262: Your Pricing Power Isn't About the Market

You’ve done the work. So what’s stopping you from charging more?

In this episode, we dig deep into "The Money Mirror" — the idea that how you price your services has less to do with the market and everything to do with how you see yourself.

If you struggle to raise your rates, feel guilty charging what you're worth, or panic when a client pushes back, this episode is for you. We’re breaking down the four key beliefs that dictate your pricing power and why "charging what you're worth" is an inside job first.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

🪞 The "Money Mirror" Concept: Why your prices are a direct reflection of your internal beliefs.

✅ The 4 Belief Pillars: How your views on skill, need, client maturity, and leadership sabotage your income.

🖼️ Reframing Pushback: Why a client saying "no" isn't a verdict on your value (and how to stop taking it personally).

🌀 The Upward Spiral: Practical steps to build the confidence to set — and hold — higher rates. If pricing feels charged, emotional, or heavier than it “should,” this conversation will help you understand why — and what to do about it.

Chapters:

1:03 – Pricing Is Emotional Too

2:20 – The Bonfire Beneath the Number

4:04 – Does This Sound Familiar?

6:24 – The Four Beliefs

12:14 – Pushback as Data

19:24 – Pricing Is a Cycle, Not a Destination

21:33 – The Mirror Doesn’t Lie

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Read the Transcript

You set the number, you felt good about

it, and then someone pushed back, and

within 30 seconds, you were already

discounting it in your head. Or maybe

you've been sitting on a price increase

for 6 months. You know the number. You

know you're worth it. And yet, the

number stays the same. I've been there.

And if you're listening to this, I bet

you have, too. So, here's what I want to

ask you. What if the pricing isn't

actually the problem? What if your

pricing is just the mirror and what

you're really looking at is what you

believe about yourself? I'm Andrea

Liebross and welcome back to She Thinks

Big.

Let's talk about what your pricing is

actually revealing. Pricing is data,

financial data, but it's also emotional

data, belief data, leadership data. And

I really think that we disguise pricing

conversations as black and white numbers

driven decisions. We build spreadsheets.

We compare market rates. We analyze

competitors. And listen, all of that

matters. I am not saying it doesn't. But

we rarely include what I think is the

most important data point in that

analysis. What you believe. Do you

believe you can hold higher revenue? Do

you believe you can tolerate bigger

decisions, bigger expectations, and

bigger responsibility? Do you believe

you can stay grounded when someone says

no? That's the data that's actually

running the show. And until it gets a

seat at the table, right alongside

budgets, marketing, and strategy, the

number you're willing to ask for will

always be limited by the thinking behind

it. Thinking you might not even realize

is what's running the show. So, here's

what I've noticed, and I've seen this

with myself and with every woman I've

worked with. Pricing doesn't feel hard

because the math is hard. It feels hard

because somewhere along the way, the

number got tangled up with your worth.

So, when someone pushes back, it doesn't

just feel like negotiation. It feels

like a verdict. And when you're the one

setting the price in the first place,

you're not just picking a number, you're

deciding what you're willing to claim.

It's a decision that requires a

completely different kind of thinking.

And that's why this isn't a math

problem. It never was. Think of it this

way. So there's revenue, visibility,

momentum. Those are kind of the flame.

The part everybody can see. the part

that looks like success from the

outside. But belief is the

infrastructure underneath, the the

scaffolding that determines whether the

fire actually holds, whether the flame

keeps going. And if that scaffolding, if

that foundation isn't solid, that fire,

it's going to spark, maybe even burns

bright for a minute or two, but you'll

keep having to feed it manually. More

effort, more proving, more justifying,

almost like you have to keep adding more

kindling wood because nothing underneath

is holding it up. Pricing is just where

that instability shows up first. It's

the most visible crack in the

foundation. Let me tell you about a

client I worked with recently. I am just

going to call her Rachel. So, Rachel had

been thinking about raising her rates

for almost a year.

She knew that the work she did justified

these increased rates. Her results

justified it. And she poured over tons

of data like industry data, um,

competitor data. every single data point

justified it. But every time she got

close to actually putting it out there

in the world, something would happen.

