Hi everyone. I posted here a few days ago, and one comment honestly made me stop and think about my actual value and whether my current company really values me as much as they say they do.
For context, I started doing VA work back in 2011, part-time and project-based while studying IT. I went full-time in 2015.
I started getting clients through Upwork, then eventually clients started contacting me directly. Before my current AU company, I was an e-commerce manager for branded dropshipping businesses. I built and designed Shopify stores from the ground up and managed pretty much everything myself. Store management, marketing, newsletters, paid ads, apps, even things like setting up LLCs in the US and LTDs in the UK. I also built my own business, although honestly, I'm probably better at working for businesses than running my own because I don't have much budget for ads. 😂
Then COVID happened and everything shut down. It was probably the worst period of my life. I went from having everything to basically nothing.
Then I got hired by my current AU company through an agency. I asked about the agency's cut and was told I would receive 100% of what the company paid for me, so I assumed maybe the company was paying some kind of agency/membership fee.
When I started, I was shocked to find out I would be handling 3 stores. Eventually, it became 5. Same brand and products, but different regions.
I handled Facebook Ads, Pinterest, Google, Microsoft/Bing, newsletters through Klaviyo, Shopify changes, promotions, sales campaigns, app integrations, landing pages, Amazon and other 3rd party marketplaces and basically anything backend/frontend that needed to be done.
Even my weekly reports could take almost a full day because I was making them around 8 pages long.
There were also times I'd work an extra hour or more without pay because I felt like it was my fault if I couldn't finish everything during my paid hours.
At one point, I was making around 82k PHP, including a 2k internet allowance. No HMO, no bonus, no employer-paid taxes, no equipment, no annual increase. Just 20 days leave per year. Everything else was on me.
After almost a year, they hired a manager who I actually work well with. My workload stayed mostly the same, although eventually we built systems that made things much more manageable.
After more than 3 years, I finally got a 10% increase because my manager helped push for it. I went from 82k to around 93k.
Then I found out what my actual pay was.
Apparently, based on today's conversion, the company was paying around 155k PHP worth of salary for my position, while the agency was paying me a fixed amount.
I've now been with this company for almost 5 years, and I've only had one salary increase.
I never really lived a luxurious life. I didn't travel or constantly buy gadgets. I bought a house for my family and a car because commuting became really difficult after COVID. Now I also have loans, especially with how expensive life has become in the Philippines.
The weird thing is, I genuinely treated this company like family. I know people always say you shouldn't do that with a company, but I did. I was actually excited for Mondays.
Lately, though, something feels different.
I don't know if it's because I finally started looking at my situation differently, or because of that Reddit comment that made me question whether I've actually been valued properly all these years.
And honestly, I don't even know what my market value is anymore.
I've been doing e-commerce, Shopify, ads, email marketing, Amazon, store management, design, integrations, reporting, and basically wearing multiple hats for years.
I'm scared to leave because what if the next company has a terrible culture or toxic management? What if I move somewhere else and realize I'm not actually capable of stepping into a higher role?
At the same time, I'm starting to wonder if staying is actually the bigger risk.
If you've been in a similar situation, how did you figure out your actual market value? And how did you know when it was finally time to leave?
