Kiani Mills was a broke single mum of 2. A $1600 loan from her nanna changed everything.
Published on Mamamia
July 27, 2022
"You have everything you need inside of you. Just believe in yourself and hold on for the ride because it's going to be a bumpy one."
It's the advice that Kiani Mills, 35-year-old single mum of two, would give her 16-year-old self if she had her time again.
And the ride was bumpy indeed.
Kiani Mills grew up in the "rough" Melbourne suburb of Frankston with her sister, raised by a single mum who “worked her bum off” as an administrator.
“Money was always scarce," Kiani tells Mamamia.
And home life was turbulent and “full of big emotions”. While Kiani's mum and sister would often go head to head, she was the one to clam up and say nothing.
It was this tumult combined with Kiani's “ignorance and stubbornness” that fuelled her decision to leave home - at 16 years old.