April 14, 2025 • 40 mins
Episode Summary:
In this week’s episode, we sit down with the one and only Tatyana—the Corporate Gen X Mom—for a real, raw, and refreshingly honest conversation about life in the corporate world. As a seasoned professional and mother, Tatyana brings insight, humor, and truth to the table. We dive into what it means to show up authentically at work, the importance of workplace besties, and how to navigate the (often unspoken) challenges of corporate culture, all while juggling the demands of family life. If you’ve ever questioned your place in the corporate machine, this one’s for you.
💡 Key Takeaways:
- There’s often a gap between corporate messaging and real employee experiences.
- Humor isn’t just a coping mechanism—it’s a survival tool.
- Work besties are more than friends—they’re your lifeline.
- Surrounding yourself with respectful, trustworthy colleagues is key.
- Toxic environments require strategic exits or boundaries.
- Balancing motherhood and work is tough—and universal.
- Authentic relationships at work lead to deeper job satisfaction.
- Your company is renting your skills—not your soul.
- Culture change starts with individual mindset shifts.
- Gen Z’s boundaries are influencing a much-needed workplace reset.
🎧 Sound Bites:
🗣️ "I want people to not feel like they're alone."
🗣️ "It's never about the actual job."
👯♀️ Brought to you by Work Besties Who Podcast
Hosted by Jess & Claude—two corporate survivors and champions of all things work, wellness, and friendship.
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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jess (00:00):
Hello everybody, welcome to Work Besties who Podcast.
All right, guys, we have gotone of my favorite guests that I
think we've had on.
Get ready for a dose of thatcorporate realness.
It's a mom who comes with a lotof wisdom and some seriously
relatable content.
Today we're going to bechatting with Tatiana, the
(00:21):
corporate Gen X mom.
As you probably all know herand yes, that is the one and
only social media sensation whosays everything we're all
thinking about work, career andlife, especially as respective
Gen X professionals.
I feel like she's in my head,from hilarious takes on office
culture to the realities ofjuggling a career with
(00:43):
motherhood.
She's built a thriving onlinecommunity by keeping it
refreshingly real.
We are going to chat with herabout what really drives her and
what role does she think workbesties play in her success.
So stay to the bitter end,because she will be sharing with
us what she feels.
Is that one thing that can makea workplace a more positive
(01:04):
environment?
Claude (01:05):
Hi, I'm Claude and I'm Jess.
We are corporate employees byday, entrepreneurs by night and
work besties for life.
Jess (01:13):
Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up,
laugh through the chaos andthrive together in every
industry.
Work besties With that.
Welcome, Tatiana, we're soexcited to have you on.
Corporate Gen X Mom (01:30):
Such a kind introduction.
Oh my God, thank you, thank you, ladies.
Jess (01:35):
A true one, a true one.
We're so excited to have you on.
Do you mind telling us a littlebit about who you are?
Corporate Gen X Mom (01:44):
I will not get into too much detail because
you know I still have acorporate job and I don't really
want anybody following me fromwork.
I block as many people as I canfrom my workplace.
It's getting harder to do thatbecause obviously I have like
over 90,000 people now followingme.
(02:04):
So it's it's a lot.
But you know I'm trying not tobreak any corporate social media
policies and everything so thatI don't get this account.
Really happened is it's becomevery difficult to balance the
moral stance on how thingsshould be and corporate greed.
(02:27):
Corporate greed has always beenthere, always.
I mean it's always been there,but it just seems like it was
kind of a little bit more undercontrol before.
But after the pandemic and wheneverybody realized, oh my gosh,
we can all do our jobs at homefor the budget and bonuses well,
(02:50):
we didn't really do that wellwhen their stock soared like 40%
(03:13):
or they're posting recordprofits.
And it's a complete disconnectbetween how the regular, actual
workers are treated, as opposedto what they're saying and what
they're doing.
There is a disconnect betweenwhat they're saying and what
they're doing.
You know employees are our bestasset.
(03:33):
Yet here is $2 salary increasefor you.
Don't spend it all in one place.
So that's what really drove me,and I've been in the corporate
world for like 22 years at thispoint, in different industries,
in different companies.
(03:54):
My current company I've been atfor 17 of these years in
multiple roles and I've seen itall.
Really, I've seen it all.
I've had wonderful managers.
I've had not so wonderfulmanagers.
I've had amazing co workers andteam members and members of my
own team because I manage a teamof 30 people and I've had not
(04:17):
so good people that I workedwith, that were difficult to
deal with, that that were toxic,that were creating toxicity
around them, and so that's allthat corporate trauma.
That's the product of myaccount, is the product of all
of that.
Claude (04:33):
Yeah, no, it's true, there's a lot to take away and I
totally understand there hasbeen a shift in, you know, the
corporate world.
