Personal Finance · Investing · Online Business · United States
Clever Girl Finance is the personal finance brand for women founded by Bola Sokunbi, a Wiley author and CFEI who sells books and paid one-on-one sessions alongside free courses.
Clever Girl Finance is a personal finance education brand for women founded by Bola Sokunbi, who runs it through the company Clever Girl Finance Inc. According to a July 2019 Forbes article by staff reporter Brianne Garrett, she turned her personal finance blog into the business in 2015. Sokunbi grew up in Nigeria, moved to the United States as an international student and holds a BSc in Computer Science with a minor in Business from Webster University, according to the same page. She has been a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) since 2016 and received the 2021 Financial Education Instructor of the Year award from the National Financial Educators Council, according to her founder page. Her age or year of birth does not appear in the sources reviewed.
Her origin story, as told in Wiley's 2021 press release and repeated in the 2019 Forbes article, is that she saved $100,000 within three years of graduating on a $54,000 salary, helped by a wedding and lifestyle photography side business. These figures are her own account as relayed by her publisher and the press; no document verifying them was found.
The brand publishes on YouTube (221K subscribers and 657 videos on the Clever Girl Finance channel, read on September 16, 2026), on Instagram as @clevergirlfinance, and through The Clever Girls Know Podcast. She also runs a separate speaking site, bolasokunbi.com, for keynotes and corporate workshops, and clevergirlauthor.com, where she writes about nonfiction book writing.
The courses on the platform are free: its course page describes more than 30 self-paced lessons on budgeting, debt, saving, investing and money mindset, with no credit card required. The paid side is made up of her books and private sessions. Wiley publishes her books: Clever Girl Finance: Ditch Debt, Save Money and Build Real Wealth (June 2019, with an expanded second edition in November 2024 listed at $24.95 in paperback), Clever Girl Finance: Learn How Investing Works, Grow Your Money, Clever Girl Finance: The Side Hustle Guide (June 2021), Choosing to Prosper (2022, $26.95 hardcover on Wiley) and Clever Girl Millionaire (2026). Her site also lists a companion workbook, My Wealth Plan Workbook. Through her Acuity booking page she sells 60-minute strategy sessions: business strategy and book and writing sessions at $495 each and an Investing 101 session at $395. A 60-minute personal finance coaching session with a member of her team costs $120. The booking page states that these sessions provide education and coaching, not financial, legal, tax or investment advice. The homepage also promotes "Money Accountability" live sessions for paid members of the YouTube channel; the membership price was not confirmed.
On reputation, what can be verified is press coverage and registry checks. Forbes published a profile by staff reporter Brianne Garrett about her first book on July 15, 2019, AfroTech profiled her on January 9, 2020 (by Emily Adeyanju), and FOX 10 Phoenix interviewed her on FOX 10 Talks on April 29, 2026. These pieces tell her story and do not evaluate her paid services. Her founder page lists appearances in Good Morning America, CNBC, The New York Times and others, which were not checked one by one. A FINRA BrokerCheck search for "Bola Sokunbi" returned no registered individual on September 16, 2026, which is consistent with her presenting herself as an educator rather than an adviser. No independent reviews of her paid sessions were found.
Objective facts about their offer, taken from public sources. We don't rate the quality of the programs or the results you may get.
5 without a public price
7 official channels
Medium audience
Facts checked on Sep 17, 2026.
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| Program | Type | Published price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Strategy Session With Bola Sokunbi Private 60-minute session on one to three business priorities such as positioning, offers, pricing or course creation. | Mentorship | $495 Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Book & Writing Strategy Session With Bola Sokunbi Private 60-minute session for writers on book concept, outline, publishing options or book marketing. | Mentorship | $495 Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Investing 101 Strategy Session With Bola Sokunbi Private 60-minute session on investing basics such as account types, diversification and risk tolerance; presented as education, not investment advice. | Mentorship | $395 Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Personal Finance Coaching (Team CGF) 60-minute session with a Clever Girl Finance team coach on budgeting, saving or debt repayment. | Mentorship | $120 Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Clever Girl Finance, Expanded & Updated: Ditch Debt, Save Money and Build Real Wealth Second edition (Wiley, November 2024) of her first book on budgeting, credit, debt, saving and investing. | Book | $25 Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Clever Girl Finance: Learn How Investing Works, Grow Your Money Beginner guide to investing from the Clever Girl Finance series (Wiley). | Book | Not published Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Clever Girl Finance: The Side Hustle Guide Guide to starting and growing a side business (Wiley, June 2021). | Book | Not published Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Choosing to Prosper Book on resilience, imposter syndrome and financial goals for women of color (Wiley, 2022). | Book | $27 Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Clever Girl Millionaire Wealth-building guide on mindset, debt recovery and long-term investing (Wiley, 2026). | Book | Not published Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| My Wealth Plan Workbook Companion workbook listed on her books page. | Book | Not published Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
| Money Accountability live sessions (YouTube membership) Live sessions for paid members of the Clever Girl Finance YouTube channel. | Community | Not published Checked Sep 17, 2026 | View |
Prices are those published by the mentor on the date checked and may change. “Not published” means we couldn't find a public price.
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Bola Sokunbi, a financial educator who grew up in Nigeria, who studied computer science at Webster University, holds the CFEI credential and has written several personal finance books for Wiley. Her company is Clever Girl Finance Inc.
The courses are. Its course page offers more than 30 self-paced lessons with no credit card and no paid tiers. What costs money are Bola Sokunbi's books, the private sessions on her booking page and the YouTube channel membership.
On the Acuity booking page, read on September 16, 2026, a 60-minute personal finance session with a team coach costs $120. Sessions with Bola Sokunbi herself cost $395 for Investing 101 and $495 for business strategy or book and writing strategy.
All published by Wiley: Clever Girl Finance: Ditch Debt, Save Money and Build Real Wealth (2019; second edition 2024), Clever Girl Finance: Learn How Investing Works, Grow Your Money, The Side Hustle Guide (2021), Choosing to Prosper (2022) and Clever Girl Millionaire (2026). Her site also sells My Wealth Plan Workbook.
It is a registered company run by an identifiable founder whose books come from a major publisher, and the press has covered her (a Forbes staff profile in 2019, AfroTech in 2020, FOX 10 Phoenix in 2026). She is not a registered financial adviser: BrokerCheck showed no match on September 16, 2026, and her sessions say they are not investment advice. Her savings story comes from her own account.
We found no independent reviews of the paid coaching sessions. Her books appear with publisher and retailer listings, and the press coverage we found profiles her rather than evaluating the service. Her $100,000 savings story is her own account, repeated by Wiley and Forbes without independent documentation.
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