I met Corporate America my senior year in high school. I saw so much potential in it that I was intrigued and wanted to know more about it. We was introduced by my high school vocational program and it was love at first site. I was able to work and make money without having to miss hanging out with my friends in the evenings and on weekends. Plus there were no crazy work schedules like I had working in fast food and hospitality. Corporate America consumed me. I couldn’t wait to finish my half day at school to go and be there. I had great leadership that taught me things and challenged me to be better. My coworkers were all people who wanted to see me excel. They shared their knowledge with me and cheered for me as I grew into a better professional. I couldn’t have asked for a better year.
I took a break from Corporate America to focus on education. I was so anxious to get back to it that I set a goal to finish my accounting degree in 4 years. I achieved my goal and started trying to reconnect. I thought it was going to be easy because we had that one marvelous year together and now I had education to bring to the table. I was sadly mistaken. Reconnecting was not easy so we had to start over on a temporary basis. It took some getting used to because I was not receiving the attention that I received the first year we met. I wasn’t initially getting as much out of the deal, but I worked on the relationship and it got better. I finally got a full time job with a salary that was close to what I was expecting as a new college graduate. I had a great manager, coworkers that I really liked and I had BENEFITS! This was the relationship that I was looking for. WhooHoo!
Six months into the relationship things started to change. I got a new manager who was nothing like the first two. He was not teaching me anything and the mentorship I had from previous managers was non-existent with him. I remember him calling me at my mother’s house when I was on vacation about something that most definitely could have waited until I returned. I asked him why was he calling me at home and he told me some BS about essential employees needing to be available at all times. I was young in my career but in my head I was thinking dude I reconcile cash clearing accounts that have a 0 balance. My job did not have any direct effect on the well-being of the company and I left my peers well informed of any open items on my desk. When I returned to the office I went to human resources because this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He had been doing several things prior to this that gave me the impression that he had a problem with me specifically so I wanted to address the issue head on. Well I learned a very important lesson. Human Resources is NOT there for the employee. I remember being called back into HR and my manager was sitting there with the person I had talked to. He had been told everything about my complaints but was able to smooth it away as if I made it all up. That day I knew it was time for me to go so I started searching for a job and gave my resignation a couple of months later.
I started a new job with a company that had a great company culture. You could feel that the company really cared for its people. They had a really nice dining room that was very reasonably priced so we could have healthy meals. Everybody went home on time because they kept adequate staff. My peers were all very smart people that knew what they were doing and weren’t insecure about teaching me. I had a marvelous leadership team again. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to work. I started my entrepreneurial endeavors working at this job. My management team was aware of it. It didn’t affect my work so they didn’t have a problem with it. When I was setting up my brokerage I would take calls at work putting things in place. Well the busy body that sat opposite me in the cubical took it upon herself to go and tell my supervisor that I was looking for a job. My supervisor called me into her office and she asked me was I planning on leaving. This question caught me completely off guard because leaving was not even an option at this point. I loved my job and I had streamlined the business to work perfectly after hours and on weekends so I had no reason to want to leave. I told my supervisor those exact thoughts because we had a very transparent relationship. We went for afternoon walks through the tunnels and we talked about everything under the sun so I knew her inquiry was not coming from a bad place. My attitude towards this coworker completely changed though. I couldn’t stand seeing this lady anymore. She had no business going and speaking on something about me that she knew nothing about! If she thought I was leaving she should have addressed that question with me first instead of going to my boss. She was a contractor so I secretly wished that they would end her contract so I wouldn’t have to see her. Unfortunately they hired her on as a permanent employee about a month later. Shortly after they hired her I turned in my resignation because I did not want to work with this lady. Leaving this job is the biggest regret of my career because I have not had a job that was this good to me since!
I took some time to focus on my real estate business full time but the real estate market crashed a little bit in 2005 so in 2006 I went back to Corporate America. As always the relationship started out great. I was hired as a contractor and then became a permanent employee after six months. I had a manager that I loved working for, I enjoyed my work, I was adding to my skill set and I had great benefits. I was the happiest girl on earth. I loved this company’s culture and I could see so much potential for my career here. I set myself up with a mentor that had been with the company 28 years and we started working my long term career plan. Unfortunately I was introduced to office politics and its toxicity in this job and long story short I would never get to accomplish any of my goals with this company. I was never the same after this experience.
I have worked mostly as a contractor since then. In 2016 I started to realize the abusive nature of this relationship so when the project I was working on ended in 2017 I took some time off to heal. It was supposed to be a six month break but life without the abuse felt so good that it turned into a two year break. My mind says I need Corporate America because it can help me achieve all my financial goals and offer me the mental stimulation that I thrive on. My well-being says that I am a professional scorned who can’t take another round of abuse from this relationship, so I am being very cautious and selective about my next role.