Meryl Streep just gave a masterclass in knowing your worth. The three-time Oscar winner—with an estimated net worth of $100 million—says she was low-balled when the call came in 2006 to star as The Devil Wears Prada’s high-powered, pouting, and feared editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. And if the studio wouldn’t budge, Streep had already decided she was ready to walk away from Hollywood for good.
“They called me up, and they made an offer, and I said, ‘No, not going to do it,” Streep recalled in a recent interview with Today.
After reading the script, Streep knew the film would land. She also knew she could earn more than they were offering. And she had nothing to lose: Already in her mid-50s with millions in the bank and two Oscars to her name, she was ready to walk away from acting entirely. So she turned down the job that a million girls would kill for.
“I knew it was going to be a hit, and I wanted to see if I doubled my ask,” she said. “And they went right away and said, sure. And I thought, I’m 50, 60—it took me this long to understand that I could do that.”
“They needed me,” Streep added. “I felt I was ready to retire. But you know, it was a lesson.”
It was indeed. The film went on to gross over $326 million worldwide, earn Streep her 14th Oscar nomination, and cement Miranda Priestly as one of cinema’s most iconic characters. Its much-anticipated sequel, The Devil Wears Prada 2, which hit theatres last month, has already more than doubled that, grossing $660 million and counting.
And instead of retiring, Streep went on to have the biggest chapter of her career, with Mamma Mia!, Julie & Julia, and The Iron Lady—the latter landing her a third Oscar.
Today, Streep has starred in over 64 films, holds the record for the most Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations of any performer in history, and is widely considered one of the greatest actors in film history.
Streep isn’t the only powerful woman who learned her worth later in life
Finance icon and self-made millionaire Suze Orman had her own version of the same reckoning. When a bidding war for her second book, The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, hit $800,000 in the late 1990s, Orman told her literary agent to stop it there—even as offers climbed toward a million and a half.
“If somebody pays me that much money to write a book, I’m gonna get sick to my stomach,” she previously told Fortune. “I don’t want more than $800,000.”
Looking back, the reason was simple: “I didn’t think I was worth it.”
Like Streep, Orman discovered her self-worth and reached new heights of career success after saying no—to none other than Oprah Winfrey. It all started in 1998 when she was offered a spot on The Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about the spiritual side of divorce. Orman felt strongly that this wasn’t her area of expertise and became the first person ever to turn down the appearance, the producer told her.
Then again, just months later, she went up against her publisher, Random House, over the title of her third book.
“Break my contract,” She told her manager at the time. “I refuse to write a book for them.” In the end, Riverhead Books published the book under her title of choice in 1999, The Courage to be Rich. It went on to become a New York Times bestseller, and Orman appeared on The Oprah Show 29 times.
“You know your worth when you know your own thoughts,” she said. “When you keep asking everybody, ‘What do you think?’ and you’re constantly looking outside for what other people think or their approval, you do not know your own worth.”
Think you’re worth more? Here’s how to actually ask for it
For everyday workers, asking for a raise is a little more complicated than having a Hollywood epiphany and doubling your ask on the spot. But the underlying logic isn’t so different.
First, feelings won’t cut it. “Asking for a pay rise because you feel you work hard, deserve it, or are worth more money simply does not demonstrate why the company should further invest in you,” Sophia Procter, a former blue-chip company manager, previously advised Fortune.
Start by looking at job adverts for similar roles and speaking with recruiters to find out what someone at your level should actually be earning.
Then, start noting down how your work has benefited the growth of your company, from positive client feedback to any sales you’ve generated—that’s your leverage. From there, you can begin quantifying the value you bring to the organization.
Plus, Procter recommends adding $6,000-$19,000 to that figure—the approximate cost for employers to find your replacement, depending on your level of experience. Suddenly, a pay rise starts to look like the cheaper option.
