“One of the reasons that women don’t get paid the same as men, is that we don’t ask.”
Alex Hanlon of Fair Pay Negotiations was sitting in the back row of a conference workshop listening to some really fine work that was being done on the gender wage gap. But all she felt was really cross.
She couldn’t believe that we are still having this conversation. That women are regularly being paid less than men for the same work. And that’s when Alex realised she had the skills to fix this.
Alex jumped up at the end of the conference and said, “One of the reasons that women don’t get paid the same as men, is that we don’t ask. And one of the reasons that we don’t ask, is that we didn’t get taught to negotiate our pay. Well, over the course of my career I have negotiated hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts, tens of millions of dollars worth of dispute settlements, multiple six figure salaries and precedent setting conditions for myself and for others. And if you want me to run a workshop to share with you what I know, I would be delighted to do it.”
At that point Alex was mobbed by about sixty women. She wrote the first Fair Pay Negotiations webpage and a business plan on the way home on the plane and ran that workshop three weeks later.
Now, at Fair Pay Negotiations, Alex supports professional career women who feel that they aren’t being paid appropriately, to develop astute negotiation skills and negotiate better pay and conditions. She does this through online live workshops and group coaching.
Alex says about the HerBusiness Network, that the discipline of the monthly Growth Zones™ has been really helpful to get her to balance where to focus. And the resources, especially the Content Sells and HerBusiness podcasts, are an enormously helpful support for learning new things.
Alex has a real passion for business and says “I am all about smashing the gender wage gap one negotiation at a time”.
Who’s your favourite entrepreneur and why?
Ru Paul Charles, because he took a form of performance art done by marginalised people, empowered them and built a bigger stage for them all. He built a huge entertainment empire and then took over the world with it. He’s not afraid of emotion and he doesn’t take life too seriously.
When life is getting you down, you can escape by watching his shows and seeing how people who have often been really hurt, can find their own strength, express who they are and thrive. He calls it, the tenacity of the human spirit and its flippin awesome.
Why did you start your business and what gave you the idea?
I was sitting in the back row of a conference workshop listening to some really fine work that was being done on the gender wage gap. But all I was feeling was really cross.
I cannot believe that we are still having this conversation. That women are regularly being paid less than men for the same work. And then the penny dropped for me. I have the skills to fix this.
So I jumped up at the end and said, “One of the reasons that women don’t get paid the same as men, is that we don’t ask. And one of the reasons that we don’t ask, is that we didn’t get taught to negotiate our pay. Well, over the course of my career I have negotiated hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts, tens of millions of dollars worth of dispute settlements, multiple six figure salaries and precedent setting conditions for myself and for others. And if you want me to run a workshop to share with you what I know, I would be delighted to do it.”
At that point I was mobbed by about sixty women. I have never given out business cards so fast in all my life. I wrote the first Fair Pay Negotiations webpage and a business plan on my way home on the plane and ran that workshop three weeks later.
What do you enjoy most about running your own business?
I love seeing the expression on my client’s faces when they have achieved something that they previously thought was beyond their reach.
What three pieces of advice do you wish you’d been given when you started?
- The faster you get over perfectionism, the easier it will be.
- Start with marketing, figure that out first.
- It’s going to take LOADS more time than you think. Divest yourself of all other activities. In particular this will not work with a portfolio approach to work!
What advice would YOU give someone thinking about starting a business?
Make sure that what you want to do is something that makes you bound out of bed each morning – you gotta be in love with the idea.
What skills and knowledge areas would you recommend those starting out in business get acquainted with quickly?
Sales and Marketing.
What does your IDEAL business look like? Even if you’re not there yet, what would it look like if your business was ideal?
A team of people (I know I need people smarter than me to do a heap of things to support this) and reaching millions of women a month.
What problem does being a Member of the HerBusiness Network solve for you and your business? And, how?
The network provides a normalising experience. Which is critical for someone who has not ever run a business for herself before. The discipline of the monthly Growth Zones™ has also been really helpful to get me to balance where I put my focus. And the materials, especially the podcasts, are an enormously helpful support for learning new things.
Learn more about Alex and Fair Pay Negotiations.