But how did you start it thenwith your handle right?
Where was it for you?
A release, Was it or somethingthat I need to laugh?
Otherwise I'm going to crybecause I have to say your
(04:56):
content makes me laugh.
You know what I mean.
So why did you start thishandle?
Corporate Gen X Mom (05:01):
The handle really is who I am.
I am a career woman, I am a mom, I am a Gen X generation and
I'm Tatiana and unfortunately,tatiana really is not in that
picture in a lot of cases, and Ithink my 2025 goal is to change
(05:25):
that and put Tatiana a littlebit more forth than I am today.
And I know that a lot of momsreally can relate that everybody
is ahead of them on the to-dolist, on the priority list, and
as moms, we really need tochange that as well.
(05:46):
And as a Gen X, I mean we grewup before we grew up, if you
know what I mean, and there areso many relatable things amongst
Generation X.
I think that we probably relateto more things than any other
generation can relate to.
(06:07):
We grew up without internet.
We grew up with books.
We grew up with libraries.
We grew up without computers.
We figured out how to get whatwe needed to get in terms of
information on our own.
So I can't say that we're thesmartest generation.
Obviously, that's not the case,but in terms of resourcefulness
(06:28):
, I feel like Generation X isthe most resourceful generation.
Jess (06:36):
We were street smart because we had to yes, and I
think what you're trying to sayis we had to be resourceful.
But then we also had to adaptto all these changes and pick up
.
Now I'm working full timethrough a computer, through your
phone.
I mean before, even when wefirst started working, if you
were sick, you were sick, youdidn't work.
But now you're working, nomatter what.
Claude (06:57):
Oh yes, snow days, right , we used to have snow days.
Corporate Gen X Mom (07:02):
We're probably the last generation of
real snow days and we walked toschool uphill both ways.
Remember.
Jess (07:08):
Both ways Carrying like 100 pounds of drugs.
Claude (07:11):
I did it Sorry, my father was bringing me your
friends, they were nicer to you.
Corporate Gen X Mom (07:17):
I took public transportation to school.
Jess (07:20):
Yeah, I took a school bus.
So, tatiana, thank you for thatbackground.
You shared a lot and weappreciate that you commented.
You're all the way up to almost90,000 followers, or slightly
older.
Did you ever expect yourcontent to really resonate with
that many?
Corporate Gen X Mom (07:35):
people.
I hoped it would, becausereally my page is for people to
laugh To laugh, not to cry.
I don't get paid for any ofthat.
It's really for fun and it's tocreate a community of people who
can relate, to understand thatthey're not alone and what
they're experiencing at work,because it's really difficult to
(07:57):
think okay, well, I have thistoxic boss and I don't know how
to deal with this toxic boss.
I can't believe I'm the onlyone who's experiencing that.
And then you open up Instagramor whatever other TikTok,
whatever other platform.
There's so many humorous pagesout there.
There is an old Russian jokethat there is always part of the
(08:20):
joke in every joke, but theother part is not really a joke,
it's reality.
It's funny to some extent thatit's funny, but it's not because
it's true, and so I want peopleto not feel like they're alone.
We're all going through this.
I get so many comments and DMssaying feels like we work for
(08:43):
the same company.
Yes, it's one big globalcorporation.
That's what it is, because it'sthe same everywhere.
Jess (08:49):
To me that's why it resonates with so many people is
because you're bringing tolight the fact that a lot of
what we're going through, oryou're going through, we all are
going through, or we want atsome point.
Claude (09:00):
If not now, we will at some point, or we will even.
Right, it's cyclic, cyclical,cyclical.
Jess (09:09):
I like to clodsplain.
That's what I like to doSometimes when she says a word
that I'm like that's not it.
I like to translate it for her.
So my next question for you isdo you have a workplace bestie,
or a few?
It doesn't have to be just one,absolutely.
Corporate Gen X Mom (09:27):
My manager is actually my workplace bestie
and one of my coworkers who weshare a wall in the office.
We both have offices but weshare a wall and the slightest
inconvenience at least I run toher office.
She doesn't run to my office,but I run to my office but I run
to her office and and we ventand we feel really better after
(09:49):
it and we save on therapy too.
Jess (09:52):
you know it's, it's free therapy and I have the mug.
That's like work bestie equalsyour therapist.
Yeah, it is true, it'sdefinitely one of the one of the
many benefits of having a workbestie is having that person to
bounce stuff off of.
Claude (10:06):
Yeah, this built-in system right, and how long have
you been friends and you knowwhen?
Was it something that came likesuddenly, like you knew, right
away or slowly?
Corporate Gen X Mom (10:18):
We just have been working in the same
department for so long, beensharing a manager for a long
time, been in the same divisionfor a long time, so we know a
lot of people.
