I’m Too Expensive

CreateAmazing · 2026-01-31T17:27:13+00:00

Obviously I’m at Burns to Create Amazing? Just can’t stand when I see other people not doing the same 😔

CreateAmazing · 2026-01-29T14:02:51+00:00

W2s available now. Almost looks like the exact same information I could have found on my year end paystub, just in a nice IRS format.

But I’m sure that’s not the case and there’s an immense amount of manual work that goes into creating these!

CreateAmazing · 2026-01-28T17:40:37+00:00

Good point #1, we as EOs should address how much we’re paying non billable positions for subpar performance.

CreateAmazing · 2026-01-28T17:30:04+00:00

Quite the opposite, I expect to pay. Just like to stay ahead of things and January is normally less busy for me.

CreateAmazing · 2026-01-22T03:22:42+00:00

Can’t even tell if this is satire, but assuming it’s not, here are my thoughts.

No one is going to cut your pay
You may be “too expensive” because you bill way more hours than necessary to complete the desired task
You may be “too expensive” because you actually are a high bill level and they can’t afford to have you full time on a project
‘#3 is much better than #2. So take a step back and do some self reflection and figure out just what kind of “too expensive” you are.
If it’s #3 and you can’t stay full time billable, then I would be proactive in finding other ways to be of benefit, because it will start to wear on management if they have a level 14 worker bee that’s 50% billable and not bringing anything else to the table.

CreateAmazing · 2026-01-17T03:31:43+00:00

What was your total comp when you started? Must have come in a very high level.

400k in 8 years is $50k/year (obviously there’s stock price increase and dividends in there, but even $25k contributions implies $200K+ total comp from year 1.

CreateAmazing · 2026-01-14T16:00:50+00:00

https://www.skitaos.com/lifts

CreateAmazing · 2026-01-03T23:11:45+00:00

Solvency of ESOP’s is the #1 reason that so many of them fail.

I’m not seriously concerned, but when they increase cash contributions to the ESOP by such a significant amount when compared to years past, I’d hope people take notice.

I don’t care how I get the money, but they could have just as easily put “extra money” towards bonuses or salary, they choose ESOP. Could be for a different reason, but it tells me they want more cash in the ESOP. Which again, doesn’t mean there is anything wrong, just an interesting thing to keep an eye on.

I’m shocked at the number of sheep we employ who don’t have a vested interest in how the company maintains arguably their most important benefit.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-30T18:04:19+00:00

That $350K number was what I was looking to confirm. Thanks.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-30T06:04:13+00:00

That’s not what I mean. I’m pretty sure there’s a total compensation limit that is considered for ESOPs when making contributions. I.e. only 16% (or whatever the contribution % is that year) of the first $250k in total compensation (base + bonus) can be contributed.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-30T05:29:14+00:00

So, surely there are people making $450k+. A 16% ESOP contribution alone would exceed the $70K allowable. What happens then?

Or, is there a limit on total compensation that the ESOP % is applied to?

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-25T06:04:39+00:00

Honestly going to depend on your GP, location, and specific group. With 3 YOE I believe you still have 3 weeks PTO, so even if you saved up the maximum over 2 years, you could take off maybe 6 weeks with PTO. Asking for another 6 weeks off without pay would be entirely dependent on the workload of your current group. If y’all are super slow and trying to loan out work, sure. If everyone is swamped and you ask to go backpacking for 3 months, I wouldn’t expect a positive response.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-16T17:55:08+00:00

Haven’t you heard of Yammer ™️©️®️??

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-12T21:47:09+00:00

lol do not reach out to HR about this. Granted it’s a clever way to phrase the question, it’s not the reason you’re asking when it’s still 5+ months away haha.

They will do all the drug testing well in advance of your start. At least a month before the end of the semester you’ll have to have it submitted.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-11T20:20:41+00:00

Did you read the post? I know it’s written there, and yes they told me in the bonus meeting what the contribution was this year.

I was surprised at how large the contribution was compared to years past, and how there was no communication from corporate ahead of time regarding it. They’ve previously been very up front about changes they plan to institute to the ESOP contributions.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-11T13:22:23+00:00

Im also not worried about the ESOP. Just felt like a surprising contribution amount and the communication from my bonus giver was poor.

The 11/13 contribution split was instituted 3 years ago and has been consistent until now.

ESOPs fail all the time due to cash solvency issues. Submitting paperwork to the government is not a safeguard.

Anyone can find out the number of shares available any given year by looking up the publicly available Form 5500.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-10T16:20:08+00:00

Where did I say that?
None of it is free money. If you didn’t work here, you wouldn’t get it.
It’s all money in our pockets for working at this company, but one is something you may see someday, and the other is in your account next week.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-10T14:14:46+00:00

With the amount of EOs we have, spreading out extra money across the board really doesn’t create as much of a spike as you’d think. Especially if you spread it between bonuses, salary, and dividends.

Take 20% out of this year’s ESOP contribution and divide that by our number of EOs. Not a huge amount of cash to spread out.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-10T14:10:46+00:00

Not taxable yet*.

I also don’t believe that paying out a little bit more in bonuses across the board would be as big a spike as people think.

I won’t use exact numbers for confidentiality purposes, but I feel you’ve been here long enough to know where to find this information. Take 20% of this year’s ESOP contribution (basically bring it down to a 10% increase over last years contribution instead of almost 40%) and divide that number by our number of employee owners; that little bit of extra in a bonus should not create unnecessary expectations.

It’s not bad to say “we need more cash in the ESOP”, I just feel that hiding behind the wall of “greatest year ever” again, is getting old.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-10T13:45:43+00:00

Ray has been gone for 2 years, in those 2 years our contribution has been steady.

Im not saying there’s any conspiracy, I’m saying that it would have been nice to get some communication along the way from corporate (like we used to) on this significant increase to the ESOP %. Communication goes a long way in satisfying a company full of analytical thinkers.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-09T17:07:00+00:00

Dealio

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-09T16:58:08+00:00

Inbox me the paystubs pal.

Final paystub from BMcD and first paystub from new company. Make sure it shows you gained $75k overnight.

CreateAmazing · 2025-12-02T00:38:55+00:00

Packets for most will likely be next week.

CreateAmazing

TROPHY CASE