Always Ask For Equity
Dear Reader,
This is a bonus essay on a key Method I have thought about constantly but not quite put into practice. New Method 50 - Always Ask For Equity, will be the starting point for my next book and will define the next decade of my life.
In my book New Methods For Women - you’ll find the 49 Methods I’ve used to design my life. Get your copy here…
This essay is very long and split into three parts.
I - Why I have no equity
II - Why Leadership and Entrepreneurship don’t always work.
III - A roadmap for Women & Ownership
Let me know in the comments what resonates.
New Method 50
Always Ask For Equity
Having ownership in the companies that we work for and the projects we contribute to is a key part of creating our economic power. This is so that we may have the rights to design the world we want to live in. To have voting power, as well as a voice. For far too long, women have contributed to art, music, literature, fashion, science, tech, media etc without seeing any of the wealth benefits when their intellectual property is turned into a revenue generating business. So now we look at our contracts in detail and we choose equity, long term royalties or revenue share over short term cash. We take care of our IP, our rights and our name, knowing that it has value. That we have value.
Above all we create what we consume. We build and we make and we take ownership. Ownership does not mean we are greedy. It does not (always) mean that we are power hungry. Owning things is not inherently bad. We do enough so that we may provide for ourselves, our families and our communities. We own, so that we may create generational wealth and keep our familial bonds strong. We own, for our own wellbeing - to avoid resentment, frustration and bitterness. We own so that when a company has a significant positive financial event, we too can become angel investors and civic guardians and redistribute our wealth to a more diverse group of founders and world builders. We always ask for equity, points, commission, whatever it looks like for us in our industry. So when they get a payday, so do we.
PART I
One day the money just stopped coming. There was no announcement or letter. Just a bank account that was devoid of the royalties that I was due to receive for designing a nail art pen for a new, fast growing brand. The brand was founded by three older men who, like me, saw a gap in the market for a modern nail brand built for millennial girls who wanted more. These three men…
