I increased my salary from $22K to $180K salary before a layoff. Taking a pay cut in my next role felt like a step backward.

Elianor Williamson, a 36-year-old resident of Seattle, experienced a remarkable career trajectory marked by significant salary increases. She graduated from Central Washington University in 2013 with a degree in global wine studies. Initially working as an event coordinator for a nonprofit, her salary was $22,000. Afterward, she secured a marketing manager position at a marketing agency, earning $45,000.

Williamson then transitioned to a program manager role at the same agency, increasing her salary to $61,000. She briefly took a contract position at Zillow, which paid $83,200 annually. Williamson later became a project manager at Zillow, where she received a salary increase to $90,000. A reorganization at Zillow led to a further salary bump to $101,000 when she became a campaign manager.

In 2022, she moved to a senior project manager role at Zillow, earning $135,000. Williamson then joined a real estate tech startup called OJO, where she was hired as a senior program manager with a salary of $150,000 and a $10,000 signing bonus. After OJO's acquisition by the Royal Bank of Canada and rebranding as Houseful, she took a lateral move to become a senior program and operations manager at the company.

Her compensation increased to $180,000. In March 2025, Williamson was affected by layoffs at Houseful and became unemployed for five months, collecting unemployment benefits. She began a TikTok account to document her job search and interview struggles. In August 2025, Williamson accepted a position as a global brand operations manager at Starbucks, starting at a salary of $131,500.