Breaking Stereotypes With a Negotiation Expert
From an early age, Yanyn San Luis had a mission: empower women to believe in themselves. It all started when she became the go-to friend for negotiating advice, “Will you help me get a better price at the car dealer?” or “How do I ask my boss for a raise?” were just some of the questions her friends flocked to her for. Her inner circle knew her as a master negotiator and she wanted to show women that they could do it themselves, too.
The Win Woman was born to teach women how to ask for what they deserve and get it. She remembers what many Hispanic women were taught growing up, “Calladita te ves mas bonita.” But Yanyn was anything but quiet. She debated and negotiated her way through life and now makes a living showing women to stand up for themselves. Through professional on-site training, personal coaching and workshops, The Win Woman empowers women to discover new ways to harness their unique strengths, elevate their skills, leverage their value, and better advocate for both themselves and their companies.
Yanyn started by helping millennial women speak up for themselves at their jobs by learning how to ask for raises and the leadership roles they deserved. She wanted women, especially Latinas, to know that there is no shame in asking for what they want. While men see negotiation as a game, women fear it, and she’s been trying to change that. “What many women don’t realize is that you’re already negotiating everyday,” Yanyn says. “You negotiate with yourself to go to the gym and you negotiate with your kids to get their chores done.” She emphasizes the need for women to speak up when it comes to what they want. Women shouldn’t have to settle for anything less than what they want for themselves or their business.
Three strategies for effective negotiation:
- Be Prepared: People don't like being in awkward situations. That's why it's important to invest the time and effort to prepare for a negotiation, know what you want and why, think of acceptable alternatives and develop specific strategies to achieve it.
- Cultivate positive emotions: When preparing for a negotiation, think of something positive or do something that brings you joy. Positive emotions increase creativity and keep your mind sharp.
- Be confident: Write a list of reasons why you deserve what you are asking for. By writing it, you reaffirm to yourself why you deserve it and can present a better case when negotiating.
Another important part of knowing how to sell yourself is by being surrounded by the right people. “To succeed in life you need to avoid people who bring you down,” she says. “Make sure to cultivate your list of champions, those people who celebrate your successes, and keep them close to lift you up.” But she reminds women that they hold the power. “You need to take risks to learn and succeed.”