Hi Reader,

If your inbox looks anything like mine right now, it’s…
​40% OFF! 60% OFF! ONE DAY ONLY! FREE SHIPPING! CYBER! MEGA! BLOWOUT!

It’s like capitalism blew a gasket.

And listen, I love a good deal. I love getting something I need for less. I love when the universe aligns and the thing in my cart is suddenly 50% off like a cosmic wink.

But there’s something wild about watching the frenzy of post-Thanksgiving sales right after diving deep into a conversation about the gender wage gap.

Because here’s the truth no promo code will cover up:

Women literally have less money to spend—because we are still paid less.

Not just “X cents on the dollar” less.
Not just “moms earn less.”
Not just “some industries are worse than others.”

In my conversation with Alex Gailey, a data reporter and analyst at Bankrate, she unpacks how the wage gap isn’t one big number—it’s a hundred tiny cuts:

• The raise you didn’t get because the company “didn’t have the budget.”
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• The job you weren’t considered for because they wanted someone “young and energetic.”
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• The salary band they wouldn’t show you.
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• The years you stepped back to care for someone because there was no support.
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• The emotional labor no one tracks but everyone expects.
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And then we enter Black Friday weekend, where marketers tell women:

BUY MORE! SAVE MORE! DO MORE! BE MORE!
​(While still being paid less.)

The timing would be hilarious if it weren’t so…predictable.

But here’s the empowering part:

Understanding the numbers is power.
​It’s not depressing context (well, it's not just depressing context)—it’s fuel.

Alex talks about how transparent data helps women negotiate, advocate, and build lives rooted in actual agency, not just vibes.

It helps us make decisions with our eyes open.
It helps us stop blaming ourselves for systemic failures.
It helps us stop shrinking our dreams to fit the paycheck someone else decided we deserved.

And that kind of feels like the most anti-Black-Friday thing of all.

Not buying less—
but believing knowing we deserve more.

If you need a conversation that grounds you this week (between chaotic inboxes and family leftovers), this one is worth your time.

✨ Listen to the conversation with Alex Gailey on YouTube here​

or on Spotify here!​
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Because the sales will end.
But the work of building a world where women are actually paid what we’re worth?
​That’s just getting started.

XO,
Danielle

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