SXSW Panel Recap: Know Your Worth

I sat in on the “How to Ask for Money: Know Your Worth, Get Paid” panel, moderated by Leah Chernikoff with Elle.com with participants including Indiegogo chief development office and co-founder Danae Ringelmann, Julep Beauty Inc. founder and CEO Jane Park, and Black Girls Code founder and executive director Kimberly Bryant. The panel was geared toward women, focusing on how women can be their best career advocate and why there is a gender bias. Highlights from the panel included these key insights:

• Men initiate negotiations about four times more often than women and receive more venture capitalist funding, but women raise more money on crowd funding platforms (Shared by Leah Chernikoff)
• Women have an inner critic that says you can’t do (fill in the blank). That could be anything from “I can’t pull of this red lipstick” to “I can’t do this job.” It’s unclear why women are more programmed than men to think this way, but we need to be our own advocates and not our harshest critics. (Attributed to Jane Park)
• At IndieGogo, they focus hiring on values, mission and diversity. Their values include fearlessness and authenticity (standing up for what you believe in even if it’s difficult). By focusing on these, they feel the best talent will follow.
• Job descriptions with words like “rock star” and “ninja” can be a turn off to women, as it immediately sounds like a “bros club” (attributed to Danae)
• Salary negotiations should be thought of a setting up a deal for long-term success—you’re not against your employer; you’re working together to strike the best deal for many years. It may sound silly, but think about the way a child negotiates bedtime and follow their lead—they test the waters in how long they ask for (if I can’t stand up until midnight, at least let me stay up until 9 p.m.), they bring up things they know you like (you love when I read, let me read you a story) and lastly, they play on your emotions (but you were out of town all week and I want to snuggle!). Save the emotion as a last resort. (attributed to Jane)