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How to Optimize Your Corporate Salary, Equity & Benefits
Thamina Stoll
April 16, 2026
Hi Sheconomist Insider 👋 It’s Thamina, Founder of The Sheconomist. This is your bi-weekly dose of celebrating the female economy where I help ambitious, purpose-driven women like yourself flip the script on money, career & wellbeing conventions so you can live life on your own terms.
TLDR:
👊 Creating the best kind of career debt for yourself and others
👩💻 More AI resources for you because I’m constantly being asked
💰 Join my free Money Masterclass on April 29th
💜 Meet Suze Dowling, Co-Founder Pattern Brands & The DTC Operator
Friendly Ask: Do you love this newsletter? Do you want more in-depth resources such as courses, events, and a membership? Then please share The Sheconomist with your friends 💜
🧪 Freedom Formulas
There is a networking move so underused that when you start doing it consistently, you are guaranteed to benefit.
It doesn't require a coffee meeting, a LinkedIn comment, or even a face-to-face conversation.
It's a five-sentence email to someone's manager.
Here's how it works: when a colleague helps you, delivers great work alongside you, or comes through on something, you send a short note to their manager flagging it. CC your own manager.
Something brief and specific:
“[Name] stepped in on the [Client Name] deliverable at a critical moment and turned around a polished, well-positioned brief that directly addressed the gaps in their roadmap presentation. Her cross-functional instincts and deep understanding of their partnership priorities made a real difference, the client came out of that meeting with significantly more confidence in the relationship. We've since had a conversation about expanding the scope of our partnership, which could lead to us closing a $800,000 deal, which I don't think would have happened without the trust that was built in that room. Wanted to make sure this was on your radar.”
That's it.
Now let me tell you what it does.
For the colleague, it creates a paper trail of good work that reaches the people making decisions about their career. Most good work happens and then disappears. A single email anchors it. You've now done something for their career that their manager may not have otherwise seen, and people don't forget that.
For you, it signals something to your own manager that's almost impossible to manufacture through direct self-promotion: that you move through work generously, that you understand the relational texture of an organization, that you think beyond your own deliverables. That reads as leadership.
For the relationship, it creates a debt of the best kind, the kind that makes someone want to go out of their way when you need something, not because they feel obligated, but because they genuinely want to.
The math is asymmetric. (and you probably know by now that I’m all about making asymmetric bets)
Three minutes of your time.
Significant return in goodwill, reputation, and access.
The reason more people don't do this is the same reason most visibility tactics go unused: it feels like it should be harder to count as a real career move. It doesn't. Simple things done consistently create outsized results.
Five sentences. The right two people CC'd. That's the whole formula.
❣️ Thamina’s Top Picks
✨ This week’s Moodboard
Post credits go to LEA MARIE, createdbycaitlyn, Lidia Ryczek, 𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑒-𝑏𝓀𝒿️
🤫 You can save this image for inspiration and/or share it on social media. Pls tag me @thaminastoll
💸 Cooking up Wealth
I'm hosting a free money masterclass - and I’d love for you to be there.
Something nobody tells you when you land a strong job offer: income and wealth are not the same thing. Period.
You can be earning well, negotiating, and still watching your net worth move slower than it should because salary is only one part of your compensation. The equity and the benefits, that's where the real leverage is. And most of it goes unclaimed or unoptimized not because you're not smart, but because nobody ever explained how it works.
That's what I'm doing on April 29.
Free masterclass. 60 minutes. I'm going to talk about the money you’re leaving on the table without even realizing it, the common wealth leaks, and the framework for turning what you already earn into long-term freedom.
🌊 Women Making Waves
Suze Dowling scaled Pattern Brands from zero to 9 figures.
In one sentence: What's your purpose in life?
“To build companies that outlast trends and to make sure more women understand the mechanics of how to do the same.”
It's not bragging if it's based on facts. What's an accomplishment you are proud of?
“I’m proud of co-building and operating Pattern into a multi-brand portfolio with real operational discipline behind it, and scaling zero to nine figures. And I’m proud of the two-plus years I’ve spent building The DTC Operator, largely in late nights alongside my day job, to turn over a decade of operating experience into tangible playbooks and templates for founders. One is building at scale. The other is making the path clearer for those coming next.”
What financial goal or milestone are you currently working towards?
“I’m working toward true financial independence through ownership.
Specifically, I want enough equity and cash-generating assets that I can invest in other women early, back ideas I believe in without hesitation, and make long-term decisions without short-term fear creeping in.
I’ve seen how powerful capital can be when it’s deployed with conviction. I want to be in a position where I’m not waiting for permission, not optimizing for optics, and not making decisions from scarcity.
I don’t want fragile success.
I want durable ownership.”
What is the greatest challenge young women are facing today?
“I think the greatest challenge young women are facing today is staying grounded while everything around them is amplified.
I’ve experienced seasons where things looked impressive publicly and felt uncertain privately. I’ve also experienced quiet years that didn’t look flashy but built the foundation for everything that came after.
It’s easy to feel behind when everyone’s highlight reel is in your face.
But careers compound the same way businesses do. Depth beats speed. Foundations beat flash.
The real challenge is trusting your own timeline enough to build something that works, not just something that looks like it’s working.”
How do you define success?
“Success, for me, is freedom.
Freedom to build the things I believe in. Freedom to say no without over-explaining. Freedom to take a smart risk without it coming from panic.
I’ve had seasons where things looked great on paper but felt unstable underneath. I don’t want that version of success anymore.
I want businesses that are profitable. I want ownership. I want to deeply understand the numbers so I’m never guessing. I want to build in a way that can withstand a bad year, a platform shift, or a macro shock.
If it’s fragile, it’s not success.
If it gives me real choice and real steadiness, it is.”
What's your favorite woman-owned/-founded brand?
“GNTL. I know the founder, Sydney, and I genuinely admire how she’s building the brand. The products are beautiful and thoughtfully developed, but what stands out to me most is the restraint and intentionality behind it. It feels grounded and values-driven rather than reactive to trends, and I respect that kind of steady, long-term brand building.”
Follow Suze’s work here:
Enjoyed this? Don’t forget to refer a friend (or five 😉). You can find your unique referral link below.
In abundance,
P.S.: If you want to work with me directly, you can do so here.
Please note that I may receive commissions for some but not all my recommendations. I will never recommend something I don’t actually genuinely believe in or haven’t used myself.
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