For years I struggled with setting fees for my coaching business, for pricing a speaking or facilitating engagement, and for any of the numerous requests I get for my time and services. I often undervalued myself and then would feel resentment at doing work for a small amount of money. I’m privileged to struggle with this issue in that many in our country are overworked and underpaid. And yet, I’m still the only one responsible for my income and the only one to set my fees.

As I’ve become more confident in my abilities and more confident to ask for more money, I get pushback from people who think my fees or proposals are too high. That pushback used to really scare me as well. “What if they say no?” “What if they think I’m greedy and not worth it?” “What if they don’t like working with me and regret paying me so much?” I’ve had to work hard to push my way through these fears and to stand in my belief of my own worth. I’m pretty sure it’s a work in progress. However, I am progressing.

Defending Your Worth: A Case Study

Recently, two women in a small organization asked me to give them about fifteen hours of my time. Some of that time was travel, some was presenting, and some was facilitating. They asked me for a proposal and I sent them one utilizing my hourly fee times the fifteen hours of my time spent. They came back fairly quickly and said that was too high for them and they wanted to see a breakdown of my fees. When I wrote back, I simply shared my dollar per hour fee and multiplied it by fifteen hours.

One of the women said, “Wouldn’t it be less for your travel time? Isn’t facilitating easier than presenting content?” I sat on those questions and thought carefully about them and then I responded back with, “My time is valuable, and thus I keep my hourly rate the same, regardless of what I’m doing. If I’m driving to your office, that’s time that can’t be spent on a coaching call or other work-related items.”

That email felt so freakin’ good! My time is so valuable. What I do matters, my life matters, my worth matters. No one has to hire me. However, if they do, I’ll be asking them to pay me for the value I bring to the situation. Not just that, the value I bring is long-lasting and can help an individual or team for years to come. How much is future change worth? It’s hard to put a price tag on that and the exponential way it changes lives.

Knowing my worth feels good. Valuing my own time feels even better. I can’t recommend it enough.

Love,

Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. PCC