Natalie Hoop charged $64/hr on her first fractional contract. The woman she replaced charged $200. Here’s the self-worth story underneath that gap.

When Natalie Hoop landed her first fractional COO contract after a layoff, she charged $64 an hour. Three weeks later she found out the woman she replaced had been charging $200. The client never blinked at either rate. 

That gap was not a market problem. It was a worthiness problem built from 17 years of retail conditioning that told Natalie her value was tied to her output, that she needed to prove herself before getting paid, and that asking for what she was actually worth was a risk she was not allowed to take. 

In this episode of Elevate Within’s Architecture of Reinvention: The Art of Unbecoming summer series, Natalie Hoop joins Sandy Davis for a conversation about what corporate culture installs in high-achieving women and what it takes to dismantle it. They talk about the layoff she never saw coming, the grief that cracked everything open, the moment Natalie called out Sandy’s own energy shift live on air, and the reframe that is already changing how women talk about pivoting. 

Natalie is a fractional COO, business coach, and founder of the Fractional Launch Lab, a coaching program that helps experienced leaders build sustainable fractional consulting businesses without starting from scratch.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

The beliefs 17 years of retail conditioning installed and how they showed up as a $136 per hour undercharge.

Why ChatGPT’s fractional rate data is wrong and what to use instead.

How her mother’s death became the catalyst for finally asking what she actually wanted her life to look like.

Why talking about what you do kills your client conversations and what to say instead.

The Hostess cupcake repackaging metaphor and why pivoting is never starting over.

What it looks like to take your full inventory of experience into a new direction rather than leaving it at the door.

Connect with Natalie Hoop

Website and coaching: nataliehoop.com

LinkedIn: Natalie Hoop

⭐ If this resonated, please leave a rating or review, it helps reach more women who need this conversation.

🎙️ ABOUT ELEVATE WITHIN Elevate Within is a podcast and community for high-achieving women navigating the messy middle — the space between who you were and who you're becoming.

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & NEVER MISS AN EPISODE 

🎵 Spotify: Elevate Within with Sandy Davis

🍎 Apple Podcasts: Elevate Within with Sandy Davis 

▶️ YouTube: Elevate Within Always 

📻 Amazon Music: Elevate Within with Sandy Davis

📻 iHeart Radio: Elevate Within with Sandy Davis

📖 Substack: https://substack.com/@elevatewithin

⭐ APPLE PODCAST LISTENERS If this resonated with you, a rating or review would mean everything. It helps Elevate Within reach more women who may need this conversation right now.

📖 GO DEEPER ON SUBSTACK Weekly essays and honest conversations about burnout, grief, reinvention, resilience, healing, and the messy middle.

🔓 Free subscribers — full access to all public content 

🔐 Paid subscribers — bonus essays, early access to upcoming series, behind-the-scenes recordings, and direct community engagement

👉 https://substack.com/@elevatewithin

💼 CONNECT WITH SANDY 

📎 LinkedIn: Sandra Davis 

🌐 Fractional COO Services & Discovery Calls: ElevateOpsAdvisory.com

💼 CONNECT WITH CLAUDIA CUEVAS, LMFT 

🌐 https://claudiacuevas.com/ OR 

https://www.therapyforlatinx.com/united-states/mission-viejo/therapist/claudia-cuevas-146