I figured this sub would be the best place to get advice about managing a difficult work situation.
I’m currently in school for massage therapy as a career pivot. To pay my way through school, I took a job at a corporate massage chain. I figured this would allow me to get a look at the backend of daily operations, booking, interacting with clients, etc. It’s true! I’ve learned a lot about how I want to structure my personal practice after only a few shifts.
The catch: I must have this job for another year to pay my way through school and life, and I’ve already had to do things that run up against my morals. For instance, I spent 2 hours calling clients who signed a membership contract (sold specifically after a massage when they were most relaxed and vulnerable), but don’t have the money to keep up with the payments, to insist they give me a new card number. They’re immediately charged on the new card for the months they’ve missed, even if there’s no money in the account. So I’m personally guaranteeing an overdraft fee for this person. After communicating my discomfort with this situation to management, one of my managers said “We’re a business and it’s our job to get their money.”
This location has the corporate vibe down to a tee, from the cheapest, shittiest trash bags, to outstanding maintenance requests to fix building issues, to group texts with encouraging corporate-speak, lowest possible pay without being untenable, etc. I’ve been running my own business and out of the corporate world for nearly a decade, so it is a rude reality-check being back in an environment in which the experience of the person I’m serving isn’t my only checkpoint for whether or not I’m doing my job “properly.”
I haven’t run up against any massage-related ethics issues (or else I’d be quitting and reporting), but I can tell that this job is going to tax my well-being and sensibilities. Other than continuing to advocate for clients (as opposed to being a dementor that sucks out whatever I can get), do y’all have any advice for how I can stay sane in this position in the short-term?