One of Those Days
I have had one of those days. A day with an incredible opportunity that was so much fun. I took part in a filming project for a banking app where I got to talk about the things I love talking about. The script was going back to basics with your budget, switching bills and spending diaries. I was talking through the content I write about every day on my site and I loved it. Did you know I did a no spend month last year, Sept if I recall, and saved £300 that month. The money went straight into our debt repayment, hurrah.
The filming finished earlier than expected and I had some free time to stroll to Kings Cross and grab some rather yummy nachos from Giraffe. I had lots of time today to read a good chunk of the book I am reading, Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown.
Such an interesting book that is making me question some of my inner most workings. It is questioning my beliefs, people whom I am friends with and their beliefs, my thirst for knowledge and debating interesting subjects with others. It’s a great read that I highly recommend, it was recommended to me by my amazing friend Becky who runs Ridley Writes.
Speaking Truth to Bull@@@@
A thought popped into my head today as I was reading a chapter about speaking truth to bull@@@@. An impactful chapter that made me think about all the times I have stood up to bull@@@@. I’m good at this, I will point out when things are being said that I don’t agree with. Just ask the UK Money Bloggers from the 2016 conference. A conference of many money blogger taking about blogger rates of pay. I stood up and told the group that we must start charging more money and asking for what we are worth. After that event a lot of my peers started charging more and consequentially started earning more money.
The chapter also made me think of the last time I sat quietly and let an awful situation wash over me. I didnt stand up to bull@@@@ situation. The result was a lot of tears in reaction, the last time I cried in the workplace.
My last week in the Corporate World
It was my last week at EE before leaving to take redundancy. It was an exciting week full of goodbye coffees, lunches and well wishes. I worked in the Paddington head office and had a wide reach of colleagues who were genuinely excited for me to take a huge leap and to set up my own business. Everyone was really interested in what I was going to be doing and still follow my progress all this time later. Even the big cheese, my boss’s, boss’s boss sent me an email wishing me well and thanking me for my hard work:-) Thank you Marc.
During my last week I had a team meeting with the team I was commercial manager for. My last role at EE was a senior commercial manager supporting the retail franchise team, a team of around 12 people. I would negotiate the commercial terms of the pricing agreement between EE and the franchise partners. It was a very stressful job that required huge knowledge of every product EE sold and great relationships with all the product owners. The franchisees were tough cookies to deal with, mostly millionaire businessmen running multiple very successful businesses, including their EE shops. Let’s say I learnt the best negotiation skills doing this job.
The last Team Meeting
The team meeting progressed talking about the usual spiel. Efficiency improvements, new products, blah blah. At the end of every meeting the head of the department would celebrate success. A nice way to end a meeting to celebrate the success of particular members of the team. The head of franchise was not my biggest fan, in fact a few months prior to me agreeing my redundancy she had said to me I needed to decide between my family or my job. Yes really. She wasn’t even my boss!
I thought the team meeting might be a nice way to put a lid of the difficult relationship for her to say thank you for all of the hard work I had done, deals I had brokered, presentations I had delivered, the millions I had helped to make for the company. But no she completely ignored me for the entire meeting. And did not mention me in the celebrations of success.
Meeting Ended
The meeting ended and everyone started to drift away. I left the room to say goodbye to my northern area manager. He gave me the biggest hug and said thank you for everything I had done to help make his life easier and I cried. I cried so hard, he hugged me back and whispered, ‘@@@@ her’. Ignore anything she has ever said or done to you, you are onto to better things and I am so proud of what you have achieved and what you intend to do’. An amazing man who I will be forever grateful to for that hug.
What a nasty thing do in my last week, why not let things end on a high and appreciate the good things done for your team.
That was the last time I ever cried about work. All I wanted was some appreciation for all my hard work but it was never going to be given. She couldn’t bare to do it. Don’t ever be that person who won’t say thank you, who won’t appreciate when good has been done, to forgive and forget.
My Mrs Mummypenny Job and Business
My job now provides me with the greatest joy ever. I am my own boss and never have to answer to a person like her again. The shots are called my me and I make my own schedule. I write what I want, when I want and agree to work with the right brands for me and Mrs Mummypenny readers. It certainly has never made me cry.
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