I Went From Making $27,000 To $90,000 In Two Years

illustrated by Abbey Lossing.

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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Previously, we talked to a head of support in technology who wishes she'd negotiated earlier, a senior communications associate who negotiated a $12,000 raise, and an associate marketing director who went from making $35,000 to $105,000 in seven years.

Age: 33
Current Location: Chicago, IL
Current Industry & Title: Healthcare, Marketing Director
Starting Salary: $30,000 in 2008
Current Salary: $90,000 + up to 17% bonus
Number Of Years Employed: 10
Biggest Salary Jump: $50,000 in 2017
Biggest Salary Drop: $33,000 in 2016

Biggest Salary Negotiation Regret: "Not asking for more straight out of college. I didn't have a very good grasp on what it takes to survive or what I was worth. In my first role, I had a lot of responsibility and should have negotiated for a higher wage. Hindsight is 20/20, and realizing how much I did and how much accountability I had was certainly worth more than what I was making.”

Best Salary-Related Advice: "Do your homework on comparable positions and salaries, and don't think you don't deserve it. Not knowing what other people in similar positions are making is a detriment since it’s important to make a case for the value you’re providing — such as having comparisons on-hand and knowing what you might be worth elsewhere. Now, as someone who’s hired a bunch of people myself, when someone comes in and accepts the first offer, I wonder if they will be good at managing or negotiating for the business if they can’t on their own behalf."