We started when the businessreally started and so it's a lot
of things to relate to.
We know a lot of people who areno longer with the company and
(10:39):
so there are a lot of thingsthat we have in common and it's
easy.
That's why it's easy to relateand it's easy.
That's why it's easy to relateand it's easy to vent and it's
easy to compare to the good olddays or whatever, whatever else
because this is not how it usedto be type of conversation.
Oh yes, I feel like that getsbrought up a lot yeah yeah we
(11:01):
used to do it that way but yeah,and it's really, really
important and I also want to tryto convey that through my
content is that it's soimportant to surround yourself
with people you respect, whorespect you.
(11:23):
It doesn't have to be thistoxic positivity all the time it
doesn't but but you have tosurround yourself with people
you can trust.
And it's difficult to know,especially with new people.
It's difficult to know who youcan trust in the corporate
environment, especially today.
It has been dog-eat-dog before.
(11:46):
It still is, so I wouldn'trecommend trusting just anybody.
That's why it's like if you'veknown a person for 20 years or
15 years or 10 years, they'vebeen with you through thin and
thick and you know you can trustthem, because until you are in
trouble together or until youneed help and that person helps
(12:10):
you or you help that person, youcan't really know for sure who
you can trust.
And I think I have one of theposts where what's one thing
that corporate life taught youis that you can't really share a
lot of things you want to sharejust with anybody beyond like
(12:30):
pleasantries, like you can'tjust go into a break room and
tell your life story to justanyone, even if you want to,
even if you just need to let itout.
You just shouldn't, becausepeople will use that against you
.
You never know, especiallytoday.
It's just such a weird, weirdwork environment today.
(12:51):
A lot of layoffs are happening.
People really don't know whatthe future holds at this point,
especially today.
Jess (13:00):
Yeah, it's definitely a more tenuous time right now, and
being cautious is smart, butthat's why work besties are so
critical, because during thistime, you're going to need to
lean on them even more than youprobably would have before.
We do need to be thinking,especially in a corporate
environment, to show up yourbest self each day and not
(13:23):
reveal too much and or be morebuttoned up and what does your?
Claude (13:28):
because I'm sure your work besties aware of your page.
Yes, she's one of the very,very few people who is she's a
work best and I'm sure a lot ofthem is.
Some example came to yourcontent, some history with her,
(13:49):
I'm sure.
What does she say about it?
Corporate Gen X Mom (13:53):
She says she laughs, and that's really
all I need from people.
I don't need any other reaction.
If you find it funny, tell me.
If you don't want to tell meand you find it funny, that's
still great.
Yeah, at least like it oh, thatthat I don't really care about
(14:13):
either, so it's, it's just outthere.
It's an outlet for me, as it isfor people who consume it.
Jess (14:20):
Yeah it's a reciprocal relationship I mean, based on
just scrolling through againlast night, I feel like you've
got a lot of people thatdefinitely do still like it and
think of it, your content, thatkind of as you just commented on
the mixing of the humor and thetruth I think it's just so
relatable and hits home to somany people.
How do you decide what to share?
Corporate Gen X Mom (14:44):
You know what it's.
Usually I prepare content,usually on weekends, okay, and I
just schedule.
I just schedule it, you know,during during the time that I
want it posted, but it's it's.
It's never a dull moment incorporate world, never Every day
(15:05):
is something new or weirdthat's happening that I'm sure
would be relatable to people andin a lot of cases it's cyclical
, like performance review time,bonus time Usually it's at the
same time for a lot of companiestime Usually it's at the same
(15:27):
time for a lot of companies, andso then there is a series of
content about that.
And then mid-year reviews thereis a series of content about
that, employee surveys, I meanall of that stuff.
And then in the interim it'sjust basically whatever pains me
the most Pet peeves, office petpeeves, and you know
communications with variousgroups within my corporation,
(15:51):
like HR or accounting.
There are these cliches and inmost cases they're true.
Claude (15:57):
Unfortunately, it's true , though it is totally true,
otherwise they would not becliche, you know Right.
Jess (16:04):
True, though it is totally true, otherwise they would not
be cliche, you know, right?
Yeah, so it sounds like, then,touching a lot of your posts are
actually from true inspirations, like true stories, true
stories absolutely.
I feel like that makes thismore authentic.
Well, real, the home now,because I'm like, oh my god,
this must be what she's goingthrough right now.
So, based off of the post thatyou have had, has there been any
(16:25):
kind of unexpected or wildreactions that you've gotten
that you were kind of shocked?
Corporate Gen X Mom (16:30):
by.
You know what?
