I’m not perfect, but I really love being in a position of authority and being a cause for good, rather than the typical boss shit we all know and hate.
My best-friend-turned-manager’s grandma died. We used to work together at another company, and when an employee’s grandma died, they were denied any leave. Even after they explained their grandma raised them with an absentee mom, they weren’t allowed time off. Now, I forced her to take her allotted 3 days. She only started in January so was hesitant and I’m like girl, get out of here. Go be with your family. The funeral was on Saturday and she was just going to take Friday off until I told her she should take all 3. She hesitantly also took Thursday off. I said pick Wednesday or Monday, too. When she said she would be back in town before Monday, I told her it wasn’t about when the actual funeral was — it’s about taking time to grieve and not worry about your work responsibilities. I saw her at the gym last night and she said they got home early so she can come in tomorrow and I shut it down immediately.
My designer had to get an emergency surgery on Wednesday. My higher ups kept asking when she would be back, could I ask, maybe I could contact her husband? And I said absolutely the fuck not, I am worried about her health and well-being, not when she can return to her day job. I did contact her husband — to find out their address and organized flowers to be sent to her Friday.
My photographer had car troubles Wednesday morning. She said she could work here and there but will still submit a PTO day. I told her to take her car to a shop and let me know if she needed help and we can worry about the PTO or not later. Since she was able to just go to the shop while everyone else worked, it was fixed within a few hours and she was able to work again — no PTO subtracted cuz I’m not a fucking tyrant.
My other designer leaves everyday at 3 to pick up her kids.
My other photographer has been in a state of limbo, no one knowing who her actual supervisor was. Our entire teams works remote 3 or 4 days a week, but she was never allowed because her supervisor was unknown and couldn’t approve it. I told her to pick 3 days to wfh and let’s get it in writing. I’m sick of the back and forth and nobody knowing. So we submitted to HR with my name as supervisor and she gets to start wfh this week!
I took on two interns and teach them all the time about workplace boundaries. They offer to work on the weekends or late at night and I say no. I tell them that even if they don’t have work to do for me at every moment to scroll TikTok and get ideas — get paid for it, girls! I let them sit in my office with me on calls. I take them to all my meetings so they get exposed and feel important. I do all the things for them I always wanted at 21.
I advocated for my lead designer to get a raise — she got a 5% raise plus a $4,000 bonus in January. Last week, I advocated for my web dev to get a promotion. He got a 25% raise and went from coordinator level to director level. He makes more than me now and I couldn’t care less. He deserves it.
At the end of the day, I love my job. I feel fulfilled with what I do but I also love being able to impact others. I finally can be the boss we all want, and I owe it to you all for showing me how NOT to act 🤍