It's time for the b a q a A to b a q a, which is such as the big a q a man, the b a q a tiff A to b a q a a. Welcome to Brianna bishion question to answer where you have questions and we have some answers with a cabby eyes. We're not your doctor. No, we're not your lawyer, no no, no, we're not your financial We're just two smart brown girls with a little bit of advice that you're going to add a little spice.
And gospel with that. But you took it off differently, so I was waiting in the water.
All right, b a q a, all right, you want to go first? A second? How you want to do with me?
Oh, we have lots of juicy questions and we tell them how to how to contact us Brandon Vision Podcast on i G slide into our d M with your money, your career, business, your life, questions, relationships, whatever.
As long as you don't sue us, we're down with it. Okay, great, make it us out.
If you want us to give you anonymous name, make it fun.
Like well, then we got to go a number one.
That number this first one because their email or their so their name is Coco Loco. Coco Loco says, thank you, ladies for your amazing work. I have a career question. I have a chemistry degree and when I graduated, I went into teaching. I loved the kids, but hated the system. After four years of teaching, I went back to work as a scientist. I love science. I had a mental breakdown before I decided to change my career, so I made a lot of changes. Since now I'm on top
of my mental, physical, and emotional health. I work in an international pharmaceutical company. I see myself growing from the lab into business development and eventually the corporate suite. Some of the corporate.
Suite C suite that stands for chief executive. That's fine.
Some of the things I hear about corporate America are not good. Am I naive and pursuing a career to be part.
Of the C suite? Be blessed. Go go local, Go Go Loco.
I feel like I'm not gonna be able to get over that name. I just like, well, Coco Local. Here's the thing, everybody don't hate the C suite. Some people are ill for it. You won't know until you try. Mandy gave it. This a really good piece of advice that I actually gave to one of my mentors the other day. I remember Maddy, I wanted to I got an opportunity and I wasn't sure if I was ready
for it. I was really nervous. I said, I think I said something to the effect of like, I think I'm going to turn it down, And you said, don't turn down something that has not been fully offered to you yet. Oh yeah, like to see the girl. They just said, hey, there's some interest You're like, girl, go to the interviews. How much is it? Get all the information? Turn down the actual offer, not the potential presentation of offer.
I was like the idea that that was a.
Really good piece of advice, right, And so I since then given that by some other people looking real smart, I was like, ask by my mental man, see I.
Have not perfected that pop, but that was that was good. That was my teeth into that pop.
So goc Local first of all, love that name. I would just say that there are just like you discovered about the school system. Some people thrive working in the public school, private school sector or whatever, and some people don't. You decided you didn't like it. So what did you do? You pivoted, You figured it out, and you found another way to do the thing you love. Okay, so you're working at this company and you know, and you're like, Okay, I might want to pursue into into the C suite.
You might get a few years in and realize it's not really for me. But you are smart. You will be able to pivot and then find a space that is for you. And so I don't want you to not do a thing because you heard somebody said maybe kind of sorter. It's like, well, don't say no to an offer that hasn't been offered to you, you know, if you're interested in it. It's like, we are here to live life, to see a thing through, and then if you decide you want something else, you pivot to
something else. You know.
So oh, I love that. I love that I said that to you. I agree with myself. I see this all all the time, and sometimes I'm an impatient person. I kind of want to get to the point when I do my coaching calls. I want to get to the nut because I can almost I can smell the nut before people know what the nut is.
You know what I mean?
And I'm just.
Like, oh, I get to the nut.
I mean, but I'm saying I'm a little too Sometimes I'm just like impatient with the process.
Whatever process it is.
Okay, it can translate to different areas of life, but in this context, if any stay with me in the back of the class, back there, the context is in your career. So when I'm talking to someone, I kind of can anticipate what is sort of holding them back, And so often I have to like someone I'm speaking to is worrying about a problem that they actually don't have yet, or talking themselves out of an opportunity that
they're just thinking of. And I'm like, this is again, let's let's get the next job, and like the C suite is. Maybe it's next year for you, maybe it's, but for a lot of people, if you're working your way up.
It's a while away.