I'm not shocked at anythinganymore, and the corporate life
for you hilarious reactionswhich I'm sure commenters of
those comments don't findhilarious but I do is when men
try to mansplain things to meand you know like or I don't
(16:53):
want to call them like corporateboot boot lickers or anything
like that, you know, that's howI see them like oh, nobody wants
to work.
Or just shut up and do the job.
You're getting paid for it.
Or why are you complaining?
Start your own business.
It's like what?
Why are you?
Jess (17:09):
on my page.
Corporate Gen X Mom (17:11):
Yes, exactly, I think you're on the
wrong page.
First of all and second of all,I love my job, but I will still
complain.
I'll continue complaining andmost of my posts are not about
the job.
I'm sorry.
I have you completely missingthe point?
They're not about the job, it'sabout how corporations operate.
(17:33):
It's the culture.
It's the people who work there,it's the personality hires.
It's the people who work there,it's the personality hires,
it's the pay inequality.
It's or I should well payinequality.
It's the lack of paytransparency it's.
You know, I say one thing butdo another thing.
(17:56):
It's all about that.
It's never about the actual job, and I don't even know why they
spend time commenting and takethis it's silly, because
obviously they're not followingme.
They're not, they're notunderstanding the message.
Obviously because they'resaying stuff like that and you
(18:18):
know I just find it funny and Ilike to mess with them.
I would be responding to theircomments and then you know it
creates engagement, so that'sgreat.
Jess (18:30):
It gets the rest of your people to like double down on it
and respond.
So you commented on thebeginning.
Your handle is true to who youare.
You're a corporate woman who isa mom and Gen X.
So how are you able to balanceworking in a corporate
environment, being a mom andthen kind of also doing a side,
(18:51):
a whole nother side job ofmanning the social content?
How are you able to balance allof that?
Corporate Gen X Mom (18:58):
It's difficult.
I'm not going to lie.
I have an absolutely amazinghusband.
My daughter goes to school andmy husband takes her to school,
I pick her up, so we have thatbalance in the family which a
lot of women I feel lack.
I'm also following a lot ofmoms and I love mom content and
(19:24):
the biggest issue I see is thatthere isn't this partnership
that the family should be.
You know how a man comes homefrom work and says, oh, I'm so
tired, but then a mom comes homefrom work and she still has
another job to do at home.
In my family that is not thecase 50-50, or my husband does
(19:46):
more than 50 most days and he'sretired, so he is a man of
leisure, so he can do it.
Claude (19:51):
I work, I work you said that, mama um.
Corporate Gen X Mom (19:55):
I use the word mama Exactly Trophy wife.
Jess (19:59):
I think you hit on a point that I loved here, especially
amongst, I think, gen x isprobably the first time you
really openly hear it too how apartnership in a family needs to
be 50 50 across almosteverything.
It can't just be the working,because we pick up and do a
corporate job every day too, orhave jobs not to say it has to
(20:21):
be in a corporation but and thento come home and still have a
full-time job technically so, sodoes your spouse yeah, what I
like.
Claude (20:28):
also, I think it was Michelle Obama that was saying
it's not 50 50 all the time,right, yeah, at some point it's
going to be the man 70, thewoman 30, and then later on it's
going to be the man 70, thewoman 30, and then later on it's
going to be 40, 60, and then 50, 50.
That at some point, dependingwhat's happening in your life,
you know it's, but at leastthere's that support that is so
(20:49):
much needed.
Yeah, I mean, that's what.
Corporate Gen X Mom (20:51):
Absolutely Without, without the partner,
partner support.
It's just, it just becomesmadness and it just becomes
animosity.
It just becomes madness and itjust becomes animosity.
And for most I'm sure that's,you know, source of good content
on social media.
But other than that in reallife in real life that must be
(21:14):
really, really difficult to dealwith.
Yeah and balance, because again, a woman can't handle all of it
and the burnout is real.
Claude (21:24):
Exactly, and then you become frustrated.
Right, you're starting thatfrustration and I think what
kills the most is the resentmentyou know, resentment is like
that.
What kills it all?
Corporate Gen X Mom (21:38):
So please tell me and the audience how
have you become besties and whyare you in the same room?
Jess (21:49):
Thank you, Tatiana for asking us a question.
I love this.
I know, I love this Do you wantto come on and be on all of our
podcasts?
Corporate Gen X Mom (22:04):
Where are you guys located?
Jess (22:06):
So we're located in New York, and we, too also work in a
corporate environment and havebeen working for years For years
together, oh yeah, years ingeneral, but together we've been
working for a few years.
Claude (22:21):
Two and a half, I think three, I don't know three feels.
Jess (22:24):
It feels like 20, but it's .
It's only been a few years umand we kind of instantly bonded
at work.
We just had similar, well,similar, but very also
complementary personality.
Claude (22:38):
So the first time was um I, you are a boomerang, she was
a boomerang.
I worked at this company beforeand then she left, and then I
came and then at the time ourboss say oh you know, claude,
why don't you speak to?
Jess just wants to know what'sgoing on in the company, etc.
And from there away we kind ofbonded from there Before I came
(23:01):
back, exactly, and then she cameand I think we also trauma
bonded, I have to say, which alot of times that's what happens
right, and also about projects,and that's where really we saw
where we were complimentary, wewere supporting each other.
For me, it was incredible tohave this support, and I keep on
(23:26):
saying all the time thateverybody always laughs, but the
yin and the yang right and itworked very well and we were
laughing all the time.
We have our little quirk ofsometimes dressing the same.
Jess (23:41):
Well, I mean so for for like events, like we had like at
work sometimes it'd be liketheme days or something and then
Halloween we would dress up thesame.
For that it's not like we walkinto work dressed up the same
all the time yeah, I wasthinking that's TMI all in the
morning.
Yeah, I think you, I, some ofthe things, themes that you
(24:01):
share is kind of some of therealities that bonded us.
We were in a stressful workenvironment.
It could go one of two waysright.
We were peers that we couldhave taken that time to take the
other one down.
We could have, or we could have, like doubled down and figure
out a way to work with eachother, which is what we did,
(24:23):
yeah, to get through it.
And instead of both coming upto the table, showing up
differently where some someareas was my strength and some
was your strength, and weprobably would have that would
have been really obvious to theperson we reported into.
Instead, we just like let'sjust do it together for each
thing and then both of ouroutputs are not the person at
(24:44):
the time was like trying toseparate us.
Claude (24:46):
Yeah, I don't think they appreciated it, but it we
actually made it us even closerand then you had you could see
afterwards, you know theorganization actually were
laughing about our relationship,our work bestie, and also the
people that reported to us, youknow started to have a good
ambience in the department.
Jess (25:09):
And it was happening, right as it sounds similar to
what you were talking about.
During COVID, everybodyobviously was 100% remote and
then after COVID, we were 50-50,right Like 50% coming back and
you could tell the dread ofpeople being in the office.
But a bunch of them wouldcomment like what days are you
guys going to be there?
Because at least if we werethere they would get some kind
(25:30):
of a comic relief and they feltlike the ambiance, as you
commented, was a little bit moreenergizing and fun.
And, jokingly, one of them saidsomething along the lines of it
was I, in my mind, havereinterpreted their conversation
to say that she said we shoulddo a podcast, but I think she
said reality show right.
Claude (25:48):
Yeah, I think at one point we thought because we
thought that we were so funny.
You know, it's just us like I'msure with your work best, yeah,
right.
Jess (25:56):
I mean that's very funny.
Claude (25:57):
Look at your content and then someone yeah, about the
podcast and just Literally thenext day I was like, oh, so this
is the name we should have forour podcast.
Jess (26:08):
I got his email address.
Here's what I think we shoulddo for the season one.
And she was like oh, this is areal thing.
Claude (26:14):
Yeah, yeah, it's a real thing, and since then we're not
working together in the samedepartment, still in the same
company.
But different departments.
But we are still work besties.
Jess (26:27):
If you want to use any of this content, we are okay with
it, but yeah.
I think a lot of what you heardis what you write about right,
that's great.
Corporate Gen X Mom (26:37):
It's always good to have someone you can
talk to, because if you don't,it's very isolating and just
like at home if you don't havethat kind of a relationship with
your partner, and here it's thework bestie.
Yeah, it's very isolating andit's hard and it builds
resentment and you know you maynot necessarily hate your job,
(26:59):
but you just hate being there.
Claude (27:03):
Exactly you dread going.
Corporate Gen X Mom (27:07):
The work bestie absolutely makes it worth
commuting to the office.
Okay, let's put it that way.
Claude (27:15):
No, definitely.
I know that.
I mean we are not workingtogether anymore.
I mean next to each other.
No no, but next to each other.
No, no, but next to each otheranymore.
But I know that I was going tothe office much more, wanted
even more going to the officethat now I'm still going, but
it's a bit different, it's anadjustment yeah, one of the
things we do still, too, is likewhat days are you going in?
Jess (27:36):
yeah, even though we don't sit next to each other just
because, as you comment on youget, get more energy.
You're mad.
Even just being live inmeetings together, we give the
looks yes, or we live together.
Claude (27:46):
Take the subway home.
Yeah, we take the subway home.
Corporate Gen X Mom (27:49):
No, that's cool.
Yeah, I think best friends andit doesn't necessarily need to
be work best friends, but I feellike best friends stem out of
these long-term relationshipslike school, work, college,
whatever and they stay with youfor life.
If you have enough trauma torelate to that, you've been
(28:11):
through enough things that youknow this is your person.
