A social media post by a Black female entrepreneur for a remote creative strategist job offering $55,000 sparked backlash and went viral last week after thousands of people found the offer insulting, some offering satirical memes. Others pushed back, defending what they deemed a decent offer by a sm all business in an unstable economy. Brittany Harvey, the founder and co-owner of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Vonu baby products company, posted the opportunity on Threads last Monday, advising: “You’ll be coming up with ad creatives daily across multiple brands, so you need to be sharp, fast, and actually understand what makes people stop scrolling and buy. This is a performance-driven team, not a sit-back-and-brainstorm role. We’re hiring immediately. If you’re serious, DM.” Davonte Rowe (left) and Brittany Harvey (right) are the co-founders of Vonu, a baby products company. (Photo: Vonu Facebook page) The disapproving replies came instantly:“If you’re serious, $55K isn’t serious,” wrote reality hack.“You want a lot from a candidate only making $26.44 in this raggedy a– economy,” remarked karmarocks80.Others chimed in that they could or currently do make more as a garbage man, baggage handler, dog groomer or Costco sales associate. ‘Can’t Believe You Are Doing This!’: Black Businessman Accused of Trespassing at His Own Store Tasered By Houston Cop“Companies should refrain from hiring people if they can’t pay them a living wage. This is wage theft, basically,” offered sassymamainla.Many people who said they work in marketing and creative roles offered Harvey advice, some seeming sincere, others snarky. A comment by Threads user _getampd responding to Brittany Harvey’s job posting. (Photo: _getampd) “Hi! Human Resources and Talent Acquisition professional here,” wrote messymutt. “The *starting* pay rate for an entry-level/jr Creative Strategist in Charlotte, NC should be $60-75k. I did a quick benchmark and used remote as an option to get those numbers. Even then, it is iffy.” “Hi, small business consultant here,” wrote nephresha. “If you can’t afford to pay people market rate for their services, you hire a lesser position, hire part-time, etc. etc. Or figure it the f** out on your own. This is an exploitative wage for the position posted. Full stop. Red flag.” A meme posted in response to Brittany Harvey’s job post on Threads. (Photo: Restrogasm.tumblr.com via mister.kamweng Threads account) “I’LL do it for $50k. But every deliverable will be whatever AI slop ChatGPT spits out on the first try,” wrote dour.dromedarian. After more than 2,000 mostly negative comments, Harvey responded with another post: “All the people replying to my job post about the salary being too low are more than welcome to not apply. There are people who would happily take the salary and benefits we offer with room to grow. I literally was working in a role for $55k with my masters in 2023. Everyone has different situations and different things that matter to them within and outside of their work role that this position could make sense for.”Some people clapped back with more criticism.“Got it. So because you got screwed with a predatory salary in 2023, you’re just paying it forward. There is no defending this,” wrote marca78.“Respectfully, the feedback on salary isn’t coming out of nowhere,” noted patriciadeanna. “When a role requires high-level creative skill and directly drives sales, people expect compensation to reflect that.This is clearly not an entry-level position. Anyone familiar with the role of a Creative Strategist understands they’re not just executing—they’re handing over years (sometimes decades) of developed IP, strategic thinking, and revenue-generating insight.”A creative strategist tends to focus on the marketing performance of ads and paid social media content, analyzing data to see how a firm’s ad campaigns and other marketing strategies pay off in terms of ecommerce traffic and sales, explains remotelytalents. They use that data to shape advertising concepts and often work with designers and writers to create the ads. At smaller firms, they may also produce some of the ads and creative content. Experts in the marketing and creative industries told Atlanta Black Star that the salary Harvey is offering is definitely on the low end but might provide a welcome opportunity for someone who is struggling to find work in a currently challenging economy. “It is disgustingly low, even for Charlotte,” said Paul Korel, an external creative recruiter based in Atlanta. “Based on the job description, she’s looking for conceptual work as well as day-to-day grind production work. Realistically, the salary should be at least $75,000. But if she’s looking for a junior strategist, someone coming straight out of college, it could be an okay starting salary.” Korel said many creative professionals are currently finding it hard to find work at a time when many companies are cutting back on their marketing spend and advertising agencies are consolidating and laying off thousands of employees. “Agencies across the nation are low-balling salaries while