Achieving Pay Equity Through Community and Conversations

Welcome to the latest edition of Power in Connection, a newsletter featuring stories from professionals who have experienced the transformative power that connections can have on careers. Learn how to build new relationships to catalyze your career by hearing from entrepreneurs, CEOs, newly minted professionals — and everyone in between.

It’s never a nice feeling to learn your colleagues are making more money than you — especially when they have less experience. For Christen Nino De Guzman , this happened at one of her very first corporate jobs. She had been at the company for several years, had been promoted multiple times, and thought she was doing well for herself. Then she learned that her coworker, who was fresh out of college, was being paid $25,000 more than she was.

“That was an eye-opening experience,” Christen says. “I realized, wow, I really need to advocate for myself. I can’t just go into a job assuming that my company is going to pay me fairly in comparison to my counterparts.”

This early experience of pay inequity stuck with Christen as she moved into the burgeoning creator economy, working at Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok to help creators accelerate their growth and manage brand deals. It wasn’t long before she noticed that many of these creators were experiencing the same issues that she had on the corporate side when it came to knowing their worth and getting paid fairly.

“It was a new industry, so there wasn’t any kind of baseline,” Christen says. “When you’re 16 years old and going out to get your first job, there’s minimum wage and protections for pay. Creators don’t really have anything like that. And what I found was, a lot of creators I was working with were being drastically underpaid.”

Even knowing the signs, Christen was not immune to this issue when she began to create content herself. Finally, she decided it was time for someone to do something about it.?

Do your research

When she was interviewing for corporate jobs, Christen would rely on salary transparency platforms to understand what other companies in her industry were paying for her position, giving her a better idea of what she should ask for. There was no equivalent on the creator side, so Christen launched Clara For Creators to fill the gap.?

Clara is designed to help people understand what other creators are being paid by brands, so they can negotiate fairer deals. Christen says this kind of information is especially critical for newer creators, many of whom still have a 9-to-5 job and are suddenly plunged into the world of brand deals after having a viral hit, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.

“You have people Googling things,” she explains. “But formulas and calculations are not helpful because all brands pay different amounts. With Clara, I can see that a specific brand has paid creators of an equivalent size $3,000 for a video. So instead of blindly responding that my rate is $200, now I have a better understanding of the market rate and what I should be charging.”

When preparing to interview for corporate jobs, Christen recommends turning to both traditional job sites and career-focused content creators to research salaries at different companies and in various cities. For instance, she has compiled information about the salaries and benefits of over 64,000 roles , based on an anonymous survey of her followers.?

She also suggests getting the company you’re interviewing with to reveal their hand — because they may be willing to pay more than you realize.?

“If they ask about your salary expectations, flip that on them,” Christen says. “Ask, ‘What is the salary range for this position?’ Because you may think that $75K is a lot for the role, when in reality, they have $90 - $100K allocated. But if you say $75K, they won’t correct you, and that’s how the cycle of pay disparity continues.”?

Know your rights

Even if you do your research and advocate for yourself during the interview process, there’s no guarantee that your salary will be fair in relation to your coworkers. That’s why it’s so important to have transparent conversations about pay with your peers, which Christen acknowledges can be daunting.?

“Pay can be a sensitive topic to a lot of people, and some may think that you’re being nosy if you ask about it,” she says. “If you’re close with your coworkers, it might naturally come up. If it doesn’t, try to bring it up casually. Don’t say ‘How much money are you making?’ Talk about it as a way to help each other out, because they could be the ones that benefit from it.”

Before engaging in these conversations, Christen highly recommends familiarizing yourself with your company policies and handbook. While some countries, including the U.S. , have made it unlawful for companies to ban or penalize employees for talking about their salary, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can discuss it openly in the workplace.?

“There are caveats,” Christen explains. “For example, you might not be allowed to talk about it over Slack or Teams. Understand what the caveats are so that you don’t get yourself in trouble.”

Break out of silos

Transparency among peers can empower you to better advocate for yourself during future salary conversations, whether you’re negotiating a raise or interviewing for a new position. But it’s important to try and talk to a wide range of people — because if you only discuss pay with people who are like you, you may later learn that you were all being underpaid.

This was one of the catalysts for Christen launching Clara. When she was at TikTok, she saw that many Black creators would talk to other Black creators about pay, but the rates they were getting didn’t necessarily reflect the industry as a whole. The same was true for Hispanic creators and those from other historically underpaid groups.?

“They were kind of siloed in their communities,” Christen says. “The pay disparity would be crazy because they were only talking to each other, not realizing that someone else doing the same type of content was getting paid 10 times more.”

Whatever industry you’re in, recognizing that silos exist and shining a light on pay inequity can help break down walls.

“Connect with other people, even if it’s outside of your workplace,” Christen says. “It could even be at industry events. Having those conversations can be really, really important.”

Have you ever discussed salary with your peers? If so, how did you approach the conversation? Share your thoughts and tips in the comments.?

Fill your LinkedIn feed with great insights and ideas to help you grow your career. Christen recommends following these three thought leaders:?

• Joy Ofodu , Voice Actor and Creative Executive Officer at Enjoyment Endeavor
• Chase C. , Sales Account Manager at 亚马逊
• Lia Haberman , Adjunct Instructor, Social Media and Influencer Marketing at UCLA Extension

Looking for more tips to help you network and grow your career? Check out these articles and resources next:?

• How To Negotiate Your Salary When the Range Is Posted—And Why You Definitely Still Should : Some job posts today include a salary range. Learn how to navigate this situation and get the best possible offer.
• 5 lies you’re telling yourself about salary negotiations : Don’t let your inner saboteur hold you back. Check out these five common misconceptions people have about salary negotiations, according to Alex Immel .
• How to ask for a raise or promotion : If you think you’re being underpaid, how can you advocate for a raise or promotion? Andrew Seaman outlines a four-step process for approaching the conversation.?

Got feedback? Want to request a particular topic or suggest a thought leader we should speak to? Share your thoughts by commenting below.