So many of my clients feel trapped because of their financial situation. And it sucks because when you’re living from paycheck to paycheck, it’s hard to manifest a new life because you’re living in survival mode. There is, however, a way to break free from this feeling and finally manifest abundance. And we’re going to show you how to do it.
Evie is a Latina Salary Negotiation Coach, Speaker, and Podcaster who specializes in helping women negotiate five-figure salary increases. Through her coaching and the Self Worth Accelerator Mastermind, she has empowered women to step into their highest selves, overcome fear, and unlock their full potential in salary negotiations. As of today, Evie has helped her clients secure over $750k in base salary increases. She’s been featured on Yo Quiero Dinero, Ch*ngona Revolution, Save 6 Figures with Gina Knox, Say Hola Wealth, Life as a Gringo, Chisme that Matters, and Vida Wish I Knew Then podcasts.

In this week’s episode, Evie and I talk about how she learned how to feel rich in courage. Before she joined Courage Driven Latina, she had already taken the steps to living a more courageous life by advocating for herself and negotiating her salary. The company that was paying her white male colleague twice as much as her only offered her an additional $1,000 annually. So instead of internalizing or spiraling, she applied to other companies in her industry and almost doubled her salary through her negotiating skills. Money was tight, but she believed in herself and took smart, courageous actions anyway. Tune in to hear how Evie is helping Latinas close the wealth gap and how you can learn how to negotiate your salary today!

Follow Evie on:
Instagram @‌lamalamujerblog 

Her Podcast: Págame

Her Website: https://lamalamujer.com/

How to Negotiate Your Salary Blog Post on La Mala Mujer

Follow Erika on:
Instagram @‌theerikacruz
TikTok @‌theerikacruz
LinkedIn

Website:
http://www.theerikacruz.com

How to work with Erika:

Sign up for the FREE webinar, Make 2026 Your Main-Character Year, here!

Join the waitlist for the Courage Driven Latina program here.

Join the waitlist for the Magnetic Mastermind here!

Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST, an Afro-Latina-owned boutique podcast production and copywriting studio. 

Hello friends. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Chingona Revolution podcast. This is your host, Erica Cruz. And, uh, before I introduce today’s guest, I just wanted to share that I have been doing [00:02:00] some market surveys and just some getting some research around what people are currently struggling with.

Erika: And a common theme that has come up are finances, budget, um, feeling unfulfilled in their career. Not feeling quite ready to take the leap. But a big thing theme that keeps coming up is around finances. Maybe people are struggling with inflation or maybe recently laid off or unemployed or just have a hard time with saving money, with investing the way that they want to.

So they have these A, these ambitious goals. But they feel tied because of finances. Maybe they feel like they cannot leave their current job because they need the pay, and they feel like they can’t make more money at their current job. And they just overall are feeling stuck. And when I was thinking about who I could bring on to talk about this topic.

[00:03:00] The first person that came to mind is Evie, who has been a client of mine. She’s been in my program, courage Driven Latina, when it was called Purpose-Driven Latina. In that program, she ended up launching a salary negotiation group coaching program, made her investment back within a few weeks, and she just recently came back to talk to my group all about.

Negotiating your salary, knowing your worth. Not even just from a money perspective, but from a human perspective, from a Latina perspective, with Latina equal payday. Having just passed as well, I was like, okay, the stars are aligning. We have to bring Evie back. So Evie, welcome back to Chingona Revolution.

I know I gave you a little mini introduction, but is there anything else you wanna share about who you are and what you do? 

Evie: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. It is an honor to, you know, come and speak to your audience and, a little bit about me. hi, I’m Evie. I’m first in my family to, you know, do the corporate [00:04:00] job, have the 401k navigate negotiating as painful as that was.

What that’s been able to do for, like me personally, is negotiate over a hundred k in my career in general, which translates to about like $1.3 million alone just now. If I were to never negotiate in my life, which is obviously I’m gonna keep negotiating. Um, but I, I personally resonate a lot with the struggle of, you know.

Prior saving money, like feeling like I have enough investments, um, wanting to join a program and feeling like I can’t afford the monthly payment, or I’m not sure if I’m gonna make my money back. And, um, I think in joining a courage driven Latino the first time, I, like Erica said, I made back my investment within the first three weeks.

And I think that’s like so important because like. Had I not focused on what I can do or what’s possible versus like the lack, which is so easy. I like, wouldn’t, I may, I may not be a coach today. So I just wanted to kind of share a little bit about that, um, [00:05:00] to, to your audience. 

Erika: Yes. Thank you for making that point.

