For women entrepreneurs in the beauty industry, understanding the numbers behind a business can be just as important as building the brand itself. StarterStudio alumna Janell Borrero is working to make that financial guidance more accessible through her latest venture, MoneyPOP.
MoneyPOP is a behavioral finance app designed specifically for women entrepreneurs in the beauty industry. By combining financial data with the psychology of money, the platform helps users recognize the patterns behind their financial decisions, understand how those choices impact their businesses, and determine what steps to take next.
The app includes budgeting tools, mood tracking, a money archetype quiz, and Ella, an AI-powered financial guide. Its POP framework, Pattern, Opportunity, Plan, connects awareness to action: recognize a financial pattern, identify an opportunity to improve, and create a plan to move forward.
🚀 From SHEfo to MoneyPOP
Janell’s path to building MoneyPOP began with her own entrepreneurial journey.
Eleven years ago, while working full time and serving as her family’s sole breadwinner, Janell started a side business from her dining room table. That business grew into SHEfo®, the female CFO, providing fractional CFO and tax services for women entrepreneurs in beauty.
Through working directly with women in the beauty industry, Janell saw a recurring challenge: many entrepreneurs needed help understanding their numbers and making financial decisions, but traditional one-on-one CFO support was often out of reach.
That experience inspired her to create MoneyPOP.
“The cost of guidance shouldn’t be what keeps a woman from building a financially healthy business.”
MoneyPOP is an extension of the work Janell has already been doing with entrepreneurs – taking the financial guidance she provided one-on-one and creating a way to make those tools and insights available to more women.
💪 A Founder Journey Built on Resilience
Janell’s entrepreneurial story is deeply personal.
Growing up in Chicago, she faced significant adversity from a young age. At 13, she survived an attempted murder, an experience that shaped her determination to create a different future. At 16, she was displaced from her home and began navigating life largely on her own.
She went on to work full time while attending school full time, earning a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees. Today, she is pursuing a PhD in Business Psychology.
Her journey eventually led her to entrepreneurship – first as a way to supplement her income and support her family, and ultimately as a path toward financial freedom and greater flexibility.
That perspective continues to influence her work today.
For Janell, MoneyPOP isn’t simply a financial technology product. It reflects her belief that entrepreneurs deserve access to the knowledge and guidance they need to make informed financial decisions as they build their businesses.
📱MoneyPOP Hits the Market
MoneyPOP officially launched in December 2025 and is now available on the App Store.
With the product in the hands of users, Janell is focused on the next stage of the journey: learning from customers, continuing to improve the experience, and reaching more beauty entrepreneurs through content, partnerships, and industry relationships.
Her recent milestones are another chapter in a founder journey that has consistently centered on creating greater access to financial knowledge and opportunity.
🌱 Building What’s Next
As a StarterStudio alumna, Janell continues to be part of a growing community of founders who are turning ideas into businesses and tackling challenges across a wide range of industries.
From building SHEfo at her dining room tablet to launching MoneyPOP, Janell has continued to evolve her vision for how financial guidance can serve entrepreneurs.
Now, with MoneyPOP live and growing, she’s focused on helping more women understand not just what their numbers are telling them, but why they make the financial decisions they do – and what they can do next.
We’re proud to celebrate Janell and the continued growth of MoneyPOP as she builds the next chapter of her founder journey.
🔗 Learn more
Explore MoneyPOP and learn more about Janell’s mission to make financial guidance more accessible to women entrepreneurs: