Examine Values to Determine Value

She emailed me in a fit. She was mad, stuck and at the end of her rope. Feeling undervalued, over extended and just about over it all.

She was in a knot. 

“I just can’t see what the problem is? I get the highest scores in my student evaluations, I’ve done a ton of work to optimize this course, I’m over enrolled, and all I get is great feedback. I just don’t see why I’m still not making the money other instructors are. Help!”

Annette is an acting teacher, and she had a goal: to complete a certification in a specific methodology and then open her own studio teaching classes using that methodology. She was clear that was the goal. 

And she knew that bringing her teaching salary up, just by 15%, and more in line with what other instructors were making at her current studio meant she could afford to fund her plan. She had been asking for a raise, and she had been getting breadcrumbed. You know, that “maybe later, let’s talk about it next quarter, I’ll get back to you” type of response that keeps you on the hook but never satisfies? She had been breadcrumbed for a long time. And now was the time to make her final ask and determine exactly where they stood so she could decide her next move. 

But mostly? She was mad, hurt and confused at how high performing she could be, and how little reward she was getting for that effort and impact.

I do not have to use what they value as a way to determine my own value."

Head scratcher.

So, on our call, we dug in. I asked her what her goal was: Certification and her own studio. I asked her what her ask was: a 15% raise. I asked her about what she perceives the reason was for all the breadcrumbing, the quiet “no” or “not yet” she’d been getting.  

This is when we were asking the questions, what are their values? And how do they assign value?

Things broke open. 

Find out what happens, read the rest HERE.