Negotiations are usually high stakes but for women the stakes are much higher.
Men's earnings tend to peak at 55 years old, while women's peak at 44 according to a report from Payscale.
Even though women have longer life expectancies, they have less years of growth in compensation and wealth. The mismatch can result in different career paths and salary curves for women, which can result in less wealth building.
She said that the wealth gap isn't just an investment. You don't have as much to invest if you don't have as much money to start with.
Lawrence said that negotiations during the hiring process, to earn a pay raise, or to secure funding for a business are important areas where women can increase their income. She prescribes different strategies depending on the situation, but most of her advice is based on research and attitude.
Lawrence shared with Insider some of the approaches she recommended while at the company, which she said was built for women to get the most from their negotiations.
Lawrence said that a preliminary step in a negotiation is to be armed with information. Job candidates can get a sense of the base salary for the job on websites such as Glassdoor.
Incentives are more important than base salaries in some industries.
"If you're in sales, or if you're responsible for leading a business, that should be a case for having incentive compensation," Lawrence said.
Equity compensation is more common at companies that are publicly traded.
Lawrence said that it should be in the job description if employees get any equity in the company.
She said that if you get an interview, you can ask a question.
There are places where women can find information about startup funding.
She said that it can help you understand where they are in terms of growth.
Lawrence said that the base salary at a startup is likely to be lower than what newer employees will get once the startup has more employees.
If you want to do a good job of comparing and knowing whether something is a good offer, you need to understand what equivalent startup would be offering.
Lawrence told job seekers to think about what an offer would mean to them personally, even though compensation packages are based on value.
She said that an offer with a lower salary but higher equity may be amazing for some people, but not for another person who needs to support their family and negotiate for a higher base salary.
Lawrence said that a candidate's personal situation can affect how they negotiate.
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