How to get your ideal salary, as told by famous women

Women already have to deal with the gender pay gap, but on top of that many say there’s a kind of social conditioning, along with layers of other forms of discrimination, that make it difficult to negotiate a higher salary. The entertainment industry has been under the spotlight in recent years as it’s been made brutally clear how wide the gap really is.

Failing to negotiate your terms, whether it’s asking for a raise, for more flexibility, or for equality, can have enormous effects on your life, so why not figure out how some of the world’s most successful women did it? Check out this gallery for some A-lister tips on how to power your way to the income you deserve.

0 / 30 Fotos

Robin Wright: capitalize on the moment - The actress told HuffPost in May 2016 that she'd wanted to be paid the same as her 'House of Cards' costar Kevin Spacey, and she looked at statistics and saw that her character was more popular than his for a time.

1 / 30 Fotos

Robin Wright: capitalize on the moment - So she used that momentum and said, "You better pay me or I'm going to go public," and they did.

2 / 30 Fotos

Tina Fey: don't be so grateful - The comedian said every single interviewer was asking the same question, "Isn't this an amazing time for women in comedy?" She explained to Town & Country in March 2016 that "People really wanted us to be openly grateful."

3 / 30 Fotos

Tina Fey: don't be so grateful - Her response would be, "No, it's a terrible time." She explained that "the boys are still getting more money for a lot of garbage, while the ladies are hustling and doing amazing work for less." So don't be grateful for pennies!

4 / 30 Fotos

Lena Dunham: don't be a people pleaser - Lena Dunham admitted in January 2016, "Just because you know what you're worth, doesn't mean it's always easy to ask for it." She added that at the beginning of her career she let her people-pleasing instincts get in the way of negotiations.

5 / 30 Fotos

Diane von Furstenberg: be tough - The designer says you should always ask yourself two questions when asking for more money: "Do I deserve it?" and "Why?" She told The Cut, "Be hard on yourself while you question yourself. If you think you deserve it, then go for it ... Do not whine. No tears in the eyes, no complaints. Go with the positives and the positives only."

6 / 30 Fotos

Diane von Furstenberg: be a leader - "Explain that you deserve the promotion and that with that, you will build ahead for the company. If you are absolutely sure that you deserve it, you will get it. But do not be a victim, be a leader."

7 / 30 Fotos

Jennifer Lawrence: stop worrying - The actress famously wrote about the Sony hack, when she found out how much less she was being paid than her male costars, but said that she didn't get mad at Sony so much as herself. "I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early."

8 / 30 Fotos

Jennifer Lawrence: stop worrying - She added that she didn't want to seem "difficult" or "spoiled", but then realized actors like Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper didn't worry about that at all. "If anything, I'm sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share."

9 / 30 Fotos

Amy Schumer: don't stop after the contract is signed - Schumer initially signed an US$11 million deal with Netflix in 2017 for her comedy special, 'The Leather Special,' but when she learned that Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle were each paid US$20 million for their respective specials, she decided to ask for more money.

10 / 30 Fotos

Amy Schumer: don't stop after the contract is signed - She was criticized for comparing herself to Rock and Chappelle, but explained on Instagram that she didn't ask for as much as them, but didn't fail to argue her case for more money: "I have been selling out arenas these last couple years. Something a female comic has never done."

11 / 30 Fotos

Issa Rae: don't take all the blame - The successful actor, producer, and writer previously freelanced and constantly had to set her own price point, which, she told The Root in 2015, was difficult because she didn't know her worth and she was eager to work for anything.

12 / 30 Fotos

Issa Rae: don't take all the blame - She grew more confident, set higher prices, and yet she was met with resistance and sometimes lost opportunities. "Smarter negotiating isn't enough, because the pay gap isn't my fault or any woman's fault," she says, "And it can't just be on women to fix this problem."

13 / 30 Fotos

Issa Rae: stop being polite - She added that many of us are raised to believe that it's impolite to talk about money, but "If we want to close the pay gap, it's time to stop being polite and start talking about equal pay."

