People twist themselves up into crazy pretzel shapes when you ask them to talk about money. The eyes get wide and words awkwardly stumble out of mouths. I hear what they are saying to themselves, “I’m making too little. I’m making too much. It’s not classy. Or, I just think I’m not supposed to.” If not talking about salary didn’t affect so many groups, I wouldn’t care. But it does. So it was with complete pleasure this summer when I met Maari Casey, CEO of UNCompany, a freelance creative agency, who shares the passion about salary transparency: “The secrecy around wages, rates and budgets drives me bananas. We really need to get beyond money being a tie to our self-worth and recognize it as a tool. I think so many people think compensation (especially women) is a bad thing to talk about. I hear, 'I feel bad for asking for' weekly. We need to take the stigma out of money in a big way." We didn’t know how we could work together but we knew we wanted to try.
We are thrilled to announce that WAGER and UNCompany will be hosting a live webinar focused on setting rates in the FREELANCE community. By 2030, freelancers will make up the majority of the workforce are actually making more money than ever. We will discuss SETTING YOUR RATES, COURAGEOUS COMPENSATION CONVERSATIONS, and then round out the series with RAISING YOUR RATES. Watch the webinars here.
Please read our interview with Maari below about the roots of creating a freelance-focused Agency that’s doing right by their talent’s pocketbook.