Host: Nicole Donnelly | Guest: 'Tine Zekis, TEDx Speaker, Software Engineer, Author & Founder of Getting Black Women Paid
What do a math classroom, a coding bootcamp, and tripling your salary in under five years have in common? They're all part of 'Tine Zekis's story — and she's here to make sure it becomes yours too.
In this powerhouse episode of Hello Moxie, 'Tine breaks down why women — especially Black women — are conditioned to be grateful instead of fairly paid, and what it actually looks like to unlearn that in real time. From her unexpected pivot out of teaching to becoming a software engineer, negotiating her way to $148K when she was aiming for $120K, and building a coaching business rooted in economic justice, 'Tine delivers the kind of straight-talking, strategy-backed wisdom the ICA has been searching for — and couldn't find anywhere else.
This isn't a confidence episode. It's a playbook — and it maps directly onto every stage of the Moxie Method. Because the work 'Tine does — helping women get Rooted in their worth, Spark their self-trust back to life, find the courage to Speak in the rooms that matter, and ultimately Shine as the kind of leader who lifts others — isn't separate from the Hello Moxie framework. It is the framework, lived out loud.
This is what Stage 4 looks like. Taking the bold risk you've been circling. Asking for the number. Staying in your body when the room goes quiet. Doing it anyway.
🌟 What You'll Learn
- Why it's not imposter syndrome — it's imposter systems, and why that distinction is the first step to getting Rooted
- The salary negotiation reframe that turns confrontation into collaboration — and gives you back your Spark
- How 'Tine went from aiming for $120K to walking away with $148K, and what she did differently
- Why women are taught to be grateful instead of fairly paid — and how breaking that conditioning is an act of Courage
- What to ask in a job interview to find out if a company actually values women before you ever walk in the door
- How isolation at work quietly erodes your confidence and your compensation — and what community does instead
- Why "know your worth" might actually be bad advice — and what to replace it with so you can finally Speak and Shine
✨ 'Tine's Moxie Highlights
- Tripled her teaching salary in under five years through strategic career moves and relentless negotiation
- Named what the rest of us have been feeling but couldn't articulate: imposter systems, not imposter syndrome
- Built Getting Black Women Paid from a speaking business into a full coaching practice — while working full-time as a software engineer
- Delivered a TEDx Talk challenging the foundational premise of how women are taught to think about their own worth
- Wrote the book — literally — on overcoming imposter syndrome at work for Black women
📚 About 'Tine Zekis
'Tine Zekis is a TEDx speaker, software engineer, author, and founder and CEO of Getting Black Women Paid — a coaching practice built on one simple premise: Black women deserve to be paid what they're worth, and she's going to make sure they know how to get there. A former high school math teacher who taught herself to code in her late twenties, 'Tine more than tripled her salary in under five years through strategic career moves and salary negotiation, then turned those lessons into a movement. She's the author of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome at Work: The Black Woman's Guide to Conquer Perfectionism, Stop Overthinking & Thrive in Your Career, host of the Getting Black Women Paid Podcast, and currently works as a Full Stack Engineer III at Calendly.
🔗 Connect with 'Tine Zekis
- 🎙 Podcast- Getting Black Women Paid Podcast
- 📖 Book- Overcoming Imposter Syndrome at Work
- 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tinezekis
🧠 Favorite Quote
"Courage is not the absence of fear — it's the doing it anyway. Moxie is audacity. Having the audacity to ask for more, to show up as yourself."
Share your thoughts and questions
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Share your thoughts and questions
Join the Community
Become a member and to stay up to date on the latest and greatest from Hello Moxie, plus get access to exclusive bonus content from our guests with every episode https://hellomoxie.us/member-registration/