Hannah Williams hit a number of milestones in 2023 — the 27-year-old ex-data analyst married her husband and business partner, James Daniels; landed on the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list; and, in the first full year of running her business, Salary Transparent Street, brought in just over $1 million in revenue.
Williams recognized she had a smash hit on her hands when TikTok videos of her asking strangers how much money they make started going viral in early 2022. She realized she could monetize the idea through brand partnerships, and within a few months, Williams and Daniels quit their six-figure 9-to-5s to dive into their own business full-time.
“Part of me is still kind of shocked at how big the number is,” Williams says of crossing the $1 million mark. “But then at the same time, I’m like, that was a lot easier than I thought it was at the start of the year,” she adds. In 2024, she has her sights set on bringing in $2 million.
The majority, 97%, of that revenue comes from brand partnerships with big names like Indeed, Capital One and The Knot, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It, while about $30,000 came from creator funds via YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
Taking a $75,000 pay cut to grow to $1 million
Despite the accomplishment, Williams is quick to note that running a business with $1 million in revenue doesn’t mean she herself is flying high — she’s making a little more than she did working for an employer full-time, and her household earnings have taken a dip.
As a founder, there’s been situations where I’ve had to take less to make sure that my business can last in the long run.
Hannah Williams
Co-founder, Salary Transparent Street
Williams was earning $115,000 as a senior data analyst before quitting her job to run Salary Transparent Street full-time in 2022. That year, she paid herself roughly $150,000. In early 2023, Williams says she bumped her salary up to $200,000. But by mid-year, her accounting team suggested she reign things in if she wanted to expand her team to grow the business.
“As a founder, there’s been situations where I’ve had to take less to make sure that my business can last in the long run,” Williams says. “And the only reason that that’s worked out for me is because I have set up a really successful budget for myself and my family. I don’t live beyond my means. Even though technically I have a million-dollar business, I haven’t changed my lifestyle in any way.”
Williams has since brought her salary down to $125,000 per year. Daniels takes a $65,000 salary to work part-time hours as a videographer.
Daniels’s pay was also deliberately thought out, Williams says. As much as she’d want to pay her co-founder his previous salary of $112,000, “I want to be careful about not just paying people more because they’re family versus what their market rate is,” she explains.
“If for whatever reason James wants to go do something else down the road, it’ll be bizarre to now be like, ‘Oh, we have to hire a new videographer for 20 hours a month at $112,000.'”
The couple makes roughly $37,000 less today compared with two years ago. It’s “challenging to the budget,” Williams says, “but I think we’re very comfortable.”
She adds that Williams receives disability payments from the military “that helps sustain us,” but “by all means, we’re still making a little under $200,000 as a household. I’d love more, but I can’t complain with what I have. I live a good life.”
Hard lessons of being the boss
Since launching the business, Williams has hired a team of part-time workers and contractors, including an accountant, lawyer, social media manager, website development team, newsletter writers and blog writer.
Becoming a boss had its challenges. Williams says the biggest lesson she’s learned has been to hire slow and fire fast.
“It’s definitely something I’ve learned the hard way: Sometimes people make really great friends, but they don’t make great employees,” she says.
Now, Williams assesses the value of a candidate’s skills and what they deliver for the team.
She recognizes it’s “an anomaly” that she and her husband work so well together as co-founders. She boils it down to consistent communication, transparency and a mutual respect for each others’ roles: “I don’t step in his lane, and he doesn’t step in my lane.”
In the next year, Williams hopes to build Salary Transparent Street into a platform that discusses financial transparency at large and how people spend their money on housing, insurance and other everyday costs.
She’s also thinking about how to ensure transparency and equity discussions move beyond social media and into the real world. Williams previously testified in front of the D.C. council in support of its Pay Range Act to require employers to list salary ranges on job postings.
She hopes to share what she’s heard from everyday people with legislators to ensure the “information we collect isn’t going nowhere,” she says. “How can Salary Transparent Street take our interviews a step further to create protections and policies for workers in the workplace?”
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