For some reason this morning on my walk I was reminded of a moment that has stuck with me all these years. About six years ago I was working in an office making $38,000. I was in a fairly entry-level position but as I continued to take on more responsibility I of course started to grow a tad resentful towards the salary.

After I’d been there just a couple of months we had a new CFO join the company. I reported directly to the accounting manager so new CFO would be my boss’s boss.

We had a company BBQ and my department was sitting at a table together. I truly can’t remember what we were talking about, I think it was something to do with how expensive life is – what I do remember, is new CFO saying “I don’t know how people working at Starbucks get by making $35,000 a year”

I was pretty disgusted to hear him say that. I was probably the most junior person at the table so I don’t know that anyone else would have been bothered. I couldn’t believe that this guy who heads up my department (and it wasn’t a big department, I think we totaled 6 people) would make a comment like that – was he completely out of touch with how much his subordinates were making? And yes, exactly new CFO, I can’t really get by – I was still living at home with my parents… give me a raise now please.

I went home and told the story to my dad who wasn’t at all surprised. He told me that as people move up the corporate ladder and start earning more money, they become more and more out of touch with those below them. They might forget or not realize just how big the salary gap is between them and others on their team.

A few months later, I used his comment as leverage for a raise. Actually I went out and had an interview with another company where the salary was around the $50,000 range. The company initially rejected me, and then two weeks later reached out and asked if I was still interested (I guess their first choice turned them down). I went to my manager and told her about their offer and that’s when I brought up new CFO’s comment. I then met with new CFO as well and reminded him of his comment. I can still see his face at that moment. He was definitely taken aback. But – I got my raise. I think they bumped me up to $45,000. It was less than $50k, but I enjoyed my coworkers and it was much closer to home than the other company, saving me hours a day of commuting. I was also lucky in that new CFO was actually a really great guy. I think he appreciated my bluntness and honesty. He was the type of guy I wanted to work for.

I don’t know why this moment was so memorable to me. Maybe it was because in that moment I felt embarrassed by my small salary, maybe I felt bitter that I was making less than everyone else. I think most of all I felt under-valued. If my own CFO thought $35,000 wasn’t enough to live off of – why was he allowing an employee of his with a University degree, currently enrolled in the CPA program to make just a few thousand more than that.

I’m glad I spoke up – not just for the raise – but hopefully it was some sort of wake up call for him to evaluate his staff’s salaries and to be more aware of what other people around him are earning.