Claude (28:15):
Yes, exactly, these are like lifelong friendships, for
sure yeah, and and the personthat trust you have no problem
to say something, knowing thatthe day after, oh, I should not
have said that, but you know youdon't have to think that
because she's your person orhe's your person.
Corporate Gen X Mom (28:34):
Absolutely.
Claude (28:35):
Or they're your person.
Jess (28:36):
I was just thinking this is one of the things that I
think people loved and hatedabout us.
You have, like, certain phrasesand sayings that you say all
the time, I feel like in everypodcast.
I should like write them down,get them through a law Like a
bingo.
Yeah, yeah, let's do that,let's do it.
Claude (28:53):
Because you're like Kayla you literally hit on all
your typical phrases already.
Jess (28:57):
You've done them all, the yin and the yang.
You've done them all, thesupport.
You forgot one.
You already said authenticity.
Which one did I forget?
I love it we have a lot of freetime because I'm sure, the same
as you, on your weekends, you'redoing this whenever we are
meeting to strategize on stuff.
One of the things I keep sayingis I'm going to splice the
things that we say consistently.
(29:18):
And she says I love it.
It's better I love it than Ihate it.
And mine is very odd.
Mine is like I'm curious.
I say it all the time.
I'm like I love it, yours islike a nice positive and mine's
like she's curious yeah, when Isay I'm curious at work, it's
usually because I'm talking to aman.
Corporate Gen X Mom (29:41):
I'm curious .
Help me understand.
Claude (29:44):
But you know the answer Exactly.
But you already know the answer.
Corporate Gen X Mom (29:47):
Yeah, well, my answer was in the email that
I sent per my last email.
Jess (29:52):
It was in the email recapping the meeting that we
had about my previous emailExactly.
I can explain this to you.
Exactly, exactly yep, yes, Iwill say that if I say it at
work, it usually has a differentcontext, but I don't mean it
that way.
On the podcast, please, no, Iusually am actually just
generally interested to know doyou have any new things coming
(30:16):
up that you might want to share,or any?
What's the?
Corporate Gen X Mom (30:18):
next for you nothing, nothing new, just
gonna go with the flow.
Okay, make fun of the samepeople, make fun of the same
processes, make fun of the samedysfunction, people in different
ways.
You know there are so manydifferent ways to make fun of
the same thing.
Claude (30:37):
It's quite impressive because we do some, also some
content.
It's not that easy to alwayscome up.
It takes a lot of creativity.
So I mean I'm quite impressedby your handle because it's like
so natural and it doesn't feelrepetitive at all.
So that is quite impressivebecause it's not that easy.
Corporate Gen X Mom (31:01):
A lot of inspiration, I should tell you,
comes from watching cat videos,because when I see those funny
animal videos, it's notnecessarily cats, it can be all
other animals.
You see an expression on theirface or the way they do
(31:25):
something and you're like, waita second, that's Chad from
accounting and you immediatelycome up with a meme.
Yeah, so I highly recommendFive Star.
For me, a lot of theinspiration comes from just this
funny content that's alreadyout there and I try to make sure
(31:49):
that I, you know, tag theoriginal poster In a lot of
cases.
In a lot of cases, these arejust like compilations.
They count there.
That's not their originalcontent either.
Yeah, the accounts there.
That's not their originalcontent either.
(32:09):
They're collecting their themedcontent.
If it's like a cat page or a dogpage, that's a lot of videos
there.
Or like monkey content,whatever, and it's not theirs.
But in several cases I've seenit's theirs.
It's theirs.
(32:30):
It's either their cat, or thenI have to ask permission to redo
.
So the content creation it's aprocess, but it just comes
naturally when you're watchingthings and sometimes yeah,
sometimes you know, come up withoriginal content and sometimes
(32:50):
you saw something completelyunrelated to corporate world and
you're like, oh, wow, thiscould reenact this with a
corporate world theme.
So there is just so much stuffout there and people are going
through so much stuff out there.
And people are going through somuch stuff out there and
they're sharing it with theworld and it's like right,
(33:12):
that's wonderful, that's justlike I don't even have to, you
know, and the algorithm helps aswell, you know because you know
once, once you're once you likea cat video, once that's it.
That's, that's all you get.
Jess (33:25):
That's it, You're done.
You are now a cat video woman.
So, Tatiana, we wanted to askyou, as I kicked off with what's
one small thing peoplelistening, so all the work-festy
community out there what's onesmall thing that they can do
today to create a more positiveenvironment in their work or
(33:46):
their corporation?
Corporate Gen X Mom (33:47):
I feel like people should stop taking a lot
of things personally anddismiss the idiots Like don't
engage.
Don't engage with negativity.
Come to work, do your work.
