I went from homeless to a six-figure salary

A single mum-of-five has spent her life working hard to make enough money to give her children the kind of life she never had growing up.

Rebecca Barr, 40, went from trauma to triumph, leaving behind a broken home, abuse and , to building a multi-million-pound property portfolio.

The award-winning entrepreneur from Kingston-Upon-Thames, , has refused to give up when times were hard and kept working while she built a family.

Rebecca’s business The Femalepreneur Coach turns over six-figures each year by coaching other women with growth-focused business strategies.

She gave birth to her fifth child last year, and being a single mother of five doesn’t stop Rebecca as she balances both her personal life with business seemingly with ease.

Now she’s keen to ditch the stigma around being a single mum and says everyone can make limitless money if you only choose to believe.

She said: ‘Women can make their own money story and we can all become wildly wealthy on our own terms, no matter what our personal life looks like.

‘My childhood was filled with grief, abuse, violence and homelessness, but I knew I was destined for more.

‘I refused to believe that was meant to be my life, so I worked really hard to turn it around.

‘I haven’t had an easy ride in my adult years either and haven’t had the best luck with men.

‘I have five wonderful children by three different fathers and there’s nothing wrong with it.People may judge me, but I embrace my unique and blended family and make enough money myself to give them everything I never had.’

Rebecca lost her dad when she was just four years old. A Naval Officer, he died aged 25 whilst serving abroad.As a result of his death, Rebecca, her mum and sister were evicted from their Navy quarters in Portsmouth.

She said: ‘We were forced into an unsettled life that we never expected.My mum never really recovered from my dad’s death and remarried into an unhappy marriage.

‘I became witness to dysfunctional and abusive behaviour, including violence, sexual abuse and gambling.’

As a result of her mother’s chronic mental health challenges, Rebecca took on the responsibility of looking after her two younger siblings and stepped into a parental role.

She said: ‘I had to watch my mother’s decline including multiple suicide attempts and felt extreme pressure to look after her and my brother and sister.

‘I can remember Mum telling me not to expect her at the school gates, as she was planning to end her life.’

Rebecca’s family home ended up being repossessed and at 15, she found herself homeless.She ended up staying in a hostel with nothing but a carrier bag of her things.

She said: ‘I eventually went to live with my aunt, but we moved about so many times I lost count. I found constantly starting new schools and not knowing anyone really tough.

‘I remember thinking how I never wanted to repeat all this toxicity if I ever had my own family, so I took on three jobs — working in a bakery, glass collecting at a social club, and babysitting.’

Rebecca was 16, juggling three jobs and studying to finish her exams.Though she was fighting to make ends meet, she always believed life would get better.

Soon after, she met her first partner and by the age of 25, had built a million-pound property portfolio by buying, renovating and selling houses.

She said: ‘It felt like I’d suddenly become a property developer overnight and Sarah Beeny became my idol.’

Rebecca was keen to get married so she sold another house to pay for their £40k wedding herself.

She said: ‘I wanted to live the dream and have a huge white wedding.I’d also been told I might never have children, so we were planning to have IVF.

‘But our marriage wasn’t meant to be. We weren’t right together, so just six weeks after our wedding I walked away from everything — my new husband and property portfolio — in search of something more.’

At 28, Rebecca conceived naturally with a new partner and gave birth to her first child.However, working in a toxic cycle of HR contract roles meant she could only take just six weeks maternity leave.

Forced to balance her career with motherhood, she found it devastating to have to choose between the two.

Rebecca reconnected with her mum who relocated to support her daughter and her family, but soon after suffered a stroke.

Rebecca said: eVDen eve NAkLiyaT ‘It was such a shock.I don’t think she ever truly recovered, and EvDeN EVe NakLiYat she sadly died from an aneurysm in 2019.

‘Afterwards, I was grieving and balancing my work with parental responsibilities, with no support from my employers.

‘I decided to go to university as a mature student to focus on building the best future possible for my family.I graduated with a degree in HR whilst pregnant with my second daughter.’

Rebecca climbed the corporate ladder and built a successful career in HR, eVDen EVe nAkliyAt before pivoting into an entirely new industry, buying her first business; a barbershop in London in 2014.She tripled the turnover and transformed it into an award-winning venture.

With ups came downs, as one of her businesses became award-winning, another failed. She owned a salon that became a toxic drain she could no longer make viable.

She said: ‘It was a valuable lesson in money, energy and letting go that I still use to this day in my current business.’

Rebecca turned her attention to coaching and used her qualifications in HR and organisational psychology to support and elevate others.

Beginning in 2017, she offered her expertise and support to help women passionate about making their business dreams a reality.

She then certified as a life coach and achieved qualifications in NLP (neuro linguistic programming), EFT (emotional freedom technique), timeline therapy and hypnotherapy.

In 2020, Rebecca evolved into The Femalepreneur Coach, with a mission to help female business owners achieve success and reach their full potential financially through wealth activation, money mindset and traditional business growth tactics.

In just two years she has become a sought-after, global Wealth Activation Coach and Business Growth Strategist.

Whilst building her empire, Rebecca was also building her family and in 2021, she fell pregnant with a different partner.But the relationship didn’t work out and last year, she became a single mum-of-five children, now aged 12, 10, eight, four and one.

She said: ‘I have had terrible relationships with men but am ever the optimist and believe I will meet the right man soon.’

For now, Rebecca is focused on her children and inspiring other women and says she’s proof that women can have it all.

She said: ‘Despite all I’ve been through, I’m a strong, successful woman and I love nothing more than helping others achieve limitless success too.Anything is possible with the right mindset!’

• Rebecca can be found at: