About Us

Until There Are Nine is a career intelligence platform that provides strategic guidance to women so their self-advocacy is more effective within a corporate environment. We provide insider knowledge, proven strategies, and strategic advice that actually drive career advancement.

Real-world career intelligence from executives who've been where you want to go.

Get the insider knowledge and practical tools that turn career obstacles into strategic opportunities. Our network of executives share what they wish they'd known—delivered through proven playbooks, ongoing intelligence, and personalized support that actually moves the needle on your career trajectory.

We're not giving you generic motivation or broad advice. We're sharing strategic career moves informed by our experience, practical tools you can implement immediately, and a community that understands the unique challenges women face in corporate environments.

MISSION & VISION

Our mission, vision & goals

Our mission is to provide real-world career intelligence that makes self-advocacy more effective within a corporate environment.

Our vision is close the pay and promotion gap for women.

Goal 1

Show women how to develop a purposeful strategy and plan to achieve their career goals.

Having ambition is important, but you need to be strategic about the career moves you make whether it's within the next six months or three years.

Goal 2

Shift the mindset that it’s better to ask for what you want than wait for it to be offered.

Waiting around to be rewarded can cost you time and money so it's critical to communicate your value and own your narrative.

Goal 3

Encourage women to openly share their successes and failures and the power it has to help others.

This network is built upon the experiences of executives so it's part of our value system that our members share their own to help others.

Why we do it

Women have been conditioned to believe that if they work harder and say ‘yes’ to everything, they’ll get the recognition they deserve. This is not the reality of the workplace.

We exist because the traditional career advice wasn't working. While women were told to "lean in" and "be more confident," they were missing the insider knowledge, proven strategies, and strategic thinking that actually drive career advancement. Our executive advisors—who've navigated their way to senior leadership—decided to change that by sharing what they wish they'd known earlier in their careers.

How we got started & the meaning behind our name

Founded in 2020. After 20 years into a successful career in marketing did our founder Bhavana Smith learn the power of negotiating a new job offer, resulting in a 60% increase in her salary. After sharing the play-by-play with her friend Carly, who said “oh, that’s good, save that for me when it’s my turn” did she realize the power of sharing her experience to help other women achieve similar results.

In 2025, Julie Davis joined as Technical Co-Founder. She is an experienced software engineer, having led large-scale developer platform engineering teams at Vistaprint and 2U. She joined as she also strongly believes in the mission of helping other women achieve equity.

Our name was inspired by the foremost champion of equity, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was often asked by reporters how many women justices would be considered enough on the Supreme Court, her response was “when there are nine” because there have always been nine men and no one ever questioned that!

Our goal isn't to occupy all nine seats but if it were to happen, it wouldn't be questioned. That's when we'll know we have achieved equity.

Fun fact: Our logo has nine boxes, four of them shaded to represent the number of women currently on the Supreme Court.

Our Executive Advisors

The Executive Advisors in our network joined because they genuinely believe in the mission. They have experienced the same struggles of corporate life and learned the unwritten rules. They want to share their knowledge and experience to help others.

They're available for 1:1 advisory sessions. Here's how it works:

Select an Executive Advisor that best suits you (industry, special skills, etc.)

Schedule time based on your goals, either once a month if you’re working towards a long-term goal like getting promoted or ad hoc if you need immediate, short-term support like helping with a new job offer.

Get support and judgement-free guidance to support you while also helping to challenge your status quo.

The Advisor's Role

An Advisor is not simply a mentor. They have a specific purpose, which is to help you achieve the goals you set for yourself. Their role is:

To support you behind the scenes during compensation discussions and not be “employer facing” either in person, on calls or in writing (cc’d in emails).

To not offer any legal or financial advice that replaces an accountant, lawyer, or financial advisor, including advice provided on employment contracts.

To respect the confidentiality of your employment circumstances and any confidential information shared (e.g. previous or current salary).

To be conflict free and not benefit financially, reputationally or otherwise from your career outcome. Any conflicts of interest should be disclosed immediately.

To give you the time and attention you deserve within reasonable and appropriate timeframes and maintain a professional and respectful demeanor.

Working with an advisor
Our EXECUTIVE NETWORK

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