Um, I wanna come back to that. But for the people who haven’t listened, our first to our first interview, because you’ve been on the podcast before, I wanna talk about your how this group coaching program even came about. Because a lot of time our pain becomes our purpose, right? Like this struggle that you went through is what allowed you to start this group coaching program.

So can you tell us the story about finding out that you were underpaid and then what happened after that? 

Evie: Yeah. So, um, in one of my earlier jobs, um, I was having just a conversation with a colleague, and I don’t even remember the context, but somehow it was like he mentioned like, oh yeah, that’s like X percent of my salary.

And as an engineer I did the math and I was like, wait a second. We have like very similar qualifications, we do the same job, and he was making like substantially, like almost twice as much as I was. [00:06:00] And that was such a shock to my system. Um, you know, this the like pit in my stomach feeling the feelings of like disbelief and also like unworthiness that I started to feel and recognizing that like, oh my gosh.

I’m not paid the same as my colleague who has the same or similar qualifications. And we do very similar work. And, sometimes we can internalize those experiences and instead of looking at them objectively, we find reasons for like, why, like, maybe I didn’t go to a good enough school.

Maybe I didn’t, I’m not doing enough. Like I started to justify why I wasn’t making the same. but I think once I started to process that and really. Reevaluate and really understand my self-worth and what I brought to the table. That is when I kind of started to navigate those negative feelings and take those negative feelings and turn ’em into like action, which is for me at the time was like, I’m gonna go negotiate and also I’m never gonna be underpaid again.

I remember like just so vividly being, I will never be [00:07:00] underpaid. I will always negotiate because I’m walking into this. With the idea of like, they’re going to offer me something that’s lower than maybe market value. So I think that really helped me become such a strong negotiator. And I mean, my first negotiation, I like almost cried and you know, like didn’t have the perfect script.

But I think over the years I really started to. Build the like mindset and the foundational, like self-worth, uh, for me to walk in and not be tied to the outcome and even turn away offers when they didn’t align. So I feel like that practice in itself has helped me, like negotiate, you know, for myself, but also helped my clients for them to negotiate salary, severance bonuses, um, sign on packages, relocation packages.

Like really I just love negotiating and it’s not just. Base salary. There’s like so much to do. So I hope that was helpful for people who haven’t heard my story before. 

Erika: Yes, I’m sure it was. And what I love is that you take this approach where it’s, [00:08:00] it’s the first thing or the, the primary thing you’re looking at is worthiness.

And that is the, that’s the thing that keeps giving, right? Like that’s, that’s going to be an ROI That doesn’t stop giving back because it’s not even about, like, yes, it’s about the money, but usually when people are struggling with. Finances. There’s a deep rooted feeling of unworthiness or like, oh, I don’t deserve more.

Or just like you said, people can justify, oh, it must be because I didn’t go to that good of a school, or I must not be as smart as that person. And we begin to justify it. But I love how your approach and your story centers worthiness and how we’re worthy regardless of what happens. And if I recall correctly, that job didn’t give you the salary you wanted, right?

So you ended up going somewhere else. Is that correct? 

Evie: That’s correct. So, yeah, I didn’t get, the salary. I think the salary increase was like under a thousand dollars. It was definitely not what I merited at the time. So that was my decision of like, you know, I’m not gonna stay here if they don’t honor or recognize the work I do.

[00:09:00] And I nego, you know, started looking for another job and I think my next negotiation was like, I think I went from 50 K to making 90 k and just literally from negotiating, which is like. So amazing. and it’s the power of like knowing your worth. And it’s okay if you’re in a place. Well, it’s not okay, but there are employers or people who will not recognize your worth and you’re allowed to outgrow that.

And you’re allowed to seek places, companies that do recognize your work and are excited and happy to pay you for your skills and services. 

Erika: Yeah. Yes. So a lot of what you teach is like you can negotiate your salary during an annual review, but another way of also negotiating your salary is to make the pivot, which is exactly what you did and also what you support your clients with.

 So you and I crossed paths, I think this was August of 2021 because I was looking at your entry survey. And it’s so funny because, in your entry survey you were talk, at the time you had an e-commerce brand, [00:10:00] so that was what you kind of painted the, the vision of. You’re like, that’s kind of what I wanted to do.

And salary negotiation was in your mind, but it wasn’t really the main thing. And by the time you left, and I, hold on, I actually have them pulled up. I think when you joined, you joined because you wanted accountability and community, and by the time you left when the program asked like, what is it that you got support with?

You checked every option, which was. Community accountability, taking action, growing a business, and I think that was, those were all the different options. And that’s when you were saying that this was the biggest investment, hold on, I have it right here. You said, I asked the question, what would you say to somebody who’s thinking about joining?

