57. What Two Mediocre White Guys Taught Me About Negotiation with Kianti Brown Whitney, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Relay Graduate School of Education

How often do you ask for what you want? 

For this Women of Color Rise podcast, Analiza talks with Kianti Brown Whitney, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Relay Graduate School of Education. Kianti shares how her parents saved for all four of their children to attend private school. This led Kianti to a career path in education, where she leverages her passions of stories and marketing.

Kianti learned early on to always ask for what you want. In college, she overheard two white male students discussing their salaries. Before that, she had believed in the myth that you take what is given to you and negotiation was a faux paus. She reflected, “If these two mediocre white males could do it, I knew I could ask for more, too.”

Kianti shares these salary negotiation strategies:

1. Know the salary offered. Make sure this is in line with your expectations.

2. Do a values assessment of what most matters in addition to money. This could be flexibility or professional development or something else.

3. Know your worth. When Kianti was offered a job in advertising, she immediately countered and asked for ten percent more. They responded, “You’re lucky to get one of these rare jobs in advertising. We don’t negotiate.” But Kianti knew her worth and didn’t budge. And voila! They gave her what she wanted.

4. Go for it. If it helps, imagine you are another person, and you are negotiating on behalf of the person so it feels less personal. To help the person get paid what they are worth, you’ll make sure to negotiate.

Check out Kianti’s new podcast, Black Girls Bonding, where Black women can come and feel safe to share their experiences and challenge the status quo.  From managing relationships and career, to navigating day-to-day life, this is a space for community blackgirlsbonding.buzzsprout.com

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-57-what-two-mediocre-white-guys-taught-me-about-negotiation-with-kianti-brown-whitney