You’re Being Taxed. All of Us Are.
Four different doors into the same undeniable truth. Open the one that’s yours.
Have you ever stopped to think about what’s being extracted from us every day?
These four new articles are an invitation to pause, not for reflection’s sake, but because what you see when you do could save you time, money or both.
If you’re wondering why I write about this, you’ll find the the origin story at the end.
Here we go!
NEW: The Testicle Bra Makes the Glam Tax Undeniable
A 51-year-old executive. An underwired push-up bra. A Netflix film that accidentally made the business case I’ve been making for years. When a man gets the bill, the absurdity becomes impossible to unsee.
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NEW: Nothing Is Wrong With You. You’re Being Taxed.
Natalie Lund did the math. Men’s jokes, harassment and power plays cost her roughly €500,000 to €700,000 over her lifetime. That’s a house. That’s a decade of financial security. And we’ve been calling it a personal failure.
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NEW: The LinkedIn Algorithm Workaround Tax
Linkedin’s algorithm cuts your visibility. The workaround cuts your time. It’s a double bind. Here’s what women are quietly doing about it — and how to decide what’s worth your energy.
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NEW: Tax Season for Women Never Ends. Here’s One Way to Take Control.
Spend more. Earn less. One of those we feel. The other we probably don’t even think about.
https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/p/tax-season-for-women-never-ends-heres
Here’s our July through early Sept schedule
unless the world insists we talk about something else
I promised you the origin story
In college, my Econ professor - notably the only woman professor in the economics department - asked, “Why pay for the transportation cost of water in laundry detergent?” It was a small question that changed how I looked at things. Question what you’re actually paying for. Question what’s been bundled into the price without your consent.
I didn’t know then the lifelong value of her small question.
In 2000, a confluence of events forced me out of my high-travel consulting work and into an in-house position. My income dropped nearly 40% overnight. My son was 14. I sold our house. I scrutinized every single dollar: where it was going, what it was actually buying, whether it was buying what I thought it was.
The question sharpened: Do I actually need this or have I just been told I do?
And that’s when I started to clearly see the Glam Tax (and others). Not as a lifestyle choice or as self-care. As an extraction. Money leaving my pocket not because I chose it freely but because the professional world had decided it was the price of admission for women.
That’s why.
Lead ON!
Susan
Ahhhh summertime! A moment of Zen.
With apologies to you in the Southern hemisphere.
If you’re following all the advice and it still feels like something’s in the way, I want you to know:
You are not the problem. You are working inside a system that’s withholding something from you.
I’m here to offer what that system can’t or won’t: the business, financial and strategic acumen that opens doors. You’ll find it in every article, in the Be Business Savvy Course and in Your Business Savvy Coach.
❤️ Like, share or restack this article — it’s the best way to help other women find it
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I’m Susan Colantuono, best known for my TED Talk, “The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get“ and founder of Be Business Savvy.
Susan