In our series Salary Stories, women with long-term career experience open up about the most intimate details of their jobs: compensation. It’s an honest look at how real people navigate the complicated world of negotiating, raises, promotions and job loss, with the hope it will give young women more insight into how to advocate for themselves — and maybe take a few risks along the way.
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Age: 38
Location: London
Current industry and job title: Group marketing manager, fashion
Current salary: £90,000
Number of years employed since school or university: 16
Starting salary: £22,500
Biggest salary drop: From £40,000 to £37,000 in 2016.
Biggest salary jump: From £53,000 to £90,000 in 2022.
Biggest negotiation regret: Staying loyal to a job for fun/friends/thinking work is your identity is a mistake. You work to live not live to work. This is how companies stop you from leaving and when you’re young you get wrapped up in the ‘fun work lifestyle’. Jumping between companies and jobs is the best thing to do to gain new skills and staying for years makes you too comfortable. I have seen so many friends struggle in their mid 30s due to being too loyal and comfortable. I saw this quote and it stuck with me: ‘You are either earning or learning’; if you get both then best scenario, but if you haven’t got either then GTFO.
Best salary advice: Make sure you have progression/development and after two years if there is none then move on and constantly test the waters elsewhere. You never know who might tap you on the shoulder and want to have a chat. Doors open in every direction without you realising it. It’s all about keeping those bridges open (not in a kiss-ass kind of way). Being a friendly person goes a long way and people don’t forget this.
I was so new to the industry that I didn’t even think to negotiate; they offered me a one-year contract, and I took it without question, drawn in by the job title and the brands I’d get to work with. I was happy with the pay, but I later realised I was a cost-saving hire — the previous employee had been in their 30s, and the role had originally been a Brand Manager position before they downgraded it to Assistant Brand Manager to fit a lower salary bracket.
The cosmetics industry turned out to be incredibly toxic. Success wasn’t just about performance — it was about who you aligned with, navigating office cliques, and dealing with fake niceness. There was plenty of flirting (and more) to get ahead, and the office politics were exhausting. The sales and marketing directors were constantly at odds, creating a competitive, us-versus-them environment where information was currency, and impressing top management mattered more than actually doing your job. It felt more like high school than a professional workplace.
Before leaving for my holiday, I had been interviewing for new roles, but there was one company I had my heart set on — it was tough to get into, but working with entertainment brands felt like the perfect next step. While travelling, I got the call with a job offer, and the relief was overwhelming — I was ecstatic. After feeling so broken from my first job and fearing that all workplaces were the same, this felt like a fresh start.
The salary was the same as before, and the job title seemed like a side step, but the chance to work with these brands in a new company and industry made it an easy yes. I accepted without negotiating. Looking back, I was such a timid young thing — who knew you could actually negotiate a salary?! I enjoyed my holiday and sent my resignation email, making my first day back nothing more than a trip to return my work items!
This job came through my industry network, but I still had to apply like everyone else and go through the full interview process. While I had some backing, the final decision-makers in management didn’t know me at all.
I didn’t negotiate the offer — an extra £10,000 felt amazing at the time, and back then, recruiters were pretty upfront about whether there was room to negotiate or not, so it all seemed very black and white. The job itself felt easy, but I think that was because my previous role had been so intense. Suddenly having more work-life balance left me feeling restless. The work lacked variety — it was the same type of campaigns and product launches on repeat, making every day feel like Groundhog Day. The company was also overstaffed, so there was a lot of looking busy rather than actually being busy. Coming from a fast-paced, high-pressure role where things were constantly changing, this felt like a bit of a mismatch for me.
After six months, I went overseas to see out this meltdown. Looking back, this role was great and I did learn a lot but mentally I wasn’t ready for it. Over the years, I had slowly saved up some money, either for a property or in case an opportunity like this came up — and in the end, I used it to travel for six months. It was the best decision I could have made!
Friends, family, and even former managers had told me that until you go overseas, you don’t really know what you’re chasing — and for me, they were absolutely right. I needed to slow down, step away from constantly chasing the next pay rise, company, or brand, and just live for a while. Seeing the world put everything into perspective — after all, we’ll be working for decades, so why not take the time to experience life along the way?
I took a pay cut, but the role came with great responsibilities — it was still in marketing but involved overseeing several European offices for a global company. Once again, I didn’t negotiate my salary (yes, I still hadn’t learned!), convincing myself that I should just be grateful for the opportunity and the industry switch. I also saw the frequent travel as a trade-off. Unfortunately, I later learned the hard way that staying loyal to a company without negotiating makes it much harder to secure significant pay raises. Seven years into the role, while I did get some small company-wide increases along the way (ending up at £53,000), I remained underpaid — despite enjoying the lifestyle and work-life balance that came with the role.
It is true when they say it gets lonely at the top when you’re used to being so social with everyone in the business but want to keep a professional boundary. It’s the opposite to how I lived my professional life in the past.
Looking back, the toll on my well-being wasn’t worth it — but at the same time, I needed that experience to grow. It taught me not to tie my identity too closely to any job or company. You go to work, do your best, and contribute, but your job isn’t who you are. It’s important to have a life outside of work, with interests and relationships that aren’t tied to your career. It’s also made me more mindful of boundaries. Making close friends at work is harder, but I’ve learned that as long as there’s trust and respect, anything beyond that is a bonus, not a necessity. Honestly, I wish things like workplace boundaries, office politics, and stress management were taught in school —so many of us fall into the trap of thinking every job will be just like the last, but that’s rarely the case.
I did negotiate my salary, which felt like a huge win. I feel fortunate, but it also comes with a lot of anxiety because I don’t think this level of working is sustainable long-term. It’s a high-reward, high-intensity, fast-paced role — great in the moment, but definitely not something I could keep up forever. I’m thinking I may go back and study when I’m next ready for a change.
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