from Nairaland. She then leverages that to join Upwork, a platform where freelancers meet recruiters for jobs.
The teenager further stated that the funds she generated from the services she rendered on the platform were wisely utilised by channelling them into stock investing and real estate.
The inspirational story of her journey was shared to encourage people and inspire the public.
She began her journey to break into the freelancing world, she said, “My breakthrough came while I was going through Nairaland. That was the first time I came across Freelance writing. I took interest immediately and registered on Upwork. At first, the money was coming in peanuts, and it was hard getting jobs as there was cutthroat competition on the platform. But I refused to give up. Well, refusing to give up wasn’t the only thing I did. I started saving from the few cents I got. “8 months from that day, I had 1 million naira sitting in my mutual fund’s account. I have made over $10,000 on Upwork, and the good life started.“
The teenager also stated that she encountered some obstacles while trying to break through but was able to overcome them. “The story didn’t go as easy as I made it sound here. It was a lot more than that. I’m from a humble family of 6, and I’m the last in my family. An unfortunate event happened nine months after my birth, and I lost my dad before I could pronounce ‘dada’ like others.” She said.
She, however, also said she has been able to open her mum a pharmacy she has always dreamed of having. In addition, she had embarked on various other philanthropic acts to make life easy for those who couldn’t afford the basics. In her words “When the money started coming, Goodness said she didn’t think of herself alone as she equally made others happy. She said: “I gave my mum the nice pharmacy she had always wanted. I paid school fees for other students. I settled bills for the sick. Blessed people that couldn’t help themselves.”