And honestly, I think a lot of people who shit on the C suite have never been in it. And I know for sure, if you're speaking to a woman of color, it's very unlikely that we have, sadly, because I think seven percent of us even make it to that level. Okay, And I also think, you know, and it's coming from a place of love and you know, care for one another that we sometimes are like, well, be cautious because it gets a lot harder for us when you talk about those upper ranks you know in
corporate America. That's true, it's fact. But at a certain point you have to decide does this fit with what kind of impact I want to make? And you may find that the impact that you're making, you know, at the level that you are now or the next level or the one after that, isn't enough. And you want to have more control over the impact that your company has, or who they're serving or what products are doing. And the reality is that the higher up you go, you
have more influence. You do have more power over the direction that the company can take. And I think there's a lot that we there's a lot of reasons to want that type of power and influence, and I wish more of us were reaching for that because the story that's been so long, the story about it's challenging for us. We walk into a room and they don't look like us, and we have to code switch and they make you know, they don't take us seriously and all that maybe that
is true in a lot of cases. It certainly has in the past, but we can be part of a different story, and someone else's story does not have to become our own. Ultimately, if we let someone else's fear become our fear, we're not really serving ourselves. I think you'd benefit a lot of people in their careers would benefit from learning how to hear someone else's fear.
Hear someone else's objections.
Or their judgment on an idea, on an industry, on a job itself. Learn how to like hear that, but then listen to your inner voice and let that be the loudest voice of all. And I can't say enough how important it is going to be for you to get really to be able to go to this space internally where you look at where you want to go and make your peace with that yourself without thinking of
the perceptions or what you've heard about it. You can have that knowledge, collect that data, but if you're going to, you know, block your blessings because of it, then it's not worth it. You know it's not worth it, and it's not going to do a service to you. And you've already proven that You've made a huge pivot from
teaching into working in pharmaceutical industry. Like, that's huge, and it sounds like you're doing really great and you're an ambitious person who wants to keep choosing, you know, even bigger goals than you may have had for yourself originally. Just keep doing that, you know, keep going in that direction and just trusting your guys and breaking whatever rules you think are out there that could be stopping you.
Don't be local cucko.
Yeah, well she said she got her mental health under control, so you know, no, Mo's local.
We're gonna take our quick break and come back with our second question of if you will over here.
Okay, we're excited to be able to say the word stoked. Come back for that, or maybe you will because you get to read this one.
And we're back and blacker than ever. Okay, this email comes from We're gonna call you, Mmm, what could we call her?
I don't think she asked for an alien Like.
Sometime people don't realize. I'm like girl, this is a very name. Nyne. Hey, Okay, Nane all right, Nane says hated Nan and Andy. I love your show and love everything you do for bipop women everywhere. I'm currently three fourths of the way through the interview process for a position at a company, and I'm stoked to work that she's stoked to work with a bonus. The new position allows her piece out of her toxic work environment and
unsympathetic boss. Heya. At this point, I'm certain they will offer me the job, since every person at the six interviews I've already completed has mentioned that I am the only person who applied with this role with one critical skill experience that they want. Everyone. Everything looks good like smooth sailing, except for one thing. Okay, here's the other. She grew up job. The recruiter for this role has
been so kind and communicative through this process. However, she keeps pressing me for a number I want for the salary. During the initial phone interview with her, I did the prescribed method of mentioning I didn't have enough information about the role to give a number, and ask for the company's budget, which she happily shared. But since then, every time we talk on the phone, she presses for a
hard dollar amount for me. The top end of the budget for this role does pay about twelve thousand dollars less than my current role, and I'm a bit overqualified for the title. I have already told her that this that the timing of a potential offer for this position may require me to walk away from a nice annual bonus of about ten thousand at my current role, which I would like to recruit as a signing bonus if possible. Should I tell her a number the next time we
talk or keep circling help? Thank you so much again?
They nay, watch me, whip, whip, watch me nay Nay.
I love this question so much because there's nuance to this piece of advice that we hear all the time. There's so much nuance to do you give a number in an interview? And you're absolutely right. A lot of the advice does including I've said it many times. You know you don't want to give a number up fronts less. I would say this situation that you're in is one of those great examples a nuanced situation where I think it makes sense to give a number. Why, Because I
know why the recruiter's asking you. Girl. You said it yourself. You're overqualified, and they know you're overqualified, and they're worried that you're going to be out of their price range, and if they're not worried they're going to be out of their price range, they at least want to prepare. I think for what it would take to snatch you up. You said that you know you're what you're looking for.
