Welcome to another edition of my fabulous series on amazing money women. Today I’m honored to bring you the story of Kitty, of Bitches Get Riches. Kitty, along with her partner Piggy, run this amazing site that won TWO Plutus awards this year, and I had the honor of meeting both of them at FinCon.
When I saw on Twitter that Kitty had hit the coveted six figure milestone, I immediately reached out to see if she would be kind enough to grant an interview. And sure enough, she was!
She’s a thirty-one year old female breadwinner, who’s proud of being successful at work and outearning her partner. She has some amazing advice for you about not being “a McDonalds napkin girl”, and how to succeed at a young age in a field that isn’t typically known for its high incomes.
So without further ado, meet Kitty.
Tell us about yourself!
By day, I’m a brand and design advisor for a major technology company. By night, I’m co-bitch Kitty of Bitches Get Riches, a site dedicated to helping low income people, especially young women.
Let’s get some details – how much money do you make, and how long did it take you to get there? And are you a millionaire or are you on the way?
$100,252.34! I also have an annual bonus and a retention bonus, which probably brings me closer to $120,000. That’s 2-3x that of the average working artist.
CMO Note – I love how specific you are, Kitty!
How did you get started in the workforce?
My first boss recruited me from a college job fair. I was *not* attending the job fair, just walking through it looking for a friend. I was dressed casually, had crazy pink and orange hair, no resume, nothing.
But this lady beckoned me over, told me she liked my aura, and asked me what my Myers-Briggs personality type was. I told her I was an ENTJ and she offered me an internship on the spot. (Can’t make this shit up!) I was managing her studio within two years, and she’s still a friend and mentor to me today.
How did you get from where you started to where you are now?
Well, I graduated in the spring of ’09. Which was basically Hogwarts Class of ’98 IRL. Dementors roaming the grounds, Muggle-born fleeing for their lives. It was the worst possible year to enter the job market in my lifetime.
So there was a lot of scrapping. My oldest resumes are a catalog of desperate, boldfaced lies. And there was a whole lot of relying on female mentors, which usually worked but also once backfired spectacularly.
CMO Note – I would love to learn more about the time that it backfired!
Where do you want to go in your career – and your financial life?
I don’t usually describe myself as being part of the FIRE movement. I want to be financially independent, and I do want to retire early, and I’m on-track for both. But I don’t really ascribe to all the underpinnings of the movement.
What I really want is to help other people up the ladder. I have this ideal vision in my mind of how the world *should* work, and I want to fight for that world, but I also recognize that people need advice for the world we live in right now. Nothing makes me happier than hearing I helped a reader learn how to advocate for themselves, because that also means I’ve put them on the path to advocating for others.
CMO Note – Love this. I also get the most reward out of hearing when I’ve impacted someones life for the better. Heck, I’ve had women tell me that my site makes them less afraid to be the breadwinner!
What’s the biggest challenge in being a breadwinning woman? What’s the best part?
I LOVE making more money than my partner. The idea of being with someone who makes more money than I do is fundamentally repellent to me. I would feel so wrong-footed if it were any other way.
What do you see as the key to earning such a high salary?
Your relationships with other people. Every raise I’ve ever gotten, every promotion I’ve ever been offered, I’ve gotten because other people were pushing, pulling, shoving, and shooting me up the ladder. Sometimes that was a lucky random act of pure kindness, and other times I’d earned their support by being my truest self, and a good good judy.
Have you ever experienced issues in the workforce because you’re a woman? What did you do in response?
Lord. Sure. Who hasn’t.
Look, our site is called “Bitches Get Riches” and we chose to use that word very intentionally. I was not put on this planet to cater to bullshit social norms or male fragility. I shut that shit down IMMEDIATELY.
The first time a man volunteers me to take notes in a group meeting is the last time it happens at that company. Because I will look him up and down and say, “Did you just volunteer the only woman in the room to play secretary? Take your own notes, Chad.”
