Know your worth... and then add tax

A very well known and well respected US pageant titleholder once gave me the title of “The Pageant Shrink” after a long and emotional conversation about a deeply disappointing episode she’d experienced in the pageant industry.Conversations like this aren’t rare for me. I’ve been called on to act as everything from legal counsel to pageant confidante and everything in between. Part of that is my experience, but it’s also because of the unique position I occupy in the industry.I’m oddly well connected, known, and respected for someone who is as close to truly objective as is humanly possible.But I can’t have a conversation with everyone. And I know many of you will go through your share of pageant disappointments, and some of them will be deeply unfair or unjust. I have just one piece of advice:Know your worth.And then add tax (ok, that’s two pieces of advice).But seriously, know what YOU bring to the table, not in vague self help manifestation terms, but in real skills, experience, knowledge, work ethic, and sheer hunger. There’s a different type of confidence that comes from knowing you’ve outworked your competition at every turn.When someone tries to take advantage of you, or tries to put one over on you, know your worth.Even if you’re fortunate enough to have an amazing team behind you, they can’t be with you every minute of every day.There are entire industries that exist purely because women such as you don’t know their worth.Time to buck the trend.Adrian.PS: Next mock interview is on Thursday 20th November at 8pm EST. Click the button below to sign up or go to pageantmock.com (4 spots left). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe