I increased my salary from $22K to $180K salary before a layoff. Taking a pay cut in my next role felt like a step backward.

Elianor Williamson is a 36-year-old living in Seattle.

Business Insider has verified Williamson’s income and employment history with documentation.

The following as-told-to essay has been edited for length and clarity.

My major was originally education, but while studying abroad for a year in Ireland, I took a class on global food and beverage, and loved it.

I switched majors to global wine studies — a little bit of the marketing world and a lot of the wine world.

I was drawn to it because it seemed like a fun, cool, shiny, interesting career path.

Salary wasn’t really discussed in my two years of studying; looking back now, that was disappointing.

After graduating from Central Washington University in June 2013, I worked in the wine industry for about half a year at a tasting room, pouring wine for people and helping at events.

I was broke and didn’t feel I could make any money in that space.

I wanted to start a corporate career.

Here’s my salary journey since then.

Later in 2013, I found a nonprofit in my area that was hiring for an event coordinator role for wine-related events, like fundraisers where we’d auction off wine for donations.

My offer was around $22,000, my first salary.

I was thrilled; before, I’d been paid hourly.

I had an office that I went into every day.

I did that for about a year, and I realized there was a sort of ceiling on salary for nonprofit work.

Salary Journeys is Business Insider’s first-person series following real people and their real paychecks — how they built their income, what it means for their lives, and what they learned along the way.

If you’re willing to share how your salary has changed over time, please fill out this Google Form.

A friend of a friend worked at a marketing agency, which I knew nothing about, but he got me an interview.

I was offered a role as a marketing manager in 2015, and they asked what I was looking for from a salary perspective.

I’d read all these articles about not being the first one to share a number, so I was like, “Well, it’s going to have to be a lot more than what I’m making now,” which wasn’t helpful, because I hadn’t told them what I was making.

We went back and forth, and finally I asked for between $40,000 and $45,000.

They came back and offered me $45,000.

I moved out and got my own big girl apartment with a roommate.

I was at that marketing agency for three years, during which I had three different titles, and one promotion in 2016.

I was promoted to a program manager, and my salary at that point was around $61,000.

In April 2018, I was like, “I actually kind of might hate this.

I don’t know what I want to do with my life.” So, I quit with nothing lined up.

Everyone in my life thought I was insane, but I just needed time to figure things out.

I was unemployed, job searching, and applying to things.

It only took six weeks for me to get an offer for a 6-month contract project manager role at Zillow, project managing content that would be shared at a big event for real estate agents.

I was paid $40 an hour, or about $83,200 annually.

When my contract was ending, I wanted to convert to full-time, so I pushed and worked with my manager to make it happen.

In November 2018, I was converted to a full-time employee at Zillow with the same title — project manager.

However, they bumped up my salary to $90,000, and I also got some stock options and other full-time benefits.

Because the equity we got as employees vested over a period of four years, I don’t really consider that a huge incentive or part of my income, because I wasn’t able to take advantage of that.

A year later, there was a reorganization, and my title changed.

I moved to a different team as a campaign manager, and my salary bumped up to $101,000.

This was a huge milestone for me because I was finally making six digits, which I’d been wanting to hit for a while.

I was so excited and celebrated with my husband.

In 2022, there was another reorg within Zillow, and I got a promotion to senior project manager.

The environment at Zillow had changed under new leadership, so I decided to look for something else.

Later that year, a former colleague got me an interview at a real estate tech startup called OJO.

Once I got the offer and was negotiating my salary, she also encouraged me to ask for more money —so I did.

I was a senior program manager with a salary of $150,000.

I also got a $10,000 signing bonus, which was great.

OJO was acquired by the Royal Bank of Canada in 2023 and rebranded as Houseful.

I made a lateral move to be a senior program and operations manager.

Six months later, I was making $155,000, plus a 20% annual cash bonus, which I’d never had before.

That year, my total compensation was over $180,000, which was absolutely mind-blowing to me.

In March 2025, I was impacted by layoffs.

I was unemployed for about five months and collected unemployment.

I started a TikTok account, where I shared my experience of job searching and interviewing hardships, and the mental energy it requires to keep going.

In August 2025, I started as a global brand operations manager at Starbucks.

I was originally offered a salary of $131,500.

I was terrified to negotiate; I was desperate for a job and would’ve 1000% accepted it at that salary.

But I knew I’d be disappointed; I know my worth and what my work experience warrants in the market.

After researching the best ways to negotiate, I emailed them back three different options I was comfortable with.

I gave a combination of more PTO, a higher salary, a higher bonus, or a bigger signing bonus.

I ended up accepting an offer of $145,000 with a 10% annual bonus and stock.

Although I’m technically making $10,000 less in salary than what I was making before, the gap is significantly bigger if you consider my previous full compensation of $180,000.

I think it’ll probably take a couple of years.

It’s been hard to feel like I took a huge step backward, but I’m grateful to work at Starbucks.

I love the brand, and it’s a great fit for me right now.

It’s hybrid, and I love going to the office and seeing people.

There’s something in me that ties success to money and my career.

I don’t know if that comes from a societal narrative or if I’ve just always been a very driven and determined person.

I want to do good work and to feel like I’m contributing.

From a logistical standpoint, more money allows me to live the life that I want to live.

I feel like $250,000 to $300,000 in total compensation is what I would be very content with.

My husband and I prioritize travel; I want to go on two vacations a year.

We want to get a nicer car and have a nicer wardrobe.

My husband owns his own business, so we could invest in more of his videography equipment.

We could invest in a second home, maybe a rental property.

We could retire early, at 60 or even 55.

It’s wild to think that when I was making $45,000, I was living in a two-bedroom apartment and going out every weekend and living the dream.

I was contributing to my 401(k), and I had a car.

It’s a bit of a whiplash to be now making $100,000 more and still be like, “I want more money.” But 10 years later, we bought a new house, and have a higher mortgage.

And we have a toddler, so we’re thinking about daycare costs and a college fund we probably need to start for him.

I’m in my mid-30s, and it’s hard not to compare yourself to what other people are doing in this stage of their life; there’s such a spectrum.

I think no matter what anybody chooses to do, it’s fine.

If you’re interested in sharing your salary journey, please fill out this Google Form.

Advertisement