A career coach went viral on TikTok after sharing the “most toxic” thing that one of male colleagues ever told her.
The worker, Kendall (@thatcareercoach), frequently uses her platform for career acceleration advice. She recorded her video in response to another content creator who posed the question: What’s the most toxic thing a leader at your company has ever said?
“I’ve been waiting for this moment. And it’s possibly one of the funniest and most traumatizing stories of my 15-year career,” Kendall said at the start of her nearly minute-long video. As of Friday evening, her video had amassed over 153,800 views.
Kendall explained that one of her first executive bosses asked her to build a complex financial report. She added that she was expected to present her findings to her company’s CFO and his board of leaders on a monthly basis.
But Kendall said she also presented her work to a recently hired head of finance, who was “not my vibe.”
“In my very first time presenting this spreadsheet to said head of finance, he said that I, ‘look like I should be dancing on the table instead of sitting at it,’” Kendall said.
“I have so many more of these [stories], sadly,” she added. And in the accompanying video caption, Kendall implied that it wasn’t necessarily easy to stand up for herself. “Like what do you even say to that?” she asked.
In a follow-up video, Kendall said that she froze in the moment. “I stared at him for a beat and then kept going with my report,” she said. She also said that no one else stood up for her when it happened.
“But,” she added, “when I got back to my desk, one of the women who had been in that room with me… were all sitting in my cubicle waiting for me.”
@thatcareercoach #stitch with @Glass Ceilings like what do you even say to that? #corporate #leader #trauma #work ♬ original sound – Kendall
As for the head of finance? “He was ultimately fired,” Kendall said. But it wasn’t until two weeks after his unsavory remarks.
In the comments, viewers were aghast at the senior employee’s remarks.
“He said that? Like, OUT LOUD?” one person wrote.
“And that would have been the moment I went to jail,” another added.
“My jaw DROPPED… wow,” a third person said.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kendall via TikTok comment.
