“Will I be OK financially?” This is the biggest question my clients ask. I solve this UNCERTAINTY problem with financial education, tools and analysis that lead to FINANCIAL CLARITY. Together we craft an action plan with the vision, resources and accountability you need for lasting transformation.

Hello, I’m Shelly Rees Randall (she/her). I’m a trained financial coach who works one-on-one with individuals and couples, offers beach walking sessions, hosts money meet-ups with my famous sourdough waffles, and teaches occasional group programs.

I’m one of those people who’s always been good with (read: frugal and in touch with) my own money. The importance of living below your means and socking away savings was modeled by my family. So was an adventurous lifestyle funded by financial independence. I am grateful to have learned these lessons early, and I acknowledge the systemic WASP privilege that enabled these choices (a much bigger conversation, but it needs to be said).

I grew up in the coastal Pacific Northwest, but decided to attend a women’s college on the east coast. At Smith College, my neat-and-tidy systems overlaid with my lifelong passion for boating and maritime culture earned me the nickname “Shipshape Shelly.” I’ve had to be minimalist and organized out of necessity, living aboard boats for months on end and for an entire year in a VW camper van on a North American road trip sabbatical with my then-husband the year I turned 30. (Check out the travel blog.)

Then I became a mother to “The Energizer Bunny Boy.” The challenge of parenting an active son has taken my organizational systems to a whole new level. If you are a parent, you’ll know what I mean!

I started helping other people with their money in my late 30s, when my reputation for detail, organization, and integrity brought me to the attention of an investment advisor seeking an assistant. When my son started Kindergarten, I started working in her firm. I passed the Series 7 and 66 exams to become a financial advisor myself before realizing that profession wasn’t my calling. My FINRA licenses have now lapsed, so I don’t (and can’t, per regulations) give investment advice.

Then I turned to income tax preparation, volunteering as an AARP Tax Aide for three tax seasons and landing a position at an all-women CPA firm (where I still work part time as a small business advisor; it’s so fun, I can’t give it up!). This was getting me closer to my lifelong intrigue with personal finance and the concepts of how to use your money wisely to buy yourself time, freedom, and a life you love.

After hearing time and time again, “You’re the most organized, got-it-together person I know,” I decided to combine my super powers and launched my financial coaching business in early 2019. I laid the groundwork by attending the Financial Coach Academy in Fall 2018, and in Fall 2021 I trained to become a CDC Certified Divorce Coach® and CDC Certified Transition & Recovery Coach® to support clients in this challenging transition, after experiencing it myself. I formed Daybreak Solutions LLC in 2022 to hold both my financial coaching and divorce coaching solutions.

I am passionate about helping productive, purposeful people feel the same way about their money, knowing you will love your life more with less money stress. If that sounds like you and your goal, please reach out for an initial conversation about your money or divorce and your money. I’d love to meet you!

“Caring, competent and courageous!”
— B.D., describing Shelly as a coach
“Clear, kind, non-judgmental, and so helpful.”
— J.G., describing Shelly as a coach

Some of my favorite financial / organizing / life-changing books: