Who Gets the Upside?

Welcome to Wednesday. Safe moves are officially off the table.

You helped build it.

The business.

The product.

The team.

The strategy.

The customer relationships.

The thing that's now generating real value.

You worked hard.

You made it better.

Maybe you even made it possible.

But here's a question:

Who gets the upside?

Not just the paycheck.

Not just the bonus.

Not just the recognition.

Who owns what your work is becoming?

Because creating value and capturing value are not the same thing.

And ambitious women need to understand the difference.

Last week, we talked about the difference between making money and building economic power.

The question was:

How much freedom does your income actually buy you?

This week, I want to take that conversation one step further.

Because there's another distinction we need to understand.

Being paid for creating value and owning a share of the value created are two different economic propositions.

A woman can help build a successful company without owning equity in it.

A consultant can develop a valuable system for a client without retaining the right to use or license it elsewhere.

A founder can grow a business that generates substantial revenue but still depends entirely on her personal labor to keep that revenue coming.

None of these arrangements is automatically wrong.

A salary can be excellent compensation.

A consulting contract can be profitable.

A founder may choose to build a business around her expertise.

But here's what I challenge you to consider.

We've spent a lot of time learning how to get paid for our work.

How much time have we spent learning how to own what our work creates?

That's a different conversation.

And it's one we need to have more often.

This week, I challenge you to follow the value.

Think about one thing you're helping build that could become more valuable over time.

A business.

A product.

A process.

A customer relationship.

A brand.

A piece of intellectual property.

A company you're helping grow.

Now ask yourself three questions.

Are you generating revenue?

Building something that can be sold repeatedly?

Developing intellectual property?

Creating systems that make a business more valuable?

Bringing in customers?

Growing an asset?

Name the value.

Who controls the business?

The equity?

The intellectual property?

The customer relationships?

The future revenue?

Who benefits if the thing you're helping build becomes significantly more valuable?

And how much of that upside, if any, belongs to you?

Could you negotiate equity or profit participation?

Could you structure a consulting agreement to retain rights to your pre-existing tools or intellectual property?

Could you create a product, service, or asset that you own?

Could you build a business that becomes less dependent on every hour you personally work?

You won't always be able to negotiate ownership.

And employment agreements, contracts, and intellectual property rights matter.

But you can start understanding the arrangements you're entering.

And you can start asking about the upside before you've already created it.

Imagine you're helping build a company.

You're bringing in customers.

Developing systems.

Improving operations.

Contributing ideas that increase the company's value.

You're being compensated for your work.

Good.

But as the company grows, you begin asking a different question.

Not just:

What will I be paid for doing this?

But:

If this becomes significantly more valuable, how do I participate in that value?

That question might lead to a conversation about equity.

Profit-sharing.

Performance-based compensation.

Long-term incentives.

Or a different arrangement entirely.

Maybe the answer is no.

Maybe ownership isn't available.

Maybe the existing compensation is worth the tradeoff.

That's useful information, too.

Because the goal isn't to demand equity in every situation.

The goal is to understand whether you're being compensated only for today's contribution or also participating in tomorrow's value.

And if the opportunity doesn't offer the upside you want?

You can decide whether to accept the terms, negotiate differently, or begin building something you own.

That's what changes when you start thinking beyond the paycheck.

You begin evaluating opportunities based on what they might become and what your place in that future could be.

At the SheIsMe Global Conference last week, one of the ideas I brought into the financial conversation was this:

Income gives you resources. Ownership gives you leverage.

And I've been thinking about how important that distinction is.

Income matters.

We should earn more of it.

Negotiate for it.

Stop apologizing for wanting it.

But income isn't where the economic-power conversation ends.

Because there's a difference between receiving money for the work you do and owning something that can continue creating value.

Equity.

Intellectual property.

Businesses.

Investments.

Assets.

These are ways women can participate in value beyond a single transaction or paycheck.

Ownership isn't automatically profitable, and it comes with risks and responsibilities.

But it creates possibilities that compensation alone may not.

You can create value today and have a stake in what that value becomes tomorrow.

And here's where Huddle Your Teammates becomes especially powerful.

We can help more women understand and access ownership opportunities.

Tell another woman how equity compensation works.

Share what you've learned about negotiating contract terms.

Introduce her to a potential business partner.

Refer customers to her business.

Connect her with capital.

Invest in women-led businesses when it's appropriate for our financial circumstances.

Support the women building things they own.

Because women's economic power doesn't grow only when individual women earn more.

It can also grow when more women own a share of what gets built.

And when we deliberately move information, customers, capital, and opportunity between women, we help create more pathways to that ownership.

That's how the conversation gets bigger.

From earning.

To owning.

To multiplying economic power together.

Brazen Law reinforced: Don't just create value. Negotiate your share of it.

What are you helping build that someone else will own?

And what would it take for you to participate in more of the upside?

That's today's move.

Know what you're building.

Know who owns it.

Start thinking about your share of the upside.

Women like us don't just help create value. We work to build ownership, too.

—Martise
Founder, BrazenEra
Author of The Brazen Code

P.S. - One of the central arguments in The Brazen Code is that women's economic power requires more than individual excellence and higher earnings.

We also need to build ownership.

Assets.

Income we control.

Businesses and intellectual property.

And relationships that help us move information, opportunities, and capital toward one another.

Put Yourself First. Be Brazen. Huddle Your Teammates.

The audiobook of The Brazen Code is available now, with the ebook and paperback to follow.

Listen to The Brazen Code on Spotify →

The Brazen Code isn't just something I want ambitious women to read or listen to.

It's something I'm proposing we practice.

Think about a woman who's building something valuable.

Maybe she's launching a business.

Developing a product.

Creating intellectual property.

Growing a company.

Or considering an opportunity where equity or ownership could be part of the conversation.

Ask her:

"Have you thought about how you'll participate in the long-term value you're creating?"

Maybe she already has.

Maybe she hasn't.

Maybe you know someone who can help her understand her options.

Make the introduction.

Share the information.

Refer a customer.

Connect her with someone who understands equity, contracts, or business ownership.

And if you have an opportunity to direct meaningful business toward something a woman owns, consider making that move.

Because Huddle Your Teammates isn't just about helping women get paid.

It's about helping more women build, own, and participate in the economic value we create.

Women like us don't just ask who gets the upside. We help one another get a share of it.