There would be a slow month or there'd

be a client who seemed on the fence, a

prospective client who seemed on the

fence. Um, that voice in the back of her

head, it got really loud and it said,

"Wait, don't do it. Not yet. You have to

have more to show for it." So, we worked

on this together and finally she did it.

She doubled her rate and guess what? The

very next prospect she quoted this new

rate to said no. They said no. So, she

did what all good clients do. She

boxered me after that conversation and I

could hear it in her voice. One of the

reasons I love Voxer, too, because I can

hear her voices. So, I could hear it in

her voice. It was that sort of quiet

dread of I knew it, Andrea. I knew this

would happen. I said, Rachel, that big

no just told you something really,

really important. It told you that that

person was not your client. Not at this

level of Rachel. Not right now. And she

kind of pushed back, but then she sat

with it. And guess what? Within six

weeks, she had signed two new clients at

the new rate. And then they proved to be

clients who showed up differently

throughout the project. They were

clients who actually valued what she

brought to the table. So that no was not

the disaster she'd imagined. It was kind

of the filter working exactly the way it

was supposed to. The only thing that had

actually changed, however, was what

Rachel was willing to ask for. And that

changed everything downstream.

So, what actually changed for Rachel? It

wasn't her portfolio. It wasn't her

results. It wasn't her offer. It was

what she believed about all of it. And

in my experience, pricing friction

almost always comes down to the same

four beliefs. Not three beliefs, which I

used to say, but four. And most women

have the first two handled. It's it's

kind of the last two of these four

beliefs that I'm going to share with you

that do the most damage. So, let's go

through them. Now, I want to tell you, I

used to talk about this as three

beliefs, and I have a previous episode

where I talk about it as three beliefs.

So, we can link that one in the show

notes, but I've kind of evolved into

thinking it's four. So, here we go.

Ready? Belief number one, you believe in

your skill. You know you're good at what

you do. Okay? So, you believe in your

skill. You know you're good at what you

do. And for most women that I work with,

this one's solid. You've got the

results, the testimonials, the track

record. So, skill or belief one here is

not actually the question. Belief number

two, you believe your work is needed.

You know it matters. So again, not

usually a problem. You know that there's

a real market for what you offer and

that your clients get real results. So

belief two, not a problem. Now, if

you've got those two, and most of you

do, why does pricing still feel charged?

I think it's because of beliefs three

and four. Belief number three, do you

trust your clients to meet you where you

are? Do you actually believe that the

right people have the emotional and

financial maturity to say yes without

you having to convince them or handhold

them or discount your way into their

comfort zone? This one's kind of sneaky

because on the surface it looks like a

client problem, but what it's really

revealing is how you see your own

market.

And when this belief three is shaky, you

start pre-qualifying people out of your

own offer before they even have a chance

to say yes. You look at someone across

the table and you think, "Uh, they won't

be able to afford this or I don't want

to make them uncomfortable or let me

just make it a little easier for them."

And what you're actually doing is making

a decision for them. You're deciding

they're not ready before they get a

chance to decide for themselves. And uh

that's not generosity. That's doubt

wearing the mask of consideration.

This kind of reminds me a little bit of

my discussion with Jaime Lee about

negotiating. So, if you haven't listened

to that episode, I encourage you to go

back and listen to the Jaime Lee

episode. Because here's the thing, the

clients who are right for you, the ones

who are genuinely ready, don't need you

to shrink the number to feel safe. They

need you to hold it so that they can

trust you.

So, all right, that was belief number

three. It's a tough one, but here's

belief number four. This is kind of my

new add-on one.

Do you trust yourself to lead at this

level? This is the big one. Do you trust

yourself to lead at this level? This is

the one that nobody talks about. It's

not just do you believe you're worth it.

That's too simple. What I'm really

asking or bringing to light in this

belief number four is, do you believe

you're ready for what comes with bigger

revenue? Because bigger revenue means

some bigger decisions. It means more

visibility, more responsibility, clients

who might expect more, demand more, push

for more. And it probably means a

version of your business that requires a

different version of you.

And sometimes the answer is, I'm not

sure I'm ready for that yet. And that's

not a character flaw. That's an honest

leadership assessment. And it's really

useful information because when belief

number four is shaky, no number will

ever feel right. You'll raise your

prices and immediately wonder if you

made a mistake. You'll sign a

high-paying client and spend the first

week waiting to be found out.

