Salary Story: I Now Make £90k Because I Let Go Of Company Loyalty
In our series Salary Stories, women with long-term career experience open up about the most intimate details of their jobs: compensation. It’s an honest look at how real people navigate the complicated world of negotiating, raises, promotions and job loss, with the hope it will give young women more insight into how to advocate for themselves — and maybe take a few risks along the way.
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Age: 37 Location: London Current industry and job title: Fashion — marketing director Current salary: £90,000 Number of years employed since school or university: 15
Starting salary: £22,500 Biggest salary jump: £53,000 to £90,000 in 2022 Biggest salary drop: £45,000 to £37,000
Biggest negotiation regret: Staying loyal for fun and friends, and thinking work is your identity. You work to live not live to work, and balancing that is a priority: you need a life outside of work which is funded by work. Otherwise companies hold you close emotionally and physically to prevent you from leaving and often when you’re young you get wrapped up in the “fun work lifestyle”.
Jumping between companies and jobs is the best thing to do to gain new skills; staying for years makes you too comfortable. I don’t regret what I have done and have been lucky with how I have been able to progress fast in my 30s, but I have seen so many friends struggle in their mid 30s due to being too loyal and comfortable.
I saw this saying and it stuck with me — “You are either earning or learning”: if you get both, that’s the best scenario, but if you haven’t got either then GTFO.
Best salary advice: Make sure you have progression and development where you work. After two years if there is none, then move on. Constantly test the waters and keep your CV updated — you never know who’s going to tap you on the shoulder or want to have a chat. Doors open in every direction without you realising it. It’s all about keeping those bridges open (but not in a kiss ass kind of way). Being a friendly person goes a long way and people don’t forget this.
It was rare for a grad to get this job and I thought it was an amazing role. It still is, and the pay was great for a graduate, but the industry is just as toxic and catty as people think.This was a side step into fashion as it was horrendous being in the beauty and cosmetics industry. My contract for my first job was still up in the air after 18 months, and I saw this job so I applied for it. Without knowing if I’d got the new role, I went on holiday from the other job, not intending to go back. I got the call at the airport saying I got this role. Even though it was for the same money (£22,500) it was for an amazing company that was very hard to get into.As much as I did not want to leave my previous role, this was the push I needed after getting too comfortable. This new role was within the industry via people we all knew, hence what I said about never knowing what doors will open. It was a great position and, to me, a big jump in pay. I stayed in this role for a year.Again, this role was suggested to me by acquaintances I had in the industry. This was a huge step up and I really struggled with this role as there was so much to learn. I was also having an early mid-life crisis: I couldn’t stop thinking that life just seemed to be working and getting a mortgage. After six months, I went overseas to see out this meltdown. Looking back, this role was great and I did learn a lot, but mentally I wasn’t ready for it.After my meltdown, it was time to get a job again. I took a pay cut for this role (down to £37,000) but the responsibilities were greater as it was an EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) role. I really liked the job and the people and stuck round for seven years with a few raises in between: by the end I was making £53,000. But ultimately it was severely underpaid and also became too mundane.This role at a start-up came about through networks I’ve built over my career. But I still struggle massively with imposter syndrome. I’m used to being such a do-er, so managing a bigger team while bringing together different departments was really hard. Learning to let go and give ownership to a lot of people without micromanaging is a task itself. When you see the system work it’s so satisfying, but the anxiety never ends.
It turns out it’s true that it gets lonely at the top, especially when you’re used to being so social with everyone in the business and now want to keep professional boundaries in place. This is the opposite to how I lived my professional life in the past, when I was loving the lifestyle and getting too comfortable in roles.
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