Meet the 25-year-old TikToker who went viral for asking strangers how much money they make

Hannah Williams got millions of people talking about money. First, a few weeks ago, when the weather in Washington, +D.C. Then, as the weather grew warmer, she and fiancé James Daniels took to the streets with iPhones and microphones to ask what some people thought was inappropriate: How much money do you make?

To Williams' surprise, people opened up fairly quickly: An I.T. worker named Chris said he made $70,000; Lifeguard Says He Makes $15 an Hour; Max, an actor, makes $96,000; and a researcher who earns $52,000 a year says he loves what he does and that "passion is more important, but money is also significant and people should be able to earn whatever they do.".

It is one of about a dozen videos in the new Transparent Pay Path video series, hosted by Williams, 25, who hopes to promote "equal pay by transparent calls."

Williams can discuss personal finance and career advice, garnering a regular TikTok following to document his journey to salary: He made $40,000 in college telemarketing, took on five roles in three years, and now earns $115,000-dollar as a senior data analyst in the D.C. area.

However, during those job changes, he said it was challenging to do market research on how much money he should make on each job. An online search was a start, but they hesitated to speak when he tried to share it with friends for more local numbers.

"I feel that these talks should take place outside of our circle of friends," he says, "and they should become part of our society something that's no longer taboo." Seeing how many other workers moved during the Great Retirement Period, Williams wanted to post her phone number and advice.

As she talks more about her wages, she researches the role wage transparency plays in improving pay equity and how it can help bridge gender and racial pay gaps. For example, the average full-time woman earns 83 cents for every dollar paid to white men, and the pay gap for black women is widening.

As more people changed jobs during the Great Resignation, Williams saw how to pay secrecy could perpetuate the cycle of hiring low-paid women and people of color.