If you have toxic co-workers,toxic boss and you can't do
(34:10):
anything about it, just ignorethem.
You are there to do your workand then you go, and then you go
home and you continue lovingyour life outside of the
workplace Because, at the end ofthe day, all we need to
understand someone said it thatthe companies are basically
renting you.
They're paying you for yourskills and you have to
(34:34):
understand that it's not yourpurpose to make them money.
You are there for your skills.
They're paying you.
If they can't pay you more,they can't afford you.
You need to find someone whowill.
You shouldn't settle and youshouldn't treat that workplace
as one and all place.
You go there and you earn themoney to actually fund the
(34:57):
things that you love doingoutside of work and once you
switch that to this kind ofmindset, it helps.
It helps a lot.
I know a lot of people maybecan't do it or they want to do
their best.
They want to go above andbeyond.
They're thinking that they willget rewarded for it.
(35:17):
In some cases they will.
In most cases they won't.
But someone else also saidnobody at work will remember
that you were working 80-hourweeks, but your family will,
your family will remember.
Your body will remember thatyour burnout was caused by that
(35:38):
and that's your own fault.
Basically, that's what I'mtrying to also convey and tell
people.
Claude (35:43):
Yeah, which is so true.
And so it makes us step back alittle bit and realize, yes,
like you say, it's not ourpurpose in life.
You know, this is not it, it'snot our whole identity.
It's not our whole identity.
Corporate Gen X Mom (35:58):
It's just part of it, and especially if
you don't like it, especiallythen and you like doing
something completely different,you just go there, you earn your
paycheck and you go home andyou love and you do the things
that you love yeah, yeah, sure,that's really good advice.
Not easy for everyone, as thiscomment, not easy for me not
(36:22):
easy for me also, and I shouldsay that as say that as Gen X,
we've been brought up by boomersand we've been trained in the
corporate world by boomers andbasically we are the people with
that work ethic that until it'sdone I'm not going home or I'm
giving my all or I'm going aboveand beyond.
(36:43):
And what I love about Gen Ztoday is that, well, I'm not
giving my all today because thevibe's off type of thing, and I
love it.
And I couldn't, for the longesttime, accept it.
I was like what the Like?
You have got to be kidding me.
How dare you?
And then it dawned on meshouldn't we all be like that?
(37:05):
Yeah, we should.
If you have done your job, ifyou have completed your tasks,
but then at five o'clocksomebody comes in and asks you
something.
It can wait until tomorrow,nobody's gonna die.
I want to go home, I think,because outside of working in an
ER.
Claude (37:23):
I feel like no one has a reason to say you have to stay
in business and meanwhile, likeyou say, us Gen X will take it
at 5 o'clock and say okay, letme finish it Exactly.
Corporate Gen X Mom (37:33):
And I've been like that for a very, very
long time and I still amsometimes because I'm at that
level where I kind of need tolog in and respond to like a
CFO's question or something likethat.
But you know people five levelsbelow me, they shouldn't be
expected to be that, especiallyat the level that they're paid.
Claude (37:55):
Yeah, no no, you can't.
Corporate Gen X Mom (37:57):
You can't pay a minimum wage and expect
someone you know to work 80 hourwork weeks.
You can't.
Jess (38:05):
Yeah, I think that's probably one of the best bits of
advice we've gotten in a longtime.
You know, to work 80-hour workweeks, you can, oh, so true,
yeah, I think that's probablyone of the best bits of advice
we've gotten in a long time.
Claude (38:11):
So thank you for that.
But we really love what youcreated, gen X, to really make
us corporate people seen andmake us laugh, and moms and moms
also make us laugh and reflect.
So thank you again so much.
And can you tell our audiencewhat are your handles where they
(38:32):
can follow?
Corporate Gen X Mom (38:33):
you Sure, it's just a corporate Gen X mom,
that's it Perfect.
Jess (38:37):
So simple and easy and amazing.
All right work besties.
Well, if today's episodedoesn't make you want to go text
your work bestie with a meme ofyour own, definitely go find
Tatiana Because, believe me, youwill find a lot of content to
send right away.
So a huge thank you toCorporate Gen X, mom Tatiana for
(38:58):
being on here and for keepingit real.
I think your content, yourexamples today on this podcast
were just as authentic and downto earth and even funny as much
as your memes are.
So if you don't already followher, please go follow her now,
because your feed needs thatlevel of honesty and humor, and
your work bestie will love ittoo.
(39:19):
For those that liked thisepisode, please give us that
thumbs up, subscribe, share thisepisode with your work besties,
and don't forget to keep yourwork besties close.
Remember whether you'reswapping snacks in the break
room, rescuing each other fromendless meetings or just sending
that perfectly timed meme.
