How can you afford to live in NYC on that salary without a side gig? /S
All kidding aside, $81k per year is a low level staffer in a large city in the United States, especially a city like New York or San Francisco.
Her title as "Director of Protocol for International Affairs" likely just means that she supervises two other staffers; the Director title being used to get her into meetings with other "directors".
Like most Democrats, she’s not in it for the money. She’s in it for the opportunity to **** with other people’s lives.