At the age of 27, at my annual review, I asked for a 30% raise. I was making $90k with no commission and managing close to $5M in accounts.
Image by nattanan23 from Pixabay.
They gave me an $18k raise instead. They couldn’t push for that additional $9k to get me where I felt I belonged. Meanwhile, my “peers” who were male were making what I was asking and not even close to managing what I managed.
I quit a couple months later. I couldn’t look past the unfairness of making less than my male counterparts but producing more.
I started my own company shortly after. I became their competitor. And in my first year, I did over $3M in revenue.
It’s crazy to think about what could have happened if they paid me what I asked for that first time. I’m grateful they didn’t. But I don’t think they would say the same.
As an employer, don’t get shortsighted or caught up in a couple thousand of dollars. You may just be creating a new competitor.
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