The math on a $150K base, and why the first executive offer matters most

Women do, in fact, ask for more than they are given. Kray, Kennedy and Lee's 2023 Berkeley Haas research shows that 54% of women, versus 44% of men, pushed back on their latest offer, yet women still walked away with less pay. What matters, in other words, is not whether you speak up at all. The real loss happens when the ask is too small, arrives too late, or never gets made on the single offer that sets every number that comes after it.

Here is a simplified example. Imagine your first executive offer in Salt Lake City is $150,000, and you could have pushed for $160,000. You accept the lower figure. Every future increase is calculated as a share of whatever figure you began with. At 3% a year, that single $10,000 gap grows to roughly $270,000 in base pay across two decades, before any bonus or retirement match, which are themselves calculated on top of the base. Your first executive package counts the most, since all subsequent offers are benchmarked against it.

SHORT The quiz

Think honestly about your last three offers or raises and mark yes or no for each.

1. Did you name a precise number, rather than asking for "a bit more"?

2. Did you bring up compensation before accepting, instead of afterward?

3. Were you aware of the published pay band for the position and where your target sat inside it?

4. In Salt Lake City, did you push for something beyond the base pay, such as a bonus, stock options, a better title or an earlier start date?

5. After naming your figure, did you wait in silence rather than rushing to fill the gap?

6. When you were told "that's the ceiling of the range," did you follow up by asking what could change it?

7. Before resigning from anything, did you get the final terms in writing?

8. Did you skip the apologies, the personal budget explanations, and the "I know this is awkward" preamble?

9. Before the talk, did you check with a recruiter or colleague in Salt Lake City or along the Wasatch Front about what the role typically pays?

SHORT 10. Over the past two years, did you negotiate at least once, even when no offer was on the table?

Interpreting your result

Score 0 to 3: you have generally taken the first figure you were given. That habit is not a personal failing. Few people in Utah or anywhere else are ever taught how these talks really work, whereas the employers across the table rehearse them every year. No one reading this has more to gain than you do.

Score 4 to 7: you do ask, but part of the value slips through. The leak is usually in the timing or in skipping the second item. The missing income is genuine but can be won back, and your next negotiation is the place to start.

Score 8 to 10: you approach negotiation the way someone who has studied the other side's tactics would. What you need now is to confirm that your starting reference point reflects the market, not merely your personal track record.

SHORT Next steps

If you scored 0 to 3, pick one line to use at your next offer and practice it out loud from Sandy to Draper until it comes easily: "I'm excited about this. I was expecting a base closer to X. Can we get there?"

If you scored 4 to 7, bring in the second item. Once base pay is agreed, try saying: "Thank you. Could we also review the bonus target?" Securing the first point makes the second easier to achieve.

If you scored 8 to 10, complete a market comparison this quarter, measuring your current base against the midpoint for your title in Murray, Millcreek or anywhere across the Wasatch Front. Salt Lake City's pay landscape is strong in several sectors, and if you are below the midpoint, your skill at negotiating is serving a number that was off from the start.

Share your result with a woman you coach here on the Wasatch Front. The most affordable fix for a weak first executive offer is a friend who has already gotten through one.