Entrepreneur says every job has an ‘expiration date’ — how she used that ethos to double her income in 4 years

Victoria Vesovski

Mon, May 5, 2025, 7:00 AM 4 min read

Cinneah El Amin didn’t just climb the corporate ladder, she scaled it with a toolkit in one hand and a strategy in the other.

The 30-year-old product manager — and founder of the financial and career education platform Flynanced — managed to more than double her salary in just four years, jumping from $72,000 in 2017 to $186,000 by 2021. And after two years of running her business full time, she’s now in the public sector making around $190,000 as a senior product manager for the federal government.

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While many Americans are watching grocery bills swell and tariff-driven price hikes hit the essentials, El Amin didn’t rely on penny-pinching her way to financial security. Instead, she focused on increasing her income.

“I was intentional about positioning myself, even at my early career, for a career path that was going to lead to salary and career growth,” she tells CNBC.

Here are the income-boosting strategies that helped El Amin take control of her money story, and how you can make them work for you.

El Amin didn’t have the technical background that other product managers possess, but she was able to identify the work that was considered high value, networked with the right people and figured out which skills would translate to higher positions.

And she didn’t just stay in her lane — she swerved across departments, collaborating with marketing, legal and engineering teams. That cross-functional hustle paid off big time as it opened doors to management opportunities she may have missed if she’d stayed on one track.

“The easiest way to start to transition your skills into new career paths is doing it at your current company,” she says.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, the wage gap between workers who stay put and those who jump ship is widening.

As of June 2022, job stayers — folks who’ve stuck with the same role for at least three months — saw their wages rise by about 4.7%. But those who switched jobs with a new company saw an average bump of 6.4% — the biggest pay gap in two decades.

If you’re thinking about making a move, El Amin admits the current job market isn’t exactly a walk in the park, but that doesn’t mean you should stop looking. Whether it’s within your current company or beyond, staying curious and keeping tabs on new opportunities is always a smart career move.