The number changed, the foundation

didn't. That's where the real work is.

Not in the pricing conversation, but in

the belief underneath it. And until both

of those feel solid, you'll keep finding

reasons to wait to put it out there,

just kind of like Rachel did.

If you're listening and thinking, I need

to have more conversations like this, or

who do I know that I can talk about this

with? Don't ignore that. I want you to

know when we work together, these are

the kinds of conversations we dig into.

My door is always open. And consider

this your invitation to come on in, even

if you're just curious. So, do me a

favor right now. Grab your phone and

text connect to 3172453255

to get our conversation started. See you

inside.

Here's what I want you to notice.

Sometimes the push back doesn't come

from the client, doesn't come from the

other side of the table. It comes from

you before anyone else even has the

chance to say a word.

You decide on the number. You feel good

about it. You get on the call and then

right before you say it out loud,

something shifts. Is that too much?

Should I offer a payment plan? Maybe

I'll just see how they respond first.

And so you soften it or you pre-explain

it or you overjustify it before anyone

even had a chance to react.

That's internal push back. That push

back is coming from your side of the

table. And it's actually more expensive

than anything a client could say to you

because it happens in private. It

happens fast and most of the time you

don't even realize you're doing it.

External push back, when a client says

no or asks for a discount, you can see

it. But the internal version, that's the

one that erodess the foundation before

the conversation even starts. That's the

one that costs you quietly over and over

again. So, let's talk about both and

let's talk about what to do when either

one shows up. When the push back is

internal, the first thing I want you to

do is just notice it. Don't try to

muscle through it or talk yourself out

of it. Just get curious about it. Ask

yourself, "What am I actually afraid of

right now?" Usually, it's one of three

things. You're afraid they'll say no.

You're afraid they'll say yes and you

won't be able to deliver. You're afraid

of what the number says about you, that

claiming it means something you're not

ready to claim. None of those fears are

facts. They're just data and we can work

with data. The move I teach my clients

is simple. When you're having this

pricing conversation with a prospective

client, say the number, then just stop

talking.

That's it. Just say it and be quiet.

Don't feel the silence. Don't add a

payment plan option before they ask.

Don't start explaining the value before

they question it. Because that silence

after you say a number, that's not

rejection. That's someone thinking.

And every time you rush to fill it in,

you're signaling that you don't believe

the number can hold itself up. If that

it's like that flame. Can the flame hold

itself up? It can. So let it. But what

about when the push back is external?

Someone says no or they come back with a

counter or they go quiet for a week and

then resurface with we're just not in

the position right now or we decided to

go a different route. So here's the

reframe. That is not a verdict on your

worth. That no, that push back, that

quietness, that we're not going to go

forward right now. That's not a verdict

on your worth. That's just information

about fit and timing. And the question

isn't, should I lower my price to make

this work? The question is, is this

actually the right client for where I am

right now?

Sometimes the answer is yes, and the

timing is genuinely off. I mean that is

a real thing. So follow up in 90 days.

Sometimes though the answer is this

client needs someone at a different

level and that's okay too. A misaligned

client is expensive for everyone. They

cost you time, energy, resentment, and

the opportunity to work with someone who

was actually ready. And sometimes, and I

think this is the harder one, the push

back is telling you something about your

own readiness. Maybe you quoted the

number and they could tell that you

weren't fully behind it. Maybe you're in

a very slow month and scarcity is really

running the show. Maybe you haven't

fully stepped into belief number four

yet.

That's not failure. That's just

information. Remember, there's no such

thing as failure. You're either winning

or learning. And information is always

more useful than a story. So, here's the

reframe I want to offer for both. Push

back. Whether it's coming from within or

from across the table, it's not a

verdict. It's data. It's information

about readiness. Sometimes the clients,

sometimes yours. And both of those are

workable. So the moment you start

treating push back as data instead of

judgment, everything changes. You stop

collapsing. You stop overexplaining. You

stop negotiating against yourself before

anyone else even gets a chance.

You get curious instead of defensive.

You ask questions instead of

backpedaling. You hold the number not

out of stubbornness, but out of clarity.

So Rachel's first no was not a failure.