At the time it was purpose driven Latina. Now it’s courage driven, Latina. You said this was the best, this was the biggest investment I made. When I purchased in August and it was the best investment, I saw a return on my investment. Within weeks, I made my money back with my group, uh, group coaching launch, and speaking engagements.

Remember, you landed two [00:11:00] speaking engagements, and this has really helped me shift my goals and take a more confident approach in the way that I run my business and the way that I manage my self care. If you’re on the fence about it. A call with Erica will help. I’m not gonna lie, when I saw the price, I had some hesitation, but I also knew that Erica was the right fit for me, and I’m so glad I went with my gut and made this ding investment.

So do you remember this moment back when you were like, oh, should I join? Should I not join? And we talked about this a little bit at the beginning, but like making an investment can feel like, like lack, but you can look at it as. Investment and as a form of abundance. So can you take us back to EV in 2021 and how, when you first, we first crossed paths, like you had this different idea of how your life was gonna go and then it completely shifted.

Evie: Yeah, I actually really like, strongly can recall that moment. And again, like I had been following you for a long time. I, you know, loved your content. I loved everything that you were doing and everything that you’re about. [00:12:00] So like, just from an energetic place, I was like, she’s my coach. I wanna work with her.

I remember seeing the sticker price and it was like, I don’t know if I can like make back this money. I don’t know if this is gonna, like, the ROI kind of thing was like coming into play and I think for me it was a moment of like rec for me, I think I come from a background of having like a lot of financial trauma and I think I had to take a moment to recognize that the fear that I was feeling of not making the money back was actually a protection mechanism of like.

Me trying to protect myself and like I had to like, honor the version of me that was used to lack. And the version of me that’s like, oh, you are doubting because like, you wanna protect me and I recognize that and I thank you, but where we’re going, like, I’m gonna need to make investments and I trust this.

And I, and I think I really just like, um, leaned into the what if this goes better than I expect. I think before I was always running from a survival mindset of like, what if things go [00:13:00] wrong? Yeah. Um, and so I think the moment I made that shift and made the purchase, that was like obviously for me, like scary in the moment.

And it, not only did it push me to be like, okay, like I’m committed to this, I paid for this. But also I think like I showed up, like the version of me that can make these kind of pur, uh, purchases. Make the money back. And at the time I didn’t know that was part of like, um, you know, you talk a lot about manifestation and being in that energy.

At the time I didn’t know that’s what I was tapping into. Um, but I think it really made me show like one, I think I made every single call and I asked so many questions. And two, I think it really drove me to, um. Push myself in the areas that I was most afraid of, which was like showing up online, putting my face on, ID live stories, and, um, actually making the sale or, you know, inviting people to join the program.

Erika: Yeah. And I remember seeing that transformation. And the reason I wanted to bring you on as well, as I mentioned, you recently did a workshop in the [00:14:00] program as well, which, um, is in the portal and people, I mean, even Yaz right on the call, um, yesterday was like, Hey, I watched the replay of your workshop and it was.

So good. And everybody, even if they weren’t there live, had have given us such great feedback. So that was one reason you were top of mind. But also because, um, I, I think sometimes we don’t recognize the return on investment until some time later. So I always like to bring clients on who are freshly in the program, but also people who’ve been in the program a while ago because then you really start to see, oh, that’s how it kind of worked out.

And to your point like, oh, now you, now you can clearly see the steps that. Were taken and how each of them were intentional. When you’re in the moment, sometimes you don’t know. Sometimes it’s still like, am I making the right decision? This is scary. Um, so I wanna go back to what people are currently struggling with right now.

With, um, I think our community is just overall afraid, right? There’s an administration that doesn’t want immigrants in this country. There are, [00:15:00] um, it’s just a scary time and a scary place to like make bold moves and to allow ourselves to be seen. But at the same time, it’s also. The biggest act of rebellion, right?

To show up fully as ourselves and to take up space and to like use our voice. So as people are going through this difficult moment, and maybe they are struggling with their finances and they know they wanna negotiate their salary, or maybe they wanna pivot their careers, but there’s this unworthiness there or this fear that’s stopping them, um, what would you say to to those people?

Evie: That’s 

Erika: such a 

Evie: good question. I think the biggest thing I would say is when making a pivot change, a lot of people I think focus on, like they focus on their current title, but they don’t reassess what they’re actually doing. And what I mean by that is you might have a certain title as like a project manager or something.

And, but what you’re doing is [00:16:00] director level. Like people don’t assess their own current skills that like what they literally bring to the table. So when they go looking for a new job, they’re looking at from it, from a perspective of like, this is my current title. This is a title at in another industry.

And that’s a huge gap that they’re missing because there are people who are doing director level work and then applying to like, you know, a le a level below that. So like reassessing your skills and learning to quantify how you, you know, show up to your job, how the value you add that is so key because like when I sit down with clients and we do this practice.

