LOS ANGELES – It was about three years ago, 13 seasons into Criminal Minds, when star Kirsten Vangsness had an “aha” moment.

“How come all the guys are getting paid this much and all the girls are getting paid this much? The only difference is they’re men and we’re women,” Vangsness said.

We caught up with Vangsness at Theater of Note, a place close to her heart. Here she works and performs for free, but she has sure fought the good fight to get paid at her job.

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Vangsness has been on Criminal Minds, which is in its fifteenth and final season right now, since its inception playing fan favorite Penelope Garcia. When she was up for renegotiations, she said she learned that she and other female co-stars were paid significantly less than male counterparts. But she didn’t get this knowledge until she and the other actresses all opened up to each other.

“We would sit in my hot tub and be like ‘how much are you making, how much are you making, how much are you making,’” Vangsness said.

She then spearheaded a tough conversation with the network and tough negotiations to get equal pay for not just her, but other female stars as well,  motivated simply by knowing their value. Vangsness knows this isn’t a new conversation, but it took her time to find the words.

She is not alone is getting paid less than male actors. According to Forbes, the top 10 highest-paid actresses in 2018 earned less than 30 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts.

Turns out, Vangsness speaking up paid dividends. Not just financially, because yes she reached pay parity, but spreading the wealth in other ways too.

She has since invested in a distillery in Santa Ana, Blinking Owl. And as a board member of Theatre of Note, she helps figure out how to fund the theatre’s plays.

Now she can watch the show’s finale with pride – not only because she co-wrote it but because she has perhaps never felt more valued.