Retail, Runway and Life
“Life is too short to wear boring clothes.”— Coco Chanel
Have you ever taken a job based of the promise of growth and career solidarity? I think it’s safe to say many of you raised your hands, while even more of you chuckled at this sentence. Due to the fact you are now stunk in this life sucking job that was promised to you to be more of an investment in yourself, being able to create a generous work life balance that would be able to encourage your creative juices in order for you to grow. I completely understand because less than a year ago I made that choice but life soon, quickly changed for me and the scales fell off my eyes in order to see what I was truly working for. Let me say this right now as a plus size woman it is hard sometimes to be taken seriously due to the fact that jobs/careers will take one look at your physical appearance (recruiters) and already assume that your body shape somehow limits your ability for you to do your job successfully. So of course when a company promotes body positivity of course you assume that they will be the perfect place for a job. Well what do they say by assuming? That’s right don’t do it. There is so much to be said for listening to the “right” people who is in your leadership……recently read an article by Harvard Business stated that it’s better to fire toxic people within the company than it is to continue hiring good workers. Can I just say how accurate this is!! I had an extreme situation happen to my family, and my boss called me the day of my mom being declared dead informing I would probably have to work the weekend because no one, and I MEAN NO ONE was willing to help my boss while she was away at another store helping them with their inventory then when my DM called them they lied and said she never called them. I was then informed by an associate they grumbled the whole time and complained about being in our store the whole time…….now I know you’re jaw has just fallen to the ground. It’s not like my ankle broke and I can come in on crutches muddling my way around my store no, my mom died, my mom who was told she could fight her very extreme third round of cancer that came from her breast has now attacked her abdomen, lungs, liver and bones…..the day of her first infusion she dies. These same people who weren’t willing to help are now being promoted and rewarded for bad behavior and influences while I’m being told that my eleven credit cards that I got in one week needs to be more dispersed amongst my team. I stayed away for a week and came back to work, no but my own store manager got me flowers and a card. My dad’s own district and regional manager sent him a card saying sorry for your loss. Not my upper leadership, nothing just a hug while I was at work and a vague response to make sure I take care of myself. No store managers in my district said a thing to me. When I tell you read Glass-Door before you join a company do it please save yourself some heartache, I’d even encourage you during your interview use a hypothetical situation of life happening and see how they respond. So now that being said I have been back at work, working my butt off watching all of this promoting of toxic people unfold…..and I have had enough I know my value. So I start thinking back to when I went to the NRT convention in New York City in 2020 before COVID. I remember when the Starbucks CFO got up to speak and she said something that apparently stuck with me which was; “your career path can be made up of different places to lead where you should be, not where you think you should be…” I then began to weigh what I’ve been neglecting that I thought I would be able to spend more time on with having a “fashion job” and realized all of it has been neglected. So right then and there in the comfort of my bed I made my choice, it was time to leave. Guys all this ranting to be transparent if your upper upper management isn’t supporting you and making you feel valued no matter how many times they say you are, it’s okay to leave.
