This entrepreneur paid off $100,000 in debt her first year in business

• Angelina Murphy opened a small salon in her own garage.
• Murphy paid off $100,000 in debt her first year in business.
• She learned to budget and manage her business in order to thrive.

Angelina Murphy worked in other people's salons for years. Towards the end of 2019, she opened her own business. Unlike other commercial salons, this one was housed in Murphy's garage. She aimed to save on costs with creative solutions.

Murphy's specialty is high-end, natural hair extensions. She spent years traveling to California from her home outside of Seattle, Washington, to learn the specialty art of hair extensions. Often she had her newborn son in tow. Now, her clients fly to see her, spending thousands of dollars on what Murphy considers some of the best hair extensions available.

Murphy still encountered nearly $100,000 in debt as she built her business. Before running her own salon, she had never used a budget to manage her finances. In spite of a pandemic that has led to an extraordinary number of business failures, Murphy paid off all her debt within the first year. Now she reinvests back into the business with the hopes of one day owning a commercial space that isn't in her garage.