At first, they’re like afraid of like a 30 K increase. ’cause they’re like, no, that’s too big, that’s too much. But when they quantify their worth and what they bring to the table, they’re like, whoa, I actually marry like a 50 K increase that matches, you know, job market, you know, ranges. And I, I would say that’s the number one thing.

And number two I would say is, um. When people, especially women, especially women of color, um, when they look at [00:17:00] job posts, they feel like they have to check off every single box on there, every single requirement. And the reality is that like their white male counterparts are applying to these jobs when they meet like half the qualifications.

Not only that, but like, they go into this feeling like, like having that high standard that I have to have all these things. And even when they do hit all the boxes. When they look at that salary range, they’re not thinking, oh, I’m at the top of the salary range. So that’s why it’s really important to assess like your actual skillset and recognize that like you don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to hit all the check boxes.

Like, and I think that’s a part of like. Being afraid of rejection or being afraid of like getting the, you know, automated rejection emails. So it’s like a combination of different, different things and mindsets really that I think can help people. 

Erika: Yeah. So I have a question that I think people will appreciate me asking.

How do you know when you should stay at a job and negotiate your salary? Or when it’s [00:18:00] time to pivot and move on. And do you just make the attempt to negotiate the salary and then make the decision, or how, like how would you, what guidance would you give people if they’re in that situation? Hmm. 

Evie: That’s a really great question.

So I. Would say, I kind of approach it from a personal budget perspective of like, what are your goals as an individual? Like are you trying to buy a house? Are you preparing, sitting for a wedding? Like, what are your financial goals? And use that as your North Star because maybe you’re at a point in a life where you value, um, like making more money.

Over, I don’t know, maybe like a job that is gonna grow your skillset. So it just depends on where you are. And then from there, um, reassessing again, where you’re at currently, how much you’re making and comparing that to the job market and seeing like, you know, with your current title, are you underpaid?

Um, are you, you know, kind of in a place where you’re meriting a promotion and kind of [00:19:00] tracking that from within your company. And always keeping tabs on, um, like other jobs. And it doesn’t mean that you’re actively looking but having an optimized LinkedIn, so you’re kind of getting that data from other recruiters reaching out to you for similar roles.

You can kind of see where there’s a gap. Mm-hmm. And that’s a great tool to leverage. And like whenever you see that there’s a gap and you consistently get messages from recruiters that are offering a higher salary for the work you’re already doing. Mm-hmm. That is already a great thing to bring to your employer as a.

As a form of leverage for negotiating on top of what you’re already doing at work. Yeah, so I think when you kinda stay on top of like market, um, trends when it comes to salary within your, your industry, that already gives you a good touch point of like, where am I on this scale? And like really like how can my employer, if they can’t provide me the salary increase?

This year for my annual review, how do they add value to me in other ways? So if not in salary negotiations, [00:20:00] will they pay for an education reimbursement program? Will they pay for me to join Courage driven Latina? I’ve actually had clients who have used that and have asked for, you know, educational stipends.

Yep. Um, actually to join Courage driven Latinos. So that’s like. Beautiful. Yes. We give a little of 

Erika: customized form of like program outcomes and we customize it to your job and whatnot, so, exactly, exactly. It’s a great way of negotiating. 

Evie: Yeah. And so there’s a lot of other things that you can look at from a point of like, how can this employer add value to me?

Mm-hmm. Um, and help me on my personal and career goals. And I think you look at those two things and you see like, which, which of the two are going to support me right now in this time of my life? And then making that, you know, making that change if, if that’s what it looks like, or maybe staying because there’s like, they’re gonna pay for your master’s or something like that.

So it’s really just like doing that evaluation. 

Erika: Such a good response. And one of the things I wanted to say about, you said like keeping the LinkedIn optimized and getting, um, [00:21:00] messages from recruiters, what that also does is it builds your belief of and your confidence with, oh wait, like there is jobs out there, there is money out there.

Because I feel like a big narrative right now is, oh my gosh, the job market’s so tough. Oh my gosh. There’s not any jobs out there. But yet I’ve had three clients land gr amazing jobs with pay raises. Just this month? Yeah, just this month. Right. So like, yes, you can look at it with like, oh man, the job market sucks.

But if you’re doing what you’ve just adjusted. You’re building your belief that there’s actually an abundance of opportunities out there, and it’s about picking the one that aligns the most with you, whether it’s financial or to your point, if they’re gonna pay for your master’s and things like that.

