Future Female Leaders

Building on yesterday's episode on budget cycles, Nichole shares quieter ways to figure out your company's timing without asking HR directly.

In this episode:

• Why asking HR directly about raise timing can feel intimidating or premature
• Checking your own pay stub history for signs of a past automatic merit cycle
• Watching for patterns around you, like coworkers mentioning reviews or a rise in scheduled one-on-ones
• Checking your employee handbook or onboarding materials for a written review cycle
• Finding your company's fiscal year as a lower-stakes way to infer compensation timing
• Asking a trusted manager a softer version of the question, framed around good timing for these conversations rather than raises directly
• Today's task: pick one method, dig in, and write down your best guess for your company's cycle
• A reminder that if the end of the year is approaching, you may need to move faster than the "best case scenario" timeline allows

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

Picking up from yesterday's breakdown of merit increases, promotions, and market adjustments, Nichole dives into timing, specifically why companies budget for raises in advance and why that changes when you should ask.

In this episode:

• Why most companies operate on a budget cycle, and why raises are often planned for months before you ever ask
• A note on startup flexibility versus more structured companies when it comes to advocating for a raise
• How annual budgets and fiscal years shape when raise money actually becomes available
• Why performance review season matters so much, and how asking right before versus right after that cycle can lead to very different outcomes
• How to find out your company's specific timing by asking directly, or by reflecting on past raise patterns if you've been there over a year
• A personal story from Nichole's time as a manager, discovering a wide, unfair pay gap among team members who'd gone years without a raise, and working to rightsize their pay
• Why advocating for yourself doesn't have to feel awkward or uncomfortable
• Today's task: find or estimate your company's raise or review cycle timing, and write it down
• A reminder that this isn't about waiting until the "right" time to have the conversation at all, it's about starting the conversation now, even if the actual raise comes later

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

Shifting focus for the week, Nichole breaks down the three different types of raises and why knowing which one applies to you changes your whole approach.

In this episode:

• Why "raise" usually means one of three things: a merit increase, a promotion, or a market adjustment
• What a merit increase is, a small performance-based bump tied to your existing role, usually on a set annual cycle
• What a promotion actually requires: proving you're already operating at the next level, not just deserving credit for your current one
• What a market adjustment is, correcting pay that's fallen behind the market even when your responsibilities haven't changed
• Why framing the wrong type weakens your case, whether that's treating a market adjustment like a merit increase, or bringing merit-level evidence to a promotion ask
• Today's task: look back at your worksheet and determine which of the three actually applies to your situation

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

Wrapping up a big week of research, Nichole helps pull everything together into one simple worksheet instead of scattered notes and browser tabs.

In this episode:

• A recap of the week: salary research, tools to use, how location and industry shift your number, and how to find out what your company actually pays
• What to include in your worksheet: every number you've found, labeled by source, with a note on using screenshots in case job postings get taken down
• Why you shouldn't discard any number, even ones that feel too low or too high, since the full spread matters
• How to identify the low end and high end of your real, research-backed range
• Why your ask number shouldn't default to the low end, and a personal reflection on the instinct to feel grateful and stay small
• Why it's easier to negotiate down from a strong number than up from a small one
• Writing one sentence that justifies your number, to eventually say out loud in your raise conversation
• A tip to use AI to help pull out information you may not be thinking of strategically
• This weekend's task: build the actual worksheet, numbers and sources, your range, your ask number, and your justifying sentence

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

Shifting from general market research to something closer to home, Nichole covers how to find out what your own company actually pays for your specific role.

In this episode:

• Why external salary research only tells part of the story, and can differ significantly from what your own company pays
• A personal, transparent take on pay: Nichole shares her own approach to openly discussing salary with coworkers, and how that's occasionally gotten her into hot water
• Why justifiable pay differences, tenure, experience, and value added, feel fair, and why everyone should be able to advocate for their own value
• How to approach asking a trusted coworker about pay, either by asking for a general range or by proactively sharing your own salary first
• A reminder to check your state's pay transparency laws before these conversations
• Why internal job postings for promotions or lateral moves can reveal real, current salary bands
• How external job postings for your own company, even for a different role, can hint at where pay bands sit
• Why former coworkers are often more willing to talk about pay once they've left
• A caution on how to use this information respectfully, never naming who told you what, and using it instead to understand where you stand
• A story about asking male coworkers about their pay as a way to check for equity within a male-dominated industry
• Today's task: think of one trusted person, coworker or former employee, and consider how to start that conversation this week

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

Continuing this week's hands-on research focus, Nichole breaks down two of the biggest variables that shift your salary number: location and industry.