14 / 30 Fotos

Oprah Winfrey: lift other women - Winfrey read Jennifer Lawrence's piece and said on 'CBS This Morning' that it reminded her of 1985, when 'The Oprah Show' was first syndicated and she wanted all five female producers to get a raise. The management asked why, since they weren't married and didn't have children or houses. "I said if you don't give them money, then I'm going to sit down."

15 / 30 Fotos

Meryl Streep: better late than never - The famed actress nearly turned down her Oscar-nominated role in 'The Devil Wears Prada.' "The offer was to my mind slightly, if not insulting, not perhaps reflective of my actual value to the project," Streep told Variety. "There was my 'goodbye moment,' and then they doubled the offer. I was 55, and I had just learned, at a very late date, how to deal on my own behalf."

16 / 30 Fotos

Bozoma Saint John: aim high - "Give the number first," the chief brand officer for Uber said on CBS News in February 2018. "Make it high as hell because then you can't be low-balled … Do the work. Don't just call a number out of the sky. Know the range and then exceed the range because then you can negotiate down just a little bit."

17 / 30 Fotos

Michelle Obama: be clear about your needs - In a 2014 interview with Parade, Michelle Obama explained that honesty was integral to her last job pre-White House. "I told my boss, 'This is what I have: two small kids. My husband is running for the US Senate. I will not work part-time. I need flexibility. I need a good salary," and she assured that she could work hard.

18 / 30 Fotos

Michelle Obama: be clear about your needs - Her boss accepted all her terms, and the former first lady now always advises: "Negotiate hard and know your worth."

19 / 30 Fotos

Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain: team up - In 2018, actress Octavia Spencer revealed that she had opened up to 'The Help' costar Jessica Chastain about how the pay gap between genders is even worse for women of color, and after talking numbers, Chastain hatched a plan.

20 / 30 Fotos

Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain: team up - Spencer explained that Chastain ensured they would be paid equally, in what's called "favored nations" in the industry, and they ended up making five times what they asked for. "Now, I wanna go to what the men are making."

21 / 30 Fotos

Jessica Chastain: get the men involved - The actress addressed her negotiations with Octavia Spencer on Twitter, writing, "She had been underpaid for so long. When I discovered that, I realized that I could tie her deal to mine to bring up her quote. Men should start doing this with their female co-stars."

22 / 30 Fotos

Jessica Chastain: sometimes you won't get the job - The actress told Variety that she'd turned down a huge job because of the wage gap, and they didn't offer her more. She worried she'd made a mistake, then realized she'd made a reputation for herself and "drew a line in the sand."

23 / 30 Fotos

Ellen Pompeo: own your work - The 'Grey's Anatomy' star told The Hollywood Reporter that women should demand more of a stake in their work, and that ownership needs to be part of the equal pay conversation. By getting involved in the business aspect, she was reportedly able to negotiate a deal that boosted her salary to more than US$20 million a year.

24 / 30 Fotos

Nicki Minaj: be unapologetic - "One thing I learned along the way in business is the necessity to be unapologetic about asking for how much money you deserve," Minaj said in a video for Time. She added, "If you know you're great at what you do, don't ever be ashamed to ask for the top dollar in your field."

25 / 30 Fotos

Linda Evangelista: know your worth - Canadian model Linda Evangelista certainly knows what she's worth. "We have this expression, Christy [Turlington] and I," she told Vogue in October 1990. "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day."

26 / 30 Fotos

Catt Sadler: sometimes you have to walk away - The famed entertainment reporter told People that E! News refused to pay her as much as her male costar, "they didn't come close—nowhere close, not even remotely close," and so she left.

27 / 30 Fotos

Sheryl Sandberg: play hardball - When Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg got her first salary offer from Mark Zuckerberg, she was ready to accept. Her brother-in-law pointed out that no man at her level would consider the first offer, and after playing hardball she had a drastically improved offer, including a stake in the company.

28 / 30 Fotos

Emma Stone: call upon the morality of male colleagues -

In the past, the actress' male costars have taken pay cuts in order to ensure that they are paid the same. "That changes my quote in the future and changes my life," she told Variety.

29 / 30 Fotos

How to get your ideal salary, as told by famous women -