Yeah, you’ll be called a bitch, you’ll be seen as difficult. Who cares. Being a difficult bitch gets me respect, and respect gets me paid.
I get my love at home, I don’t need it in the office.
Chief Mom Officer is primarily a personal finance blog – tell us about your saving and investment strategy
So I’m 31 right now, and my net worth is about a quarter mil. That’s huge for me, considering it took me until age 27 to reach a net worth of zero. Student loans and graduating during a recession is a real bitch of a double-whammy.
For now, my focus is on paying off my mortgage. I bought a $300K house three years ago and we’ve got it down to $200,000. Now that my partner is working again, it should only take us a few years to be completely independent. After that? Lord, who knows. I’ve probably earned one year of nothing but HoHos and video games.
CMO Note – You sure have! And you’re on a great track, Kitty. Compound interest alone will carry you far. And my next goal is paying off the mortgage too, although I bought my house 12 years ago. I’m looking forward to seeing you reach your goals!
What’s the top three pieces of advice you’d have for someone just starting out in the workforce, struggling with their career, or just looking to improve how they handle their money?
1. Don’t do shit for free. McDonalds napkins are free, and what do people do with them? They grab them by the fistful and shamelessly waste them. DON’T. BE. A. MCDONALDS. NAPKIN. GIRL. If somebody wants your time or your attention, make them crawl.
2. Erecting and defending personal boundaries is a necessary skill if you want to be stable, successful and/or rich. No is a complete sentence. You’re allowed to say it to anyone, at any time. It will probably take you most of your 20s to really learn that, and that’s okay.
3. Only exchange money for happiness. Don’t pay $20 for something that makes you $7 happy. And emphasis on the “you.” Ignore what makes other people happy, they ain’t you!
Where can people connect with you?
CMO Here Again
Thanks again to Kitty for stopping by to share her story! I love how she’s not afraid of being disliked at work. I’ve had the same darn thing happen with people looking at me expecting me to take notes, especially when I’m in a group with all men. Even when I’m the one leading the group! Sure I’ll take some notes if it’s my call, but I’m not a secretary. I’m a highly paid program manager, and I don’t think the company finds it a valuable use of my time taking notes for someone else.
Too many women are afraid of being disliked at work, or want to please everyone, so they volunteer for “low value” and “low recognition” tasks. You hope you’re seen as helpful, but being helpful in this way can hurt your career.
As Kitty says, “don’t be a McDonalds napkin girl”.
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That’s my girl!!!
Spring ‘09 grad here too – I wish that Hogwarts description was overreacting, but it was freaking bad. I know I STILL get paid less now than if I’d graduated in ‘04-‘05.
YUP! I graduated in February of 09, and it took me 6 months to even get a gig work. Gig work! I made $10,000 that year, despite graduating so early in the year. At least I didn’t lose any ears, though.
Oh, the taking notes thing. I’ve had that done to me to ‘put me in my place’. 🤦🏻♀️ I refused and said I’d rather take part in the discussion.
On the notes thing……um, yeah. I actually saw that happen in a meeting in my MegaCorp a few weeks ago. She was the only woman in the room, and she was directed to take notes by a male attendee that was not her manager.
I don’t think it was malicious or anything…she was the only intern in the room…but still. It’s like 2018, guys. Can’t believe people would be that oblivious. Especially as a guy with daughters who may be in that room (or one like it) someday.
So I ended up volunteering for it instead. Director of engineering, taking notes in a meeting. Whatever, I didn’t mind…I’ve done worse jobs in my life. Maybe I can’t fix everything, but I can at least fix one thing….
Fun story. My boyfriend was in a group of men feminists. At their all-male meetings, no one ever wanted to take notes. And so they decided notes weren’t necessary. This got a massive eyeroll from me, and cemented that I would never again be the woman to take the notes.
I call it out when I see it. I also appreciate my male co-worker who gets the note taking thing and is the only man I’ve ever seen offer.
Also, I love Bitches Get Riches.