Every number here belongs to the person next to it.

Where she started

Awele was earning $130,000 and moving to JP Morgan.

The obstacle

Most people wait for the offer and then negotiate against it, relieved and unprepared. That is where twenty thousand dollars disappears in one phone call.

What we did

The first thing we did was decide what she wanted. We anchored at $210,000 to $215,000, fifteen thousand from the top of the band. Then, the moment the recruiter asked about salary, we emailed over what she was looking for: her number, her bonus, the shape of the whole package. In writing. Before she ever received an offer.

The lever

There was no lever to pull, because we never needed one. Her number arrived before the offer did, so the company built the offer around her.

Where she is now

They said they could not do $215,000. They could do $210,000. An $80,000 raise, and the gap between the ask and the answer was $5,000.

Where he started

Bruce got an offer at $130,000.

The obstacle

A written offer looks final. It is not. The question is how much room is in it, and most people cannot read that.

What we did

I read about twenty thousand dollars of room in the offer, based on the experience they said they wanted. So he emailed the recruiter: he would be much happier at $150,000, and he would sign today. Then he got on a call with the recruiter to talk it through. Email carries the number; the call carries the relationship.

The lever

Certainty, and the end of their search. If he signed today, he would step away from his other processes. That is only leverage if there are other processes, which is why the two applications a day never stopped when the first interview landed.

Where he is now

$150,000. They wanted to be done, and he gave them a way to be done.

Where he started

Jamal was at Salesforce earning $120,000. He was not trying to break in. He was trying to move up, and he was about to take the wrong internal path.

The obstacle

He was considering the MuleSoft route, without knowing it would narrow his opportunities and cap his trajectory.

What we did

First, the path. I showed him why core Salesforce opened more doors than MuleSoft. Then the process: what hiring managers at that level are actually measuring, how to position past results as evidence of future performance, and direct feedback on his final presentation before he gave it.

The lever

He crushed every stage, and they rushed him through: rounds scheduled inside a day, a recruiter asking how fast he could start. That tempo is telling you something. Speed was their need, and their need was his leverage, so he asked for the maximum signing bonus.

Where he is now

$180,000 in core Salesforce, a $60,000 increase, plus a $10,000 signing bonus he would not have asked for on his own.

Where he started

Collin had an offer in hand and no idea whether it was a good one.

The obstacle

You cannot negotiate room you cannot see, and you cannot claim room you have not earned in the interviews. Most people fail at the first; the ones who get past it fail at the second.

What we did

We worked on the negotiation from both ends. First, his market value: what the role pays, and how much room there was between the offer and the top of it. Then, more important, how to sell and package his story through the process, so that by the time the number came up he had made the case that put the room within reach.

The lever

The story. A candidate who has packaged what he did as evidence of what he will do is negotiating from a different seat than one who is asking for more because he read a salary site.

Where he is now

He signed at 13% above the original offer.

Where she started

Brooke was at CBRE in commercial real estate, earning about $45,000, with three years of experience and no background in tech.

The obstacle, in her words

"I faced difficulty advancing my career and being taken seriously."

What we did

I taught her the tech industry and how tech sales actually works, and we rebuilt how she interviewed. Not just answers, but interviewing in a way that made the conversation meaningful, and evaluating company fit so each move was the right one.

The lever

The lane. She moved into a Senior BDR role at an early-stage startup at $60,000, fully remote since 2021, and across the next three years made several moves, each one chosen with the same criteria, until she hit six figures. She used the same self-advocacy strategy to position for and land a promotion.

Where she is now

$104,000 as of 2024, a 113% increase, fully remote, in a role she describes as low-stress and loves.

Where she started

Daniashley was in healthcare earning $35,000, with no tech background and no one telling her the rules.

The obstacle

A resume that described what she had done, in the language of the field she was leaving.

What we did

She came through the program. We taught her how to sell herself and taught her the tech industry, and we redid her resume so that every line emphasized how she would succeed in the role she was going for, not the one she was leaving.

The lever

The translation. The work she had already done, said in the words the market pays for.

Where she is now

$87,000 in her first tech role, up 149%.