Journey to $160k in Hospital Research
A female-focused glimpse into different paths to financial success.
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What's your age, location, pronouns?
Mid 30s. Ontario, Canada. She/her
What’s your current job?
Director at an Academic and Research Hospital. My role is largely focused on quality and strategic planning i.e. writing our government mandated quality plan, drafting our annual strategic plan with our executive team and leading our accreditation strategy and survey.
Walk us through your pay journey. How did your income progress over time? What were the turning points that led to the most salary growth or loss? What were times where you struggled the most?
I started my undergraduate in 2006. I don’t really know what was going through my mind when I chose my undergraduate of anthropology, I think I wanted to be a researcher and professor. I studied abroad for my 3rd year and traveled, I cut my last trip home to take a position as a legal assistant that fell through. A lot of my jobs fell through in my early 20s, I constantly worked retail to support myself. It paid minimum wage, something like $11/hour.
Towards the end of my degree I wanted to go to law school and I studied and took the LSAT. I applied to Master’s programs and law schools but my LSAT score was medium so I proceeded to do a bilingual masters program in Ottawa. During that time I really hustled as a teaching assistant and working retail. One summer I didn’t get a TA position and I was devastated. I paid my own rent as tuition in graduate school. I graduated and started to work for the federal government in insecure contract gigs for around $65k annually. I deferred my PhD acceptance and worked for the government for about 1.5 years before moving to start my PhD in public health. I left with $26k in student debt.
My husband supported me during my first two years of my PhD but I also worked as a research assistant and as a public health planner for the municipal health unit. Each semester I would earn around 20k from the university and about $18/hr part time from the region. I stopped my PhD after my comprehensive exams and we moved to Toronto where my husband had worked in government for a few years. I joined the provincial government and worked there 4 years in various roles, not really growing my salary much. It was around $70k when I left that job and we decided to move outside of Toronto to a lower cost of living area.
By this time I had federal, provincial and municipal government experience and was considered a policy expert. I had advanced degrees. I was offered a position at a research and teaching hospital to lead their policy department. My wage bumped up to $85k annually and my husband kept his role, in Toronto, opting to WFH. This was just before the pandemic.
The pandemic fast tracked my career, by the time the Omnicron wave was over I was on my second leadership role at the hospital and took my third that fall, a secondment at two rural hospitals. At this point I was earning about $120k annually. After a year there I moved to a different teaching and research hospital into my current role where I make $160k annually. It was a contract at first and I am just becoming permanent and feeling settled and extremely financially secure.
At times when you took significant job risks, did you have a safety net?
My husband and I always supported each other and pooled our money. We took turns taking risks, moving for our degrees. We met in my second year of undergrad. My parents were a safety net, they paid my undergrad tuition. My mother-in-law used to give us sums of money here and there and helped us buy our first car.
Any recent purchases that made you excited or happy?
I bought 3 broadband light therapy treatments for some acne discolouration after I had an adult ace flare up while trying to get pregnant. It was the best thing I have done in years. I used bought a peloton bike during the pandemic and that kept me sane and fit.
What’s one of the worst money mistakes you’ve ever made?
We bought a used car from a reputable Mazda dealership in our early 20s. The report said no accidents but the chassis was damaged and could easily be seen when I brought it to our mechanic. It kept destroying the tires because it was always out of alignment. I should have demanded a refund but I was unsure of myself. Current me would never allow this type of bad business to go unchecked.
What’s one of the best financial decisions you’ve ever made?
My Masters degree. My PhD didn’t do much for me because I didn’t finish but there’s still a bit of shine to it but having a Masters degree allows me to hold a VP director level hospital job and the salary is quite good and I love the work. Also graduating with only $26k of debt. If I hadn’t worked consistently throughout my degrees it could have been hundreds of thousands.
Would you attribute your financial success to luck, privilege, timing, and/or hard work?
Luck plays a role but I scrapped and networked, took risks and contracts and constantly made connections. My husband and I moved frequently for our advanced degrees. We moved cities something like 4 times in 8 years for education and jobs. My timing was terrible though, my husband and I finished our undergrad shortly after the financial disaster, public service was in disarray and contracts were all we know for years. We both didn’t start having true success in our careers until our 30s. We also also inherited my mother-in-law’s estate after she passed away. While it’s great to be so financially secure, we miss her dearly. My husband has no family in our country now and it is very hard on him. We are expecting a baby this December and it will be an incredible blessing after two previous baby losses.
What job or pay advice would you give to your younger self? What have been your biggest learnings?
I would have said to go for nursing. Make that good money right away, buy a house, and then do your masters in healthcare leadership. Move into clinical leadership. Don’t dream of being a research scientist or a lawyer! I didn’t buy a house until I was 30, my husband was 34. We delayed starting kids to get financially settled. I would have said be more practical in your career choice.
What would you want to be if you weren't doing this job?
Likely teaching at a university and working as a government scientist or a lawyer.
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