To ask you to share how you did it

[Moneymanifestor]

Not a TAAT but inspired by one and a comment from another MNer. I'm a prolific name changer but I predate penis beaker.

I've seen a few threads lately about marrying rich, high earning husband's etc. and I thought it was time to ask the high earning women here to share how they did it. I'd would put a high earner at 70k and above.

I'm a business owner and my company makes multi 6 figures a year. I sell digital courses and consultancy. I have 1 virtual assistant and my business model is very lean. My salary to myself is 250k.

I left school at 17 with no qualifications. I didn't go to university. I worked in admin for 10 years before deciding I'd had enough of earning 25k. I did a course for 1 year part time despite struggling to afford the tuition. I bought a domain for £25 a year and set up my website. I wrote my first course based on what I had learned and started to sell it. The first year I made 50k and it's grown each year. My business is 3 years old!!

My username is a positivity anchor for me. I had to do a huge shift in mindset and it's one of the ways I remind myself that business isn't a zero sum game. I want to hear from other high earners that didn't start from a position of privilege because I want other women to see that with today's technology anyone can start a business for less than 100 quid.

Hi OP, my story is very outing but from homeless to 6 figure digital business owner, small team of FT employees.

Hen I feel the same as you and thank you op for sharing.

I have a Physics degree, OH a masters in Maths. But are both Teachers in the NE.
I guess we could earn 70k as an assistant head but I have no desire to be one.
I do think there would be more opportunities for us in London but then that comes with expensive living.

Thanks op for putting a different perspective on it.
My cousin seems to do a similar type of thing to you. I often see her posts for the hook thing on Facebook they are often inspiring but sometimes just as simple as what flavour coffee inspires you to work? I actually watch these ones out of curiosity.

Your story is so inspiring, OP!!
I dropped out of uni and worked a number of crap telemarketing jobs but continued my hobby on the side which I'd been following since I was 15. I now consult in the field and earn around £70k but have been stagnating the last few years, turning my consulting knowledge into courses is the next (slightly terrifying) step. I know I have the knowledge and the skills, I'm just finding the marketing/funnels slightly complex.

@bridgetreilly it's a course that is 6 weeks long with group coaching sessions and then if anyone feels they have the need for extra 121 it's available with me. Uptake is less than 4% so manageable but if it was more it's doable over 6 weeks.

Growth is organic. You start by building your website and making sure that it's got a great SEO so it can be found but being found by Google and getting to page 1 is HARD! Once the website is done I started doing blog posts/instagram post/guest posts on other websites. Then moved into free webinars offered on Facebook groups or posted to forums.

I comment on similar topics community giving my opinion. I also started a YouTube channel giving away my best information. I pitched to people with top rating podcasts in my area of interest and so on.

It grows from there and people who want to know more reach out. Having a social media presence is essential for my business because I don't pay for traditional advertising.

Hmm I wonder if I know who you are... if so I don't know your personally at all just one of your followers. Even if you're not, you have done incredible well, congratulations!

Thanks OP, I think I understand it a bit more now

Very welcome post 😀

SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation - making it as easy as possible for search engines like Google to find your site and be able to easily categorise it.

Great thread, and well done OP.

I’m just waiting for someone to come along and claim they made a fortune selling juice plus or some other pyramid scheme

For me luck has played a huge part.

I am lucky in that I am academically clever but due to lack of home support I did not apply this and just did a bog standard degree. I then languished in low paid admin roles as I lacked confidence/direction on what to do. I then applied for a job that was the most junior role in a large firm. At the time I had no concept of growth potential in the role and also what more senior people earned. I landed up being very good at the job, progressed and now earn almost 6 figures working 4 days a week. When I applied for the first role I actually wanted a different job I applied for in a different sector but I didn't get it. With experience I now know that sector is much less well paid but at the time I had no concept of earning potential in various industries and roles. DH is a very high earner and like me just fell into it by blind luck of applying for the most junior job going because it paid the bills. (We don't work together)

I did a degree that put me into an area where jobs were, and continue to be freely available. I upskilled as the opportunity presented itself, I moved job every year or two, including moving country when the opportunity presented itself.

By the time I was ready to have kids, that meant I could go freelance, and continue to have a high income from that whilst having flexible hours and not having to commute.

Some of it's been luck, but I'd also say that I put myself in the path of that luck, from the moment I chose my degree course, and from my willingness to embrace change.

Congrats OP, that's a great story. I suspect I can guess the kind of thing you do and I have an acquaintance that does similar but on the other side of the world and she is wildly, wildly successful. I don't think I have what it takes to do what you do, I don't think I'm brave enough to give enough of myself away on social media.