In this episode:

• Why the same title can pay wildly different amounts depending on location, and how competitive talent markets, not just cost of living, play a role
• Why a smaller or rural city doesn't automatically mean a lower number
• The three different ways companies may set pay for remote employees, and why it's worth clarifying which one applies to you
• A tip to ask your leader, or HR, how your company benchmarks pay if you're unsure
• Why the same job title can pay very differently across industries like tech, healthcare, construction, or nonprofit
• Why some industries trade higher pay for other benefits, like flexibility or job security
• Today's task: check whether your research so far accounted for your specific location and your specific industry, and narrow it down if not

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

Following up on how to research your salary range, Nichole gets specific on the actual tools and resources to use to find your number.

In this episode:

• Why you should use more than one resource, since each pulls data a little differently
• Salary aggregator sites as a free, quick starting point, and a tip to ask AI or Google for current options since tools change over time
• Checking job boards for postings of your exact title, and how pay transparency laws mean many listings now include a salary range, even if some pay bands are surprisingly wide
• How to ask your professional network about a general range without asking for anyone's specific salary
• Why professional associations and industry groups often publish some of the most accurate salary data, since it comes from real professionals in your exact field
• A tip to feed your job description into AI to help compare against similar roles and typical pay
• Why you shouldn't rely on just one source, and should instead look for where two or three sources overlap
• Today's task: pick two resources you haven't used yet, spend ten minutes on each, and add those numbers to your growing range

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

Building on last week's foundation, Nichole kicks off the research phase by walking through exactly how to find your real salary number.

In this episode:

• A quick recap of last week: labor value, the brag document, manager feedback, and market rate as a range, not a ceiling
• Why you should search your exact title, not a general job category, and how to handle titles that vary by company
• How to research location correctly, including two ways to approach it if you're fully remote
• Why factoring in your years of experience changes the number significantly
• Why you shouldn't rely on just one source, and where to look: salary research sites, current job postings, and your own trusted network
• How to build a real range using a low end and a high end from at least two sources
• Today's task: spend 15 minutes researching your exact title, location, and experience level, and write down your range
• A note on the Seven Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge, which breaks everything down simply if you're ready to move fast instead of over several months

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

After wrapping the first full week of daily episodes, Nichole zooms out to share exactly where the series is headed for the rest of the year.

In this episode:

• A recap of week one: believing your labor has value, starting your brag document, getting feedback from your manager, and understanding market rate
• Why you should pause and give yourself credit for any action you took this week
• What's coming next: the research phase, building your case into a one-pager, timing and strategy, and the actual ask itself
• What to expect once the ask happens: how to handle a yes, a "let me think about it," and a no
• This weekend's reflection task: where you already feel confident, and where you still feel shaky
• A personal update: episodes will post on weekdays, not seven days a week, and Nichole shares she's six months pregnant and recording episodes in advance to stay ahead of schedule
• A reminder that the Seven Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge includes templates you can copy, edit, and send straight to your manager

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop

Nichole breaks down one of the most misunderstood phrases in salary conversations: market rate.

In this episode:

• Why market rate is a range, not one fixed number, and the variables that shift it: role, experience, location, and industry
• How to push back when someone tells you what "market rate" is for your job, starting with the question "based on what?"
• Why companies sometimes use market rate as a way to end a conversation, and why it should really be a starting point
• A personal example of this happening to Nichole, both as an employee and as a manager
• How to research your own range using multiple sources for your exact title, location, and experience level
• The exact sentence to use once you have your range, to walk into a conversation with data instead of a guess
• Today's task: spend ten minutes researching your range and add it to your growing case

Download the 7 Days to Ask for a Raise Challenge to help you confidently ask for a raise here.

Connect with Nichole on Instagram @nichole.harrop