Evie: Yeah, absolutely. And I, just to give some context, like I actually got laid off in August of this year, and Evie like a year or two years ago, would’ve been freaking out, would’ve been like, oh my God. Like I need to find a job. I need to just like, you know, and I feel like [00:22:00] I was so beautiful to get laid off this year, during August because I hit a moment of like, I have set myself up, not only from a saving perspective in terms of my finances, but from a.

I believe in the skills I have as you know, um, an employee that like, I will have no problem going back to the job market. So during a time when layoffs are at like their peak in tech, I am actually in Bolivia traveling, doing two months of like, eat, pay, love, Latina style. And like, this is only possible because I built the belief in, or, you know, built those tools and strategy in my finances, but also the belief in myself that like.

Right now my Ds on my LinkedIn, I get. New opportunities like every other day for great jobs. And it’s like, like you said, like I know it’s because I invested the time to quantify my worth throughout my LinkedIn optimize for keywords and it, when I decide to go back to the workforce if, if I decide like it’s [00:23:00] really on my term and I get to choose and be selective and I think a lot of people in this position would be like freaking out.

And I think that is like. The point of investing in programs that will help you build your self-belief, whether in your career, in your coaching or even in your life. It like really does like, I don’t know, it attracts a different kind of like energy and opportunities and I think that’s where people like Miss when they go to evaluate ROI on a program or something like that.

If this podcast episode resonates with you, I invite you to join me for my free training. Make 2026, your main character year where I am going to cover the three steps to build confidence, pivot your career, or negotiate your salary, as well as step into CEO. Energy. When you join this webinar, you are going to not only learn the framework that I’ve supported over 300 clients with, but it’s also the framework that I have leveraged myself.

It’s the framework that Evie, who you are hearing on this podcast [00:24:00] episode, used to launch her salary negotiation group coaching program. And at the end of the webinar, I am gonna be opening doors for my signature group program, courage Driven Latina. This program just turned five, so freaking exciting. So it is a proven program with a step-by-step process.

And when you join us, you also get immediate access to Evie’s salary negotiation workshop. In this workshop, she shows you how it is that you can negotiate your salary,How to verify what the market is paying for your role and your experience level, as well as how to step into your worth regardless of your job situation. So if you wanna join us, use the link down below to register, and if you’re listening to this while the doors are open, which is happening from November 10th

Erika: until November 19th. Then you can join us by going to courage driven latina.com or you [00:25:00] can schedule a call with me if you would like to talk. If you’d rather talk to Evie about her experience, reach out to her. Alright, let’s get back to the episode. Yeah, that’s such a good point. And um, I think if. You hadn’t gone through everything you’ve gone through, you would just be looking for an immediate job and just like taking anything that comes your way. But because you’ve taken the steps, you do, you’re allowed to be selective and only make decisions on the aligned opportunities.

Um, and then the other thing, uh, is I feel like because of all of the work you’ve done, you’ve, even if you were in a job that wasn’t perfect, you were leveraging that like. I’ve said this before, and I haven’t said it in a long time, but like, if your job is not your purpose, you can give your job a purpose.

And I feel like you did that in your last job. You gave that job a purpose and that purpose was to prepare you to start focusing on your business, to be able to travel or to be able to go to a different role. So it’s like even if you know that in that moment your current role [00:26:00] is not where you wanna retire from.

Which in today’s world, like I don’t think anybody’s gonna retire from the job they start with, right? It’s not like it was back in the day. But, um, giving your job a purpose means you, you set an intention with like, okay, I’m here right now and this is how I’m going to leverage this. Maybe there. Going to pay for my master’s.

Maybe they’re going to match my 401k. This is how it’s benefiting me and giving, setting a clear intention. But I think what happens with people, especially with Latinas, because we value work so much and we have such great work ethic, we look for so much purpose within the job. But what would you say to somebody who like wants to find that purpose in the job, and maybe they don’t have that yet.

Like how do they give their job a purpose? How do they find an intention for it? 

Evie: Yeah, I think this is a really great question and sometimes it’s financial, like, oh, this is gonna be my like investor in terms of like, this is gonna help me pay for things I want. And in moments where I think [00:27:00] in the moments where maybe it’s hard to find a reason.

Like how this job is gonna help me. I like help people reframe of, like, for example, my last job was like startup, very husty. And even though I have the work ethic to like really move like that, I, the intention I gave it was, I’m gonna let this job, job teach me how to be. A queen boundaries. 

Erika: Oof. 

Evie: And, you know, getting my work done in like, you know, within an hours are reasonable and not feeling that I have to do more because I’m not enough.

And I feel like that’s like, especially first gen Latinas, I think wrestle with that belief of like, I need to do more. I need to prove myself and a intentionally gave this job the, no, I know my worth. I’m gonna honor my boundaries and this is what it’s going to teach me because I’ll need this for. When I’m running my business, or I’ll need this when I wanna be a mother and have to have boundaries.

