Value Yourself. Nobody Else Will.

Before the job I have today, the one that led me to create EchoedLives, I had to take internships that paid badly, or barely at all, to validate my degrees. Then I had to get hired for my first real job. That's where confidence counts, especially for a Black woman, even when she has more degrees and is just as smart as the others. At my first job, I was paid $19K a year, since it was my first experience. At my second, $19.5K. I remember that after six months, instead of asking for a raise, I asked for a planner. I was afraid I'd get fired if I asked for more money. My manager looked at me, horrified. It took me months to understand my mistake. I quit and applied for a position at $25K. I was so happy to work for one of the biggest companies that I didn't even negotiate my salary. I stayed less than a year. Then, in 2018, with two years of experience, I found a job paying 32K. Badly negotiated again: the position was worth at least 40K. But I had that confidence problem. I was a young mom, my English was far from perfect, but I kept finding work because I was good at execution. I could set up a campaign at lightning speed. Still, I always stayed in the background in client meetings, afraid of being mocked or MISUNDERSTOOD because of my accent. I had used British TV shows to improve my English, so my accent sounded too posh. Actually, in my native language too, I was sometimes told I talked like a white girl. That has to be the stupidest insult some people in my own Black community could throw at me. All of this gave me impostor syndrome. I didn't know how to rate myself, so I underrated myself. I was never sure of myself, because other people's words had gotten to me.