I'm another high academic achiever but low career achiever. I actually earn a decent amount in a traditionally blue collar job that has become pretty well paid over the years but not 70k although I could probably earn that with over time. I'd like to be more of an entrepreneur, and funnily enough OH and I have always had side hustles but never turned them into anything big. I don't know whether I'm just a mediocre entrepreneur or haven't found my 'passion' yet. I was going to say I'm lazy but that's not strictly true, I just won't put the effort in if something doesn't interest me.

Anyway, enough waffle, looking forward to hearing more stories of successful women. I know it's hard to give too much info without possibly outing yourselves, or giving away business secrets but I do find these sorts of threads so much more interesting when posters give specifics rather than being very general.

I've name changed for this as I am private about my salary IRL

I think this thread is valuable and I welcome the contrast to all the "how to marry a rich man" threads. Of course, money isn't everything, but I have always wanted to be a high earner. It buys you choice. I may send my kids to a state school at the moment, but it's nice to have the choice. I like driving an old car; cars don't interest me, but I like knowing that I could upgrade in the morning if I needed or wanted to.
I took a more traditional route. I was educated in in a state primary / private secondary and got very good grades across the board as well as participating in the usual MC extra-curriculars and sport. I studied a variation of Maths at a good, but not very top tier e.g. Oxbridge university. This was a deliberate choice as a way to enter a high-earning field. After uni I moved into investment banking and was promoted through the ranks Associate > VP> Director --> MD and now earn in the region of 500k PA depending on bonus. I have had children in my time there and took a year of mat leave with each.

I think that the number one skill that I find important and that I'm often complimented on is my verbal communication and presentation. I'm able to present complex ideas to people in an easy to understand way. It's no good know things if you can't make others understand them.

Wow OP you are an inspiration. Congratulations .

I am not a high earner due to circumstances. I didn’t go to Uni as planned and arrived in a different country to discover no one understood my qualifications from school ( yonks ago) now equivalent to five A levels. The Uni year here didn’t match up so I went and worked and trained in a job I loved. Met DH and married young. Had three DC Went to college as a mature student for two years. Gained an excellent mark then went to work in a poorly paid but very satisfying job. Continued to do courses. Have 25 certificates and qualifications including two part time module Uni course. At the top of pay scale which is same as an NQT teacher. No two days are the same but I do wish we were paid a bit more. I can’t imagine what it is like to be a high earner. DH gets a good wage but we live modestly. Country cottage, second hand car etc. We go for meals in top restaurant now and then which makes us appreciate it even more.

I am pretty satisfied with life. I have a good nest egg. I have four healthy children all working, well DD is doing Workaway this year.
Money isn’t everything and doesn’t always bring you happiness but if you are doing what you love, have time for family and friends and through hard work and honesty become a high earner good luck to you. It isn’t easy for women to have it all.

This thread makes me slightly uncomfortable. It seems it's the digital, techy, banking type roles that bring in the most money. So may I please remind people of the importance of other roles that may not be paid as well. My husband earns £43k in London, is a Doctor (PhD) and a highly skilled senior research scientist working to harness people's own immune system against cancer. His work is truly fascinating and is the future of cancer medicine.
My earning potential is much better, currently on £70k in a relatively junior role with great potential should I choose it. I am also a scientist but went down the pharma route where pay is better, but I can't help think my husband deserves to earn more than me considering the impact his research will have on countless of lives. It's not all about earning the very most you can, it's about making a difference.

This is very inspirational.

I'm 25 , graduated with 1st in business management, I've always work since i was 16 but since uni I thought i'd be in a 40K job by now, instead on 25k paying the bills.

the problem I have is I'm struggling with what to choose, i feel like I have to choose if I want to start a family or a career. My mum started the menopause at 32! And most women by the age of 35 in my family are going through the menopause so i know I want kids time is limited for me. But at the same time I want a career and to earn the big money, but I live in a blue collar city where careers aren't really a thing and opportunities are very limited.

Just Stuck!

Also should mention trying for a baby now at 25 and struggling already with fertility! So putting baby making plans back is also a massive no. Just feel at my age theres this pressure to pick babies or career. Am I been selfish in saying I want both!

I have namechanged and have been around since about 2003!

I came from very little. One of the big 4 accountancy firms came and was talent spotting kids through school and offered me the chance to go to university and then do articles with them which I did. I qualified and went straight back out into business. I had my 2 dcs young when it hardly made a difference to my career so I took a break of a few years. I then went back to work full time and got offered the chance to be a FD/CFO at a company when the previous one committed fraud. I took it and it's been a rollercoaster since then.