So I feel like there’s so, even if it’s like not like easy to define, like, oh this is gonna pay for my [00:28:00] master’s, or this is gonna pay for saving for a home. Like, I challenge people to what is the challenge or obstacle they’re dealing with and how can overcoming that prepare them for whatever it is in their life that they want to work on.

Erika: Beautiful. Oh my goodness. Beautiful. Well, I’m like, what else do I wanna talk to Evie about? This is such a good conversation. By the way, for those of you listening, we had nothing planned. We literally jumped on the call and I was like, here’s my vision. Here’s what people are struggling with. I feel like you’re a great person to talk to about this.

Let’s. Dive. Um, yeah, I think what, what else have you seen people struggling with? Because you and I share clients as well. We have clients that are in your program and in my program, and I feel like they compliment each other very well. So what have you seen people are currently struggling with right now in 2025 going into 2026?

Evie: That’s a really good question. So I think, Hmm, I think a big one that I’ve seen is. [00:29:00] I have clients who are trying to not only establish themselves in their career. But who are trying, who are preparing to be mothers. And this is one where it’s like, I, I know that I’m not there yet, but I like, it’s something I also want to do.

Yeah. So I get to support my clients in, in this way. And I think the biggest thing that I’ve seen is, um, again, going back to survival mode. A lot of us Latinos that come from maybe lower income backgrounds, we tend to associate money with stability. And a lot of the time, um, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to create the stability.

And especially when planning for motherhood, it’s like an additional stress. And what I have helped my clients move through is this idea of, um, if your job is stressing you out more than. The value it’s bringing, it’s time to reassess. And I think this is especially important [00:30:00] for women who are balancing trying to be mothers and trying to move through their careers.

And it is like one of my current clients, she has become the, she used, I’m so excited, I’m gonna have a a client testimonial podcast recording with her. But she went from being like your, you know, first gen Latina like. Like overachiever in her career mm-hmm. To literally becoming the most like boundary like, you know, imposing queen that I have seen in my program.

And she like leaves these boundaries so elegantly that it doesn’t even feel like, it’s like it can’t be upsetting, you know? And she just walks away and she’s literally moving through, um, like her, you know, pregnancy and she’s just like. So good at knowing that her priority is her family, her priority is her pregnancy, and that her job is just there to provide some financial stability, and it’s just so been so beautiful to see this shift in her because like she is so confident in herself and regardless of whatever [00:31:00] happens with her job, she’s like, oh, I know I can pivot.

I know I have the skills to get a job quickly and easily because we’ve worked through a lot of the, you know. I think like limiting beliefs in like job, uh, searching. And she used to be the client who was like, Hey, this person wants to gimme an offer. I’m gonna take it. And I was like, does it align with what you’re looking for though?

Is it the culture you want, the type of job you want, the salary that you’re looking for, you know? And so it’s been beautiful to see this mag like this. Just giant shift in her energy and the way that she like, you know, I think steps into any room, whether it’s like virtual or at work. Yeah. And just like she’s redefined her priorities and has made her job kind of like support her life as opposed to like her trying to feel like she has to prove herself at work.

’cause she recognizes I already do a great job. Like I don’t have to prove anything to them and I don’t have to prove anything to myself. So I think that’s. Probably the biggest thing that I’ve seen, [00:32:00] um, going into 20, uh, going this year. And I think the second thing I’ve seen is, um, people are strategically kind of like trying to position themselves a little better for potential layoffs.

And I think one of my clients, the way she’s navigating it is she’s kind of the person assessing her current role. Like how can my current job. Um, you know, add value in the event that they can’t gimme the salary increase that I want. Mm-hmm. And how do I calmly and peacefully over the next couple months?

Like, work on my resume, work on my LinkedIn, um, you know, optimization so that she can welcome great opportunities. She’s like lightly testing, like interviewing other places, other great jobs. And so it’s this confidence of like, I have so many options. If I get laid off, literally there’s so many things going on and I get to choose.

And that is also like a big energy shift on top of her, you know, saving and investing. She’s creating the financial foundation and safety that she needs [00:33:00] to be able to feel confident in, um, when she does have a job change. It’s not just a lateral change. It’s gonna be like, you know, for a higher salary. So it’s, those are the two things I think I’ve seen, um, trends that I’ve seen this year with working with clients.

Erika: Ooh, those are so good. Especially the, the motherhood one. But I think the common theme I’m seeing in those two, the, in the two that you mentioned is that people have gone from being so energetically attached to their job to define their worth, to like, the transition is like, oh my gosh, my job defines me too.

