Toxic Tearoom

Up to 99% of domestic violence victims add financial abuse to the sickening list of verbal, physical, and emotional abuse inflicted upon them by their partner.  Control of family finances, refusal to share information on the status of those finances, and even hiding/downplaying money, retirement savings, pensions, and life insurance are all too common.
Financial abuse is not restricted to these relationships, however.
The...

Projections- gaslighting in 3D- are both aggressive and defensive mechanisms that we find equally fascinating and frustrating.  In the office, these projections can create a narrative that alters how others perceive you.  In your personal life, these projections create dysfunctional- even abusive- relationships.
Your hosts discuss examples of projections at work, home, and even a police officer in a convenience store.  Listen ...

After a year (!) of providing content on toxic work environments, your hosts had an epiphany. 
Toxic behaviors are the cause of toxic work environments; toxic people exhibit toxic behaviors.  Toxic people don't leave work and become different people- so what happens to the families, friends, and communities infected with toxicity? It was worth adding chairs to the table to spill even more tea.
Don't worry- we are ...

Forget chocolates and roses—Stella and Roberta are serving up a brew of workplace reality in the Toxic Tea Room podcast. This episode, they're dissecting the love-hate dynamics of Valentine's Day and how it mirrors our relationships with toxic work practices. From the passive-aggressive notes to the stifling effect of micromanagement, they're spilling the tea on what makes workplaces tick... or explode. Get ready for...

"Greed is good," said Gordon Gekko of "Wall Street" fame, with hair slicked back and hardened- as if his pomade was hand-wrung from the ink of his petroleum stocks. Talking on impossibly large cell phones (by today's standards), drinking, drugs, and the ever-present insider trading, "Wall Street" encapsulated the extremes of 1980s capitalistic worship- and all of its downfalls.
Today's G...

Ah, the performance review.  One of the most anticipated- and dreaded- events of the year, as these reviews often come with annual raises- which takes you down a whole other rabbit hole of how these reviews come together, and the reindeer games that ensue.  Reindeer games? It is no longer the holiday season.  Let it go, gang.

A survey of 837 companies performed by WTW revealed that only 26% of those surveyed felt their per...

Bottles empty and resolutions made? Great! Your hosts ring in the New Year with a new season...and the same bullsh*t.  Join Stella and Roberta as they discuss workplace trends for 2024.

Worker burnout? Check.
Relationship reset? Check.
Remote work over? Or is It? Check and check. It's confusing.
Lack of trust in leadership? Check.
Non-competes? Check.
...and more!

2024 Workplace Trend...

Stella and Roberta reflect on the past year, from events to guests to general hilarity.

The Toxic Tearoom thanks its listeners for a wonderful first year! From That One Booth Productions, your hosts, our sponsors and the cast that makes this all possible, have a wonderful holiday and a safe and prosperous New Year!

The 70 Best New Years Resolutions for 2024- The Pioneer Woman
The Right Way to Ring In the New ...

In this second installment of holiday parties, your hosts are joined by Robert Bain, a veteran of the transportation industry, husband, father, and, oh, one of the strongest human beings in the USA- and the Strongest Man in Logistics.

Do you think you are stronger than Bain (as he likes to be called)? Bring receipts or it didn't happen.  Bain has squatted over 1,000 pounds (or 453kg for our international audience)!  ...

The season is upon us! December is a magical month, hosting major holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Eid al-Fitr.  It is a time of warm greetings, festive decor, bustling activities and making memories- so, so, many memories.

That would include memories we would rather forget. 

Your hosts kick off the holiday season with stories curated to highlight the toxicity of the workplace holiday party.  Casu...

Your hosts are grateful to bring Greg Taylor, author of Find Your Winning Edge, renowned leadership coach and motivational speaker, to the podcast!
What better way to manage a busy Thanksgiving week than with the positivity and real-world guidance from Greg Taylor? Well, we can't think of any!

Greg Taylor has over 35 years of experience in corporate and personal leadership.  Greg has honed a process of insight di...

Today's Israel is equal parts holy land and hell; your worldview determines which side you view as which, though the reality is far more fluid than fixed.  The conflict is both foreign and familiar, distant and next door all at once.  The issues are simple, yet complex; death is the singularity that underscores the shouts from protestors and screams of suddenly orphaned children.

The headlines are terrifying; the ima...

Clouds gather in a once clear sky.  The light gray wisps change to deepening shades of threat.  Breezes that dance with your hair morph into slaps across your face.  You race for shelter as the first violent drops fall from the sky; no pace is sufficient to avoid the emotions in the drops that drench you to your bones.

You reach the door, relieved. The decision turns the knob and you step inside, where relief turns to des...

Your cherished hosts, Stella and Roberta, transition us from workplace horror stories to a season of thanks with a conversational episode.  

Cussing? Yes.  Philosophy? Yes.  Current events? Yes. Yes. Yes. 

Enjoy this bonus episode and want more like this one? Let us know!

Support the Show.

Thanks for listening to Toxic Tearoom! Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X and Patreon. Are you in a toxic wor...

The final installment of "Workplace Horror Stories" for October- and it is all you want for Halloween!! Want spooky? Check. Costumes? Check! Psychos? Yup.  Blood and gore and so much more? Yes, yes, yes.

This episode is packed from start to finish with the best submissions from our listeners and the goriest the web has to offer, delivered with the laughter we need in today's world.  Your hosts are joined by...

The third installment of our October Workplace Horrors highlights the frightening- and yet hilarious- world of Sales! Business Development roles are the largest demographic of this podcast (woot! woot!)- so it is about time we focused on something to entertain all of you.

The sales role can provide an adrenaline rush (nothing like closing a deal!) and complete anguish. There is a saying in Sales- you are only as good as yo...

Join your hosts as they continue down the dark stories of workplace horrors! The trick-or-treating continues with more tricks- monstrous tales of managers gone amok and customers so wicked that they must be part of a coven!

Stella and Roberta have dedicated the month of October to the wackiest, spookiest, scariest horror stories around! Candidly, some of these may scare the sh*t out of you. :)

Spotify Play List

  There are monsters hiding under your desk! Ghosts of horrific work experiences and employers- scoured from the internet and submitted by our listeners- make up the first episode of the spooky season!
Join Stella and Roberta as they share tales so scary- and some cases, quite icky- that your body will shudder...with guffaws of laughter! The best stories come from all of you in the Little Shop of (Workplace) Horrors!!
Your ...

We all love a drive-thru to fill empty bellies after soccer practice or to stave off the late-night munchies. Special occasions are marked with white-linen dinners.  We march in slow silence down buffets at brunches. We grab our phone to deliver business lunches so we can keep working...just like all the food service employees that make this all possible.

Eating out is so critical to our culture that restaurant employees ...