You may have already seen the news...Behind the scenes, we’ve been working through one of the biggest decisions we’ve ever made for Salary Transparent Street.

So here it is: we’ve been acqui-hired by NowThis.

Because this community is built on transparency, we want to walk you through exactly what that means for us, you, and the future of Salary Transparent Street. Keep reading!

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We Sold Salary Transparent Street

Nearly four years ago, my husband James and I started Salary Transparent Street with a simple question and a serious conviction.

After learning I was underpaid ~$25,000 as a Senior Data Analyst, pay transparency (or the lack thereof) was deeply personal to me.

As I mentioned, I was a Data Analyst and government contractor, not a creative. I didn’t major in journalism or communications, and I was terrified to step in front of the camera, but I didn’t let that stop me.

Through public street interviews, I knew we could bring workers together to get the information companies were withholding and, ultimately, fix a broken system.

And since April 2022, James and I have devoted our lives to doing that.

We’ve interviewed thousands of workers, testified for multiple pay transparency bills, built a company that generates seven figures annually, and pushed for a world where transparency isn’t radical…it’s normal.

My favorite part? Hearing from you that our work helped you learn your worth, find a new career path, and/or gain the courage to advocate for yourself. I’m deeply proud of this impact and the influence we’ve had on society and legislation, too. 🥹

But behind the scenes, we’ve been exploring a major decision for several months, making sure it’s the perfect fit for our brand, our community, and us.

And today, I’m incredibly excited to pull the curtain back and share that Salary Transparent Street has been acquired by NowThis!

Here’s the full story 💚

Why We Did This

For nearly four years, Salary Transparent Street was run by just the two of us.

That meant filming for hours every week on the street (sometimes dealing with verbal abuse), editing late into the night, negotiating brand deals, reading contracts, sending revisions, doing media interviews, managing finances, developing content strategy, building our salary database (we manually verify every salary), responding to comments, writing this newsletter every week, and much more.

It worked, and we’re incredibly proud of what we built!

But we’re only human, and it wasn’t sustainable. In fact, trying to do it all was sapping the energy we needed for the most important role: creative vision.

We did try hiring for key roles, but that meant putting on another hat: management, and since we were constantly moving at supersonic speed, it was incredibly hard to build and manage a team.

As the brand grew and our roles expanded far beyond just “making videos” (see above), we realized that to take STS to the next level and execute some of our biggest goals, we’d need the right partner. Enter: NowThis 💛

Who We Sold To

NowThis is a progressive media company behind some of the biggest shows online, including NowThis Impact and Are You Okay?.

For us, values alignment wasn’t negotiable. 🙅‍♀️

We weren’t interested in partnering with a company that just wanted to monetize STS. We wanted to work with people who genuinely believe in pay transparency, worker empowerment, and the power of media to push culture forward.

From day one, the NowThis team was aligned with this mission and understood the importance of maintaining our community’s trust. That, and the support of their incredibly talented team, is what made NowThis the perfect partner to further develop STS.

What This Means

This deal wasn’t about handing over the keys and walking away (it has never been our goal to exit STS!).

It was an acqui-hire, meaning NowThis acquired not just our brand but also us, and we plan to work together to continue running and growing STS.

We’re still filming street interviews. We’re still on camera. We’re still here.

The difference? We finally have a full team behind us (sales, editing, production, legal, operations), so we can focus on what we actually started this channel to do: fix a broken system through pay transparency, and help workers learn and earn more.

So….For How Much?

Transparently, we can’t share the acquisition amount because this is a multi-year, performance-based deal (we won’t know the exact amount until years from now).

What we can share is:

• The deal is in the seven-figure range

• Hannah will be making $150,000/year as On-Air Host + Supervising Producer

• James will be making $100,000/year as Shooter + Producer

What’s Next?

In the short term, you can expect the exact same content from us day-to-day!

Over the next few weeks and months, you’ll start to see gradual upgrades to our production and interviews. Higher quality, better audio, and stronger storytelling.

One change we do want to flag: Two Cents is going on hiatus. As we make this transition, we’re taking time to step back, regroup, and reimagine what the podcast can become with better resources and creative possibilities. We’ll be back soon!

And as always, we want this community to help shape what comes next.

What workers should we interview? What jobs do you want to learn about? What should we experiment with next?

We’re building the next chapter of STS alongside our community, so hit reply to this email and tell us what you want to see more of!

Our last episode before we go on hiatus! 🧳

Hear directly from us why we decided to sell Salary Transparent Street, who we sold to, for how much, what makes this deal different (and special), and what you can expect from us going forward.

Tune in on YouTube below, or on your preferred podcast platform here!

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See you next week for more career tips, money moves, and transparent advice! 💚