My job is just a job. I’m here to do the job and get paid for the job, but I’m so much more than this job. My worthiness doesn’t depend on this job, and that’s such a beautiful transition because I feel like Latinas, women of color, we again have such a strong work ethic and we are. Conditioned unfortunately to like look for validation from our roles and from our jobs [00:34:00] where a layoff can feel like the biggest form of rejection.

Or even just like applying for a job, right, and not getting the job. It’s like, can you imagine if you got every single job you applied for? You would be overwhelmed with trying to make a decision, like be thankful for the ones that didn’t work out because those were the ones that were not for you. But because of our cultural conditioning, sometimes.

With that fear of failure is so ingrained in us where we directly connect that to our worth. When the reality is a job is just a job and there’s so many jobs out there that when one doesn’t work out, another one can work out. But our emotional attachment to it is what makes us suffer so much. So it sounds like that’s really one of the key things that you’ve been able, able to support clients with and that’s huge.

Evie: Yeah, it’s, it’s been really big. AndI think at the end of the day it’s like creating like safety. I mean, that’s what, what, like for me, that’s what has helped me like move through nothing’s in my, not just things in my business, but also through like different sh shifts and [00:35:00] transitions in my career. And look, creating safety looks different for everyone.

Yeah. And I think that’s why, it’s just like really being able to understand like, what actually do I need to feel safe? Mm-hmm. And reassessing like, what historically did I used to, you know, attach safety to? And is that real? And I think that’s a big one that I personally have been like moving through.

And especially with finances, I’m like really recognizing that like these are actually the fears of my parents, especially like my mom being an immigrant. Yeah. You know. So it’s just like, oh, I recognize that her being like, I’m not sure of doubtful if I should take this, um, risk or this, like, you know, um, new job is from a place of like her experience and, and my mom is, um, from Guerrero, Mexico and you know, grew up in extreme poverty and I recognize like, dang, like even though that was her experience, I still carry a lot of that and I have to recognize what is hers.

What is mine? Yeah. And how my situation is very drastically different, [00:36:00] and how can I ensure to take the right calculated risk in my career, in my business, so that I am actually like, you know. Aligning with my, my values, aligning with the goals that I want. And I think even moving through that can be brings up so many feelings, you know?

Totally. Oh, 

Erika: you hit the nail on the head with that one. And I just got this visual of this is how I imagine, um, some people in that have filled up, like the market survey research. I, I can almost like see the loop that they’re in and I think what’s happening is, to your point, they don’t currently feel very safe, so they stay where they.

No, like they stay in their comfort zone of their job. They don’t advocate for themselves at their job. So they feel unfulfilled and they feel, um, underpaid, undervalued, and because they are underpaid, undervalued, and are afraid, they’re just trying to like stay in their comfort zone. So they have these desires.

They know they either want a different job or they know they wanna start a side hustle, or they know they [00:37:00] wanna start creating content, but. They don’t, they just go to maybe like do research and they get stuck in research and then maybe they’ll attend like a free training. But then because they don’t feel safe, they don’t make the investment and then they don’t make the investment.

So then they’re like still stuck and they’re waiting for something to change. But what I’m hearing from you, which I second, I sign off on it, it’s that the key is you must find safety where you are so that you allow yourself to, to those calculated risks that are going to help you get ahead. Just like.

When you invested in purpose Driven Latina, just like when I invested in my first coaching program, courage Driven Latina wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for that. Right? Like it wouldn’t even be here. And at the moment it felt like, who knows if this is gonna work? And now looking back, I’m like, I’m so glad I made that decision.

But to conclude all of this, to get out of the cycle, it’s about finding safety with where you are now and trusting yourself and knowing if I make a decision, if I make an investment. I have the power [00:38:00] to make it worthwhile. I have the power to, to make the most of it. And you also said you joined every call, you asked for coaching and you saw the return on investment.

And that was when the program was 12 weeks. Now it’s 12 months. So, um, did, did I miss anything there? Would you agree 

Evie: with 

Erika: that? 

Evie: No, like I 100% agree with everything you just said and touching. Going back to a couple things I think you mentioned like, oh, like the idea of like, oh, recognizing we’re underpaid.

Like just to give some statistics. ’cause like I think this is like. I see statistics as a way to see current reality. Yeah. But that means you get the opportunity to change your reality love, but sometimes you that. Yeah. And so right now, with the Latina Eagle Pay, like day, like what the, the data is showing that Latinas make only about 52 cents.

For every dollar that a white non-Hispanic man makes. So what does the date actually mean? So this year, I think it was [00:39:00] October 8th, Latina equal payday. Um, this means that Latinos would have to work an extra 10 months just to catch up for what, you know, their counterparts made it in the last year. 

Erika: Wow.