the cost of living is going up,” he said. “Those at the top are still doing very well. But those at the bottom and middle are getting hit hard.” Korel estimates that both salaried and freelance rates are 10 percent to 30 percent lower than they were five to seven years ago. He said job offerings are “thin” in the creative market, where hundreds of highly qualified candidates with extensive portfolios and experience are often vying for one posted position, and if they make it through the first résumé screening may spend weeks “going through an exhaustive interview process, three or four rounds of interviews, only to get rejected or ghosted after the employer chooses someone else.”According to a report by staffing and consulting firm Robert Half, the creative jobs market in 2026 is undergoing a significant transformation defined by the integration of generative AI, which is automating routine tasks once performed by artists, designers and other creative workers, and also demanding that many workers attain technical fluency in AI tools.At the same time, many firms “are moving to a lean, project-based model, increasing demand for skilled freelancers and contract workers over permanent staff,” the report said.At the global talent agency Randstad, which primarily works with large employers, job postings for creative roles (creative director, creative consultant, art director) grew about 6.4 percent from March 2024 to March 2026, while marketing roles (marketing manager, marketing assistant, marketing consultant) declined by about 5 percent. The median salary average for creative directors in the U.S. (whose role may include developing strategy) is currently $125,000, while it’s $102,000 for marketing managers, said Randstad, which pulls from more than 700 million global job postings. Those salaries include expensive, high-demand markets such as California, New York and Texas. “Our clients are hiring, but they are being selective,” said Tim Gearhart, VP of Talent at Cella by Randstad Digital. Many companies are hiring for “unicorn roles,” he said, where they are merging roles together, such as marketing analytics and strategy, or combining other creative roles with AI components. “A lot of companies are doing more with less,” he said. Of Harvey’s controversial job offer, he said, “We don’t fully understand her needs or know her circumstances. Job titles in the creative industry can mean very different things from one company to the next.”Randstad’s job postings data reflects that a creative director or creative strategist in the Charlotte market would earn $75,000 a year or more, said spokesperson Christina StJohn.“For a small, mom-and-pop shop that can’t afford to hire a major ad agency, I can see why they would offer $55K,” said Korel. “There’s somebody out there for whom $55K is a lot of money.”According to an interview Harvey had with Forbes two years ago, Vonu began as a true cottage industry shortly after she had her baby daughter, who had a lot of discomfort from reflux and gas. She collaborated with her husband Davante Rowe to develop a special pillow to make it easier to burp her. They realized it could be a cool product for other parents, patented it, and began producing and selling it on Shopify, initially relying on financing from friends and family, and credit cards. Brittany Harvey, founder and co-owner of Vonu baby products company. (Photo: Vonu website) By 2024, sales of the Vonu baby lounger were approaching $2 million.“We can’t carry the mindset of just making enough to get by,” Harvey, a former public relations manager at a small firm, told Forbes. “We have to shake off scarcity and look at the growth that can happen.” Now that’s she’s seeking to hire a creative professional to drive that growth, her industry peers have some words of encouragement.“Hey sis, completely get that you are bootstrapping and small,” wrote shannboogie, “but here’s some unsolicited (I know) advice from a very SR working creative and agency owner: Make this a fractional role for this rate. Not hourly freelance, but a contract rate against a set amount of time. Its not a sustainable full time salary but it IS a great gig for a more mid-to-senior level talent at 1/2 time.”“Great advice because I have to a squint at some of the salaries out here for full time work,” replied sisibloom. But by Wednesday, after viewing a barrage of comments that “reframed … what my small business can actually sustain” as “exploitation,” Harvey had some news for her critics.Plenty of people are applying for the job. Among them is naomithesupreme, who wrote, “Instead of complaining about the salary you offer… I went ahead and sent over my résumé my portfolio deck. i’d love to contribute to your business scaling.”“I genuinely appreciate everyone who reached out for the opportunity,” Harvey replied. “A lot of talented people, looking forward to next steps as I personally sort through the hundreds of DMs and emails.” ‘Wage Theft’ or Market Reality?: Business Owner’s Job Posting Hit with Furious Online Critique Over ‘Disgustingly Low’ Salary Offer, Sparks Debate ...read more read less