It's like twelve k under the top end of the budget pays twelve k less than where you're currently working, and you're a bit overqualified for the title. This is one of those situations where I know it may not sound ideal, but I do think that you should be transparent saying exactly this. The current role, the top end
of it is less than I'm currently making. How much wiggle room will there be in the budget for the salary, because I it would be looking for, you know, an increase of you know, a certain dollar amount or a certain percentage, or just leave it there. Just to be frank, I know you've been asking for my salary expectations. I
am really excited about this opportunity for multiple reasons. However, the salary that's posted right now, if that's if that's firm, that is going to be a sticking point for me because it is significantly less than what I am currently making. And on top of that, I stand to lose ten thousand dollars in the form of an annual bonus if I walk away from the job. At this point, what you know, can we talk about that, do you have any insight into have flexible the budgets for this role?
And then you kind of have to let them do their thing. Now, what I love about your situation is your three quarters of the way through, they really like you, they love you in fact, and if they find out that you are more expensive than they thought, it sounds like you're in a situation where they may push for you, may fight for you, may advocate for you to get more. I've definitely done that. There's there's definitely wiggle room in a lot of cases, but it's do they feel like
wiggling for you? Are you worth a little wiggle?
You know?
Are you worth a little wiggle?
And I, you know, at a certain point you do get to let them know, like how much do I need to go ask for? How much more are we talking? Are we talking ten percent more? We're talking twelve percent more, fifteen percent? Anything more than ten percent, they're probably going to need to get approvals from, you know, even a more senior team. So you have to take that into account.
So you could say, you know, I would be looking to come in at ten percent ten percent more than what the high end of the budget currently says, and that can give them a sense of where they need to be at, you know ballpark. The other side of this is I want to acknowledge that you say you're in a toxic work environment and you have an unsympathetic boss, and I hate that for you. That makes you a
little less powerful as a negotiator. Just the reality is that you have you have more than just money on your mind, which is natural and normal, and I think everyone should be negotiating and thinking about a new job in terms of a lot more than just dollars and cents. Do you like the team or are they going to give you more autonomy? Are you going to do your potential manager?
Do they seem great?
Because it may you know, if they come back and they say the highest we can get it is like exactly what you're making right now, and it's a you know, lateral pay move. Is it worth it for you to jump for that? Maybe for your mental health it will be. And that's not necessarily what we hope for when we quit our way rich, but there's mental health too to take into account, and for me, being rich is a lot more than just dollars in the bank, so you'll
have to, you know, consider that as well. But I yeah, I do think at this stage in the interview go to them and just be like, she's been super open and transparent with you. I think that's a great indication of how the company culture will be. But I would in return, be transparent and upfront with her. You already know what the top of the budget is for the role, so like, let's get to this at this point. They don't want to lose you, but they need to know,
and so do you. How much more are we going to invest in each other if there's not going to be the budget that you know, you need to make it worth your while.
And I don't have too much more to add because it's not my forte. But as an employer myself, man,
it's absolutely right. You know, there have been people who I really wanted and I will look at the budget and talk to my CFO and talk to the money manager and say and try to kind of figure out what my return on investment with this person If they come in like I'm literally going through this now where there's somebody that want to bring on, but they can potentially bring me back four or five times more than what I'd be paying, if not honestly way more than that.
And so I'm talking to the team, do we think
it's worth Is the juice worth the squeeze? Because I wasn't anticipating paying them out of pocket, but they seem worth the risk, they seem worth the investment of that money because I know that the return if they do what they're supposed to do, and I've heard really good things about their service that it's worth it, you know, And so yeah, like I mean, I don't know like what other interviews you kind of have left, but just you know, continue to I mean, you're already rocking out,
like yo, I am worth it, Like you know, you're not going to find another like me, and certainly it might cost you a little more, but don't cost you more than not have me. Yeah, because that's really what it's standing. Like the woman that I wanted to hire for this role, if we don't get her, there's a loss to us. And as far as like cause we're already losing money in one capacity of the business. And
I want to remedy thee that you know. So it's not like we don't get her we stay even No, if we don't get her, we actually continue to lose. So not only is she plugging this hole, she's actually replenishing. And so that way, that's why to me it's worth this extra cost. And so and this is you know, like you know, we had a bad year last year, although this year is way way way better. Still, you know,
I wasn't looking to hire anybody. So anyway, I say all that to say that people will make a way if you seem like you know, the return on investment is going to be worth it. So yeah, but good luck to you.
What was it nae?
Yeah, we want to see you went in nanay And if you want us to answer your questions on the B of the QA you have questions about business, personal finance, your career, even just have a life, honey, because you know, we know some things are to come in and slide into our I g d ms. If you want to be super old school, you can email us at Brannabishon podcast at gmail dot com. But the I g d ms are a little bit easy where Branna Bishon podcasts on the I of the G and make sure that
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Damn it is before we jump on.
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