Evie: That is like so crazy when you think about it, especially when you think about how. Strong. The work ethic of many Latinos are, and the reason I’m touching on this is because Latina workers stand to lose nearly $1.3 million in earnings over their 40 year career because of this gap. 

Erika: Wow. 

Evie: That is literally generational wealth.

Yeah. And it starts with one conversation, which is negotiation. And I’m sharing these, this information and data to almost encourage people to be like, this is the actual numbers. These are like the impact of not negotiating and the impact of not advocating for ourselves. And on top of that, there’s a direct correlation.

I think it’s like a Harvard study, but it shows that the largest pay gap for Latinas exists. [00:40:00] The more education that Latinas have, what does that mean? It means that, right? It means there’s a myth that we think if we work harder, if we invest in more degrees, that we’ll get paid our worth. We leave it up to companies and systems to provide our value.

And this is why I say this. I don’t say this from a place of shame. I say this from a place of like, we need to learn to be our biggest self advocates because companies will be happy to pay us like, you know. The minimal for them to make their profits. So that’s where we have to take care of ourselves by recognizing our worth, by negotiating and advocating for ourselves, by knowing what we bring to the table.

And by learning to have these conversations, like negotiating as kind of like a business, like nothing like, like it’s not personal. Can feel personal, but like recognizing this is a business conversation where I’m sitting my rates with a [00:41:00] business and I, I wanted to share all of that because. Like the more that people invest in making more money, um, especially within their careers, the more that they can leverage in literally putting that extra money wherever they want.

Whether it’s investments, whether it’s like coaching programs, whether it’s a business, whether it’s travel, like whatever it is. I think that’s why I do the work I do, because I just feel like when women make more money, literally they make the world a better place. So it’s just like. Then why a hundred percent this?

Why can’t shut up about salary negotiations? Because it’s just like, there’s just so much for people to step into and um, I know it means tackling these really challenging conversations and challenging, like self-reflections. 

Erika: Yes. Oh, everything you just said. And to your point about, you know, the more education we have, you went through that salary conversation and realization as an engineer, right?

It wasn’t like you [00:42:00] were working an entry level job, 

 in retail, which there’s nothing wrong with retail.

Right. But I worked a retail job as one of my many retail jobs actually before getting my degree, but yeah. That’s wild. Um, so you do have a blog post on this, right? So if you can share that link with me, I can put it in the show notes. And then, um, just to wrap up, because I wanna be mindful of, of your time, thank you so much for coming on.

So if people are interested in joining Courage Driven Latina, is it okay if they reach out to you to learn about your experience in it? 

Evie: Yeah, absolutely. And I even have more time on my calendar, so I please like invite and welcome people to reach out in my DM and I’m happy to share my experience from courage driven.

Erika: Amazing. So if you join us, just let us know that you talk to Evie so that we can thank her. Um, and then Evie also has a workshop coming up, a webinar coming up. Do you wanna tell us about that? And I’ll be sure to include all the links down below in the show notes. 

Evie: Yeah, [00:43:00] sure. So I do have a salary negotiation webinar coming up November 19th, and this touches on the impact of the pay gap, uh, for Latinas, the mindsets that hold high achieving Latinas back from negotiating, and then strategies on how to leverage, um, salary negotiations.

Um, so this is like literally perfect for anyone who hasn’t negotiated and has been thinking about it or maybe had a bad experience is like, Ugh, I really need help and need support. Or even if someone’s looking to be, um, what’s the word? Preparing for their annual reviews. Annual, mm-hmm. Um, yeah, because that, even though that tends to happen in the beginning of the year or in spring, those conversations actually need to start like a quarter or two ahead of time to actually show justify.

To your managers, like why you merit a higher, you know, salary. So if you are thinking already thinking about annual reviews, like this is a great time to come and learn what strategies you can implement, um, to help you make more money at work. 

Erika: Amazing. All right, well we will link [00:44:00] all of that down below.

Evie, thank you for joining us. This was such a good conversation. Um, I swear just the impromptu conversations are always the best because it’s like, I feel like it’s as if you and I were sitting at a coffee shop having a conversation and people were just listening in, and I feel like those are the best.

Evie: Yeah, no, they always feel really like, um, genuine and just like organic. And I feel like we’re able to weave through such like interconnected themes because again, like I know we’re talking about cyber negotiations. I know we’re talking about money and investing in programs, but it’s so much deeper than just the money.

Um, yeah, so I, I love that we can have these like. Flowing conversations about energy and you know, our fears and different things like that. 

Erika: Yes, I love it. Well, best of luck with the rest of your Latina. Eat, pray, love travels and I will see you on our next call and thank you so much for coming on. 

Evie: Of course.

Well, thank you so much. [00:45:00]