It was kind of the filter working

exactly the way it was supposed to. And

I bet yours will be too. I really love

thinking about this as data. It's like a

science experiment. And it's just it's

like your seventh grade science

experiment. So, it doesn't

mean anything negative about you. It

truly is just information. All right,

here's the thing. I want you to hold on

to this pricing stuff. This is not a one

podcast, one conversation fix.

Getting comfortable with whatever number

you want to offer. Getting really

comfortable, not just white knuckling

it. This is a longer process than you

probably want to admit, than most people

want to admit. It's deep work. It is

ongoing. It's intimate because it

requires you to keep showing up honestly

with yourself every time the number

comes up. Which is exactly why I don't

do this work in a vacuum. The women I

see move the fastest and the smoothest

through this transition, and I'm going

to call it a transition, are not the

ones who figured it out alone. These are

the women who had someone in their

corner while they were figuring it out.

All right, one more thing before we

close because I see women get stuck on

this constantly. Pricing, again, not a

one-time decision. It's not something

you figure out once and lock in forever.

It is a cycle. It's a conversation you

keep having with yourself as you grow.

In my book, She Thinks Big, I talk about

this in depth. I talk about what happens

when you do that belief work around

this.

When you stop circling what I call the

roundabout, there's a lot of roundabouts

where I live. So, it's what happens when

you stop circling the roundabout and

actually start moving through the

roundabout. Which, by the way, if you

don't have a copy of She Thinks Big yet,

go get one. I reference roundabouts and

pricing in it a lot. I'll put the link

to the book in the show notes. But

again, this is the work that I do on a

daily basis, and the book goes deep on

all of it. The point here is you don't

just end up back where you started when

you do this work. You end up in the same

place from time to time, but you're

different. The circle isn't a circle

anymore. What happens is this circle

kind of becomes an upward spiral. And

that's exactly what pricing looks like

when you get it right. Every time you

walk through a pricing decision, every

time you set the number, hold it, say

it, watch what happens.

You grow. You travel another bend in

that spiral. Your confidence expands.

Your tolerance for bigger decisions

expands. Your sense of what you're

willing to claim expands.

The messy middle of pricing, the doubt,

the second guessing, the moment before

you say the number out loud, that part

doesn't disappear, but it gets kind of

proportionally smaller each time because

you get bigger. Your skills, your

experience, your track record, all of it

grows around it. That is the spiral.

And here's what that means practically.

You don't need to get your pricing

perfect right now. You need to get it

moving.

All right, to wrap this up, here's where

I want to land. Everything we talked

about today, the beliefs underneath the

number, the push back that's actually

data, the spiral that keeps expanding,

none of it does anything if it stays in

your head as an interesting idea you

heard on a podcast.

The shift happens when you get specific,

when you dig in, when you take it from,

"Yeah, um, I think I have some things to

work on to, oh, this is the exact thing,

probably the exact belief that's been

running the show." That's where the

unlock is. Not in knowing this stuff

exists, but in being honest enough to

name where it actually lives for you. So

before you close this episode and move

on with your day, I want you to sit with

three questions. I don't want you to

skim them. I don't want you to

screenshot them and forget about them. I

want you to actually answer them because

the answers are going to tell you more

about your next move than any pricing

formula ever could. These are the three

questions I come back to with my clients

when pricing is the thing that keeps

coming up. And every single time the

answers don't just solve the pricing

problem, they point to what belief is

ready to move next. All right, so you

ready for the three questions? Number

one, what does my current pricing say

about how I see myself right now? What

does my current pricing say about how I

see myself right now? Number two, where

am I negotiating my price down instead

of building my belief up? Where am I

negotiating my price down instead of

building my belief up? And then number

three, what would I be willing to ask

for if I fully trusted myself at this

level? What would I be willing to ask

for if I fully trusted myself at this

level? Sit with those. Write them down.

Send yourself a voice memo. Be honest

because pricing isn't just math. It's a

decision made from the inside out. And

my friends, the mirror doesn't lie.

Thanks for listening to She Thinks Big.

I am Andrea Liebross and I am so glad you

joined me for this one. If today

resonated, the best thing you can do is

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who's been sitting on a price increase.

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Talk between episodes, come find me on

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If today's conversation made you think,

I want more of this, I would love to

invite you into a chemistry call. Just

text the word connect to 3172453255

and let's talk. See you next week. Till

then, think big.