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📺 Watch now on Substack or YouTube | 🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

This week’s Millennial Master is Yota Trom, executive coach and promotion strategist.

Yota has worked inside some of the biggest tech companies in the world. She did the long hours at Yahoo and Amazon, played the grateful employee, and stayed quiet when it came to money. And like a lot of people, she paid for it with burnout.

Today, she helps founders, leaders, and high performers fix the exact problem she once had. Not by telling them to “work harder”, but by teaching them how to ask properly, position their value, use personal branding as leverage, and build a business case the company can’t ignore.

She’s helped clients 3x and 4x their salaries, move from manager to VP, and stop blaming the system when the real issue was never knowing their worth.

This conversation is about money, promotions, and self-belief. And why most people stay underpaid not because they’re bad at their job, but because they never learned how the game actually works.

🔗 Find Yota on LinkedIn and Instagram

Takeaways from Yota’s episode

1️⃣ Most people are underpaid because they’ve never done the maths

A huge number of high performers have no idea what their role is worth in the market. They benchmark against friends, old salaries, or what feels “good enough,” not against data. Until you understand the real value of your skills, level, and impact, every pay conversation starts from the wrong number.

2️⃣ Promotions are business decisions, not rewards for effort

Companies don’t promote people because they work hard or feel loyal. They promote when there’s a clear return. The strongest cases show how a bigger role changes outcomes for clients, revenue, team performance, or decision-making. If you can’t articulate that clearly, the answer will drift or stall.

3️⃣ You’re probably already doing part of the next role

When people map out what they do today versus what the next level actually requires, the gap is usually smaller than they think. Many are already operating at 30-60% of the role above them without realising it. Writing this down is often the first moment they see their own leverage.

4️⃣ Managers aren’t your only decision-makers

Most promotions are discussed in rooms you’re not in. Senior leaders form opinions long before anything is announced. Building visibility and trust across the wider leadership group massively increases your chances, especially when managers aren’t strong advocates on their own.

5️⃣ Positioning yourself is a leadership skill

As you get more senior, how you communicate your value becomes part of the job. Being clear about your strengths, impact, and direction helps others place you correctly when opportunities come up. This applies internally with leadership teams and externally through personal branding and visibility.

More resources from Yota Trom:

* 1:1 coaching to fast-track your next promotion

* Build a standout personal brand as a founder

* Download the free workbook to uncover your real value

📚 Yota’s book recommendation

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck — Yota comes back to this one because it explains why so many capable people stay stuck. If you don’t believe you’re allowed to grow, ask, or take up space, no negotiation tactic will save you. This book helps you fix that at the root.

In this episode we cover:

00:00 Introduction to Yota Trom

02:14 Stop asking for a raise, build a business case

10:24 From Yahoo and Amazon to coaching full time

15:40 The unsexy reason people stay underpaid

16:41 The six-step promotion plan (in plain English)

23:35 Your manager is not your only advocate

27:31 Founders: Why your best people drift off

31:17 What motivates people when money is capped

35:26 Self-worth, scarcity, and founder pay guilt

38:59 “Fairness” and why positioning gets rewarded

44:48 Personal branding as a promotion weapon

51:03 Find your “superpower” and make it obvious

57:51 AI adoption: mindset is the real blocker

01:02:04 Scaling yourself without burning out

01:06:54 Fear, doubt, and the push that changes everything