I'm in my mid 40s now and financially secure though I got divorced and my exh took half of what I had earned which set me back a fair bit. My pension is now woeful and I need to do something about that but I earn a very good salary and I'm lucky enough to have paid off my mortgage and my dcs are now adults.

I've always had a very strong work ethic. Because my parents weren't very well off when I was young, I've worked hard to be able to have the nice things in life like holidays which I never really had and I still pinch myself and sometimes feel like I don't deserve them. I think enthusiasm is underrated. I now interview a lot of new people for the business and I'm always surprised at how few people have that get up and go attitude. I would always say I'm a do-er not a thinker but I think that's helped me get where I am today. A lot of people come into the business world thinking that thinkers are where it's at - they are important but if you don't have the do-ers, your ideas will never pan out!

When I was 19 I was studying distance learning with the OU whilst also working as admin at a University, pay around £20k a year.
A friend had recently got a job as a PA which included live in accommodation at a whopping £26k a year and I was jealous, so I googled "Live in PA". Search results came up with a lot of Nanny/PA roles. I looked at the job description and thought "I can do that."

I cross referenced about 50 job adverts to find out what the common experience and qualification requirements were and then found the cheapest, shortest online course that would meet that requirement and plowed through it in about 2 weeks, a got the certificate.
I had a lot of casual childcare experience in babysitting, tutoring when I was in sixth form and I did a gap year as a teacher so I wrote all that up in a fancy way and applied to the jobs.
Ie. A heavy helping of confidence and determination.

My first job was £28k all living expenses paid. About 2 years later I broke up with my bf and decided to try applying for the international jobs.

8 years later (I'm now 28) I earn about £100k a year, working 30 hours a week abroad looking after an 8 year old, I have been given an apartment.

In the meantime, I'm setting up an employment agency with a friend and our very conservative estimatations (based on hard data) are a turnover of about £250k in the first year, £700k in the second and then £1.5m after that. Overheads will be low, so almost all of that will be profit.

In short, just do it. Research research research, be brave and go for things even if you don't think you'll get them and fake confidence!

Oh and I ditched the OU degree. It wasn't worth the expense or the time and I've found that degrees are pretty pointless unless you have a specific plan for them (eg doctor, lawyer etc)

Just googled 'penis beaker mumsnet' as I didn't know what you were on about. How hilarious! 😂😂😂

I haven't read the full thread yet. I grew up on a council estate and now earn 120k. I've not yet reached my peak earning potential (only just 40). I went to uni but didn't get a great degree due to extreme stress over money worries (sometimes couldn't feed myself). Once I got into the workplace it was a bit no go, but I've always been dedicated to self improvement, and slowly I pulled together the ingredients for my secret sauce of success. I tripled my earnings in 7 years with the following:

1. I worked like a demon. I do my absolute best in every task.
2. I did everything with a super positive attitude. Zero complaining, everything is a chance to learn and grow.
3. I was myself (I do what matches my temperament/personality, not what I'm supposed to do, e.g., I'm in a fairly aggressive male dominated field but I stay gentle as that is who I am.)
4. I build great relationships with my team/colleagues/seniors. The higher up you get the more you need a strong and loyal team with you.
5. I have a collection of positive mantras I repeat over and over in my head which keep my energy in the right zone.

I'd love if some younger person reading this took something out of this post and used it to build a great career. I had to learn it the hard way (not recommended!)

Now to go back and read others' tips.

I am early 40s and earn a little under 70k in a (private co) high tech industry doing marketing.

I got this far by a industry switch in my early 20s to technology, which led me through a couple of companies to where I am now, although with lots of the same colleagues and management (the industry is incestuous for that!).

I quite often look at my job and wonder how the fuck I came to be earning quite so much money for what I do. I think it boils down to the fact I have a very close working relationship with my manager and we bounce off each other almost "mind meld" style. So I can take a 1 sentence comment and turn that into an entire finished piece of marketing content, for example.

He knows I can be left alone to just crack on with stuff and also relies on me to step in as his deputy when he is unavailable, so I almost come and go as I please.

Getting back to actual salary, he has fought my corner for every pay rise going and I know I have got substantial raises at a time when other people in the company have got nothing.

I am at the point now where the next leap is into management rather than doing. I don't really want that, I like doing!

I also currently pay a whack into my salary sacrifice pension so as to bring me under the HR tax level. Something brought into focus a while back when I realised a young relatives entire monthly wage was less than my NI contribution!