How Identity Has Influenced a Senior Project Manager's Career at a Health Supplements eCommerce Company

Females, women, face many struggles. This ties back to knowing your worth. In a previous job, the fight for equal pay and promotion opportunities between men and women was evident.

Initially, I didn't pay much attention to it as I progressed in my career. However, as I began to understand and truly know my worth, I started focusing on these disparities. In one of my previous roles, I discovered a male colleague was not only being paid more but was also promoted to a job for which he had no experience.

They were willing to give him what he asked for, which is great for him as he knew his worth. However, this meant he would be earning more than me. This was despite me having over a decade of project management experience in an apples-to-apples comparison.

I was repeatedly told they couldn't offer me the same amount for various reasons. When I learned about my colleague's promotion, despite his lack of experience, I approached the CEO. I explained that he couldn't promote and support this male colleague with these reasons while I, with more experience, was being denied.

The CEO responded that he hadn't considered it from that perspective. He was focusing on the individual in front of him rather than the bigger picture and how this decision impacted everyone else financially.

I was very proud of myself in that moment. While I didn't want to play the "woman card," I felt it was important to address the pay inequity. We discussed it, and I was ultimately successful.

Thankfully, I don't think he had much choice, but I ended up earning more than my male counterpart. That experience truly made me start paying attention to the pay inequities that exist between genders.