➡️⚠️You’re Paying a Tax, But Not to the IRS

And it's compounding daily.

Author

Bianca B. King
January 15, 2026

In partnership with

Hi Visionary,

It's tax season. Everyone's gathering receipts, connecting with their accountants, calculating deductions, bracing for what they owe. But there's another tax you've been paying for a while, one that doesn't show up on any statement.

Let me take you back to a moment during a cold, bleak January morning, but I was hot, not a hot flash hot, but hot with anxiousness. I was sitting at my desk, cursor hovering over the send button.

The proposal on my screen was the first I'd ever written over six figures.

I knew it was worth it. The scope, the deliverables, the transformation we'd create, the math made sense. But my money monster had other plans.

They won't pay that. You just ruined the deal. Who do you think you are?

That voice was just outdated. It was running old software, calculations based on a version of me who no longer existed.

I had a choice: keep operating from the old program, or catch up to the identity I was already cultivating.

I sent it.

They accepted within 48 hours and wired the first payment within 72 hours of signing.

That client renewed for another three years. The work we did together generated significant revenue for their business. The relationship became one of the most fulfilling of my career.

But here's what keeps me up at night when I think about it: What if I hadn't sent it?

I would have missed out on the revenue, the work I was genuinely proud of, and the other clients I acquired because of that engagement. And my client? They would have missed out on the marketing that actually moved their business forward.

The cost of my playing small wasn't just mine to pay (and know it never is).

That's when I realized that before I secured that contract, I was paying a tax I didn't know existed.

The Identity Tax

In my 17+ years of helping women entrepreneurs scale their businesses, the pattern has become undeniable: the most significant revenue leaks aren't strategic. They're identity-based.

I call it the Identity Tax,  the compound cost you pay every single day you operate from who you used to be instead of who you've become.

Unlike income tax, you don't get a statement. There's no line item showing you what you lost. It just quietly drains from your revenue, energy, momentum and joy.

And the women paying the highest Identity Tax? They're often the most accomplished because they've grown faster than their self-concept has caught up.

You might be paying Identity Tax right now if you notice:

  • The hesitation before you state your rate — that half-second pause where your past self pulls up a chair

  • Over-explaining your value to people who should already understand it

  • Attracting clients who need the version of you from three years ago

  • Feeling friction between what you're doing and who you've become

  • Working harder than your results suggest you should need to

This is identity lag, operating as less than you've already become.

And it compounds.

If you’re wondering what your Identity Tax actually looks like? Take the free Elevation Assessment; it takes 3 minutes, and you'll know precisely where the gap is.

The Compound Cost

Consider the woman charging $5,000 for work that should command $15,000.

She's not just leaving $10,000 on the table per client. She's attracting clients who value $5,000 solutions. She's scoping projects for a $5,000 container. She's managing expectations calibrated to a $5,000 investment.

The psychology is clear: price signals value. When an expert prices like a beginner, clients don't think "lucky me." They hesitate. They wonder what you know about your work that they don't. Your low rate isn't winning trust; it's creating doubt.

Which means she's working harder, attracting misaligned clients, and building a reputation at the wrong altitude.

Not a pricing problem. That's an Identity Tax, paid daily, compounding quarterly, cementing annually.

Your capacity problem is not about time, but operating from an identity that requires you to work harder than your current skill level demands.

When you finally see that, everything shifts.

When You Stop Paying the Tax

One member in the PDA community was charging $2,500 - $3,000 for speaking engagements. She had the expertise, the stage presence, the transformational content. But her rate was anchored to an old identity, back when she was grateful just to be asked.

When she finally did the math on what her talks actually delivered for organizations, the shifts in their teams, the implementation that followed, the ROI her content generated, she realized she'd been subsidizing her clients' results by undervaluing her own.

She raised her minimum to $10,000, expenses included.

And you know what happened, better stages, more aligned audiences, clients who actually implemented what she taught. The work got easier because the container matched her caliber.

She recognized her value and stopped paying the tax.

Awareness

Awareness is the first of the 5 A's of Joyful Ambition™, and it's the foundation on which everything else builds. It's hard to change what you haven't fully seen yet. And most ambitious women have been paying Identity Tax for so long, it just feels like "how business works."

But it doesn't have to be.

Here's how you start to see it clearly:

  • What rate would you set if you had no history with your audience?

  • If you were starting fresh tomorrow, knowing what you know now, what would you charge/?

  • What would you stop doing immediately if you didn't feel obligated to past commitments?

  • What are you maintaining out of loyalty to decisions the old you made?

  • Who are you still proving yourself to? Name them.

  • Now ask yourself are they even watching anymore?

And while you're at it, whose definition of success are you still carrying? Your mother's? Is your grandmother? Some of the Identity Tax we pay isn't even ours. It's inherited,

Confidence is believing you can do something.

This is about identity, operating from loyalty to a version of yourself who no longer exists.

And you get to stop paying it whenever you're ready.

Your Audit This Week

Really take a moment here. I want you to notice where the Identity Tax shows up, today or even this week:

  • Where are you hesitating when current-you already knows the answer?

  • What decision would the woman you're becoming make that the woman you were keeps blocking?

But here's what I know about you: You didn't read this far to just "notice" and move on.

This is the exact assessment I used to increase my 2025 revenue by 39%, and the women inside Pretty Damn Ambitious™ are also using it to identify their next big breakthrough, right now.

The gap between who you are and who you're becoming? It's costing you. Get your baseline score across identity, revenue, sovereignty, and capacity. Stop guessing where to focus. Start knowing.

Instant results. Zero cost. → Take the Elevation Assessment

Once you see where you've outgrown your own operating system, real change becomes possible.

Notice the tax. Just notice it.

That's where it starts.

To your continued success,

Bianca B. King

President & Creative Director, Seven5 Seven3 Marketing Group

CEO + Founder, Pretty Damn Ambitious™

P.S. If this hit, reply and tell me where you've been paying the tax. I read every single one.

P.P.S. Took the Elevation Assessment? I'd love to hear what stood out most and what you're planning to work on this quarter, hit reply and let me know or find me on LinkedIn and let's connect.

What I’m Excited About

This Week Inside the Community

Tuesday's Strategy Hall was one of those sessions that reminds me why I do this work.

Women came in scattered, unclear on their next move, spinning on decisions they'd been circling for weeks. By the time we wrapped, they had their exact next steps mapped and were excitedly committing to report back on their progress.

That's what happens when women meet support + strategy.

I've spent almost 30 years in business, with over $1.6 billion in client transactions. Now, as a business mentor, I bring all of that, the strategies, the wisdom, the mistakes that became lessons, into this community.

What used to cost clients five and six figures to access? I deliver in the Pretty Damn Ambitious™ collective every single month.

We have two more sessions to anchor in the identity work we’re doing this month:

Join my Inner Circle - receive clarity and proven strategies for your business, all in a supportive community, no endless modules or courses, just real support.

Want Me in Your Circle?

Build your multi-six-figure business from your brilliance, not your burnout.

No fluff. Just aligned strategy, bold clarity, and revenue that respects your worth.

Book a 1:1 Strategy Session

If you’re done spinning and ready to clarify your message, raise your rates, and build real momentum. Let’s talk real strategy - let’s take you from barely earning $10K a month to $100K quarters.
→ Book Your Session

Learn the Joyful Ambition Framework™

This is how we build $100K/quarter businesses—aligned, unapologetic, and burnout-proof. Reply “READY” to this email, and I’ll send you the full breakdown.

Introducing the first AI-native CRM

Connect your email, and you’ll instantly get a CRM with enriched customer insights and a platform that grows with your business.

With AI at the core, Attio lets you:

  • Prospect and route leads with research agents

  • Get real-time insights during customer calls

  • Build powerful automations for your complex workflows

Join industry leaders like Granola, Taskrabbit, Flatfile and more.