Claude (39:40):
having a work bestie is like having your own personal
hype squad, so keep lifting eachother is like having your own
personal hype squad, so keeplifting each other, laughing
through the chaos and, of course, thriving.
Until next time, stay positive,stay productive and don't
forget to keep supporting eachother.
Work besties.
Hello everybody, welcome to Work Besties who Podcast.
All right, guys, we have gotone of my favorite guests that I
think we've had on.
Get ready for a dose of thatcorporate realness.
It's a mom who comes with a lotof wisdom and some seriously
relatable content.
Today we're going to bechatting with Tatiana, the
(00:21):
corporate Gen X mom.
As you probably all know herand yes, that is the one and
only social media sensation whosays everything we're all
thinking about work, career andlife, especially as respective
Gen X professionals.
I feel like she's in my head,from hilarious takes on office
culture to the realities ofjuggling a career with
(00:43):
motherhood.
She's built a thriving onlinecommunity by keeping it
refreshingly real.
We are going to chat with herabout what really drives her and
what role does she think workbesties play in her success.
So stay to the bitter end,because she will be sharing with
us what she feels.
Is that one thing that can makea workplace a more positive
(01:04):
environment?
Claude (01:05):
Hi, I'm Claude and I'm Jess.
We are corporate employees byday, entrepreneurs by night and
work besties for life.
Jess (01:13):
Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up,
laugh through the chaos andthrive together in every
industry.
Work besties With that.
Welcome, Tatiana, we're soexcited to have you on.
Corporate Gen X Mom (01:30):
Such a kind introduction.
Oh my God, thank you, thank you, ladies.
Jess (01:35):
A true one, a true one.
We're so excited to have you on.
Do you mind telling us a littlebit about who you are?
Corporate Gen X Mom (01:44):
I will not get into too much detail because
you know I still have acorporate job and I don't really
want anybody following me fromwork.
I block as many people as I canfrom my workplace.
It's getting harder to do thatbecause obviously I have like
over 90,000 people now followingme.
(02:04):
So it's it's a lot.
But you know I'm trying not tobreak any corporate social media
policies and everything so thatI don't get this account.
Really happened is it's becomevery difficult to balance the
moral stance on how thingsshould be and corporate greed.
(02:27):
Corporate greed has always beenthere, always.
I mean it's always been there,but it just seems like it was
kind of a little bit more undercontrol before.
But after the pandemic and wheneverybody realized, oh my gosh,
we can all do our jobs at homefor the budget and bonuses well,
(02:50):
we didn't really do that wellwhen their stock soared like 40%
(03:13):
or they're posting recordprofits.
And it's a complete disconnectbetween how the regular, actual
workers are treated, as opposedto what they're saying and what
they're doing.
There is a disconnect betweenwhat they're saying and what
they're doing.
You know employees are our bestasset.
(03:33):
Yet here is $2 salary increasefor you.
Don't spend it all in one place.
So that's what really drove me,and I've been in the corporate
world for like 22 years at thispoint, in different industries,
in different companies.
(03:54):
My current company I've been atfor 17 of these years in
multiple roles and I've seen itall.
Really, I've seen it all.
I've had wonderful managers.
I've had not so wonderfulmanagers.
I've had amazing co workers andteam members and members of my
own team because I manage a teamof 30 people and I've had not
(04:17):
so good people that I workedwith, that were difficult to
deal with, that that were toxic,that were creating toxicity
around them, and so that's allthat corporate trauma.
That's the product of myaccount, is the product of all
of that.
Claude (04:33):
Yeah, no, it's true, there's a lot to take away and I
totally understand there hasbeen a shift in, you know, the
corporate world.
But how did you start it thenwith your handle right?
Where was it for you?
A release, Was it or somethingthat I need to laugh?
Otherwise I'm going to crybecause I have to say your
(04:56):
content makes me laugh.
You know what I mean.
So why did you start thishandle?
Corporate Gen X Mom (05:01):
The handle really is who I am.
I am a career woman, I am a mom, I am a Gen X generation and
I'm Tatiana and unfortunately,tatiana really is not in that
picture in a lot of cases, and Ithink my 2025 goal is to change
(05:25):
that and put Tatiana a littlebit more forth than I am today.
And I know that a lot of momsreally can relate that everybody
is ahead of them on the to-dolist, on the priority list, and
as moms, we really need tochange that as well.
(05:46):
And as a Gen X, I mean we grewup before we grew up, if you
know what I mean, and there areso many relatable things amongst
Generation X.
I think that we probably relateto more things than any other
generation can relate to.
(06:07):
We grew up without internet.
We grew up with books.
We grew up with libraries.
We grew up without computers.
We figured out how to get whatwe needed to get in terms of
information on our own.
So I can't say that we're thesmartest generation.
Obviously, that's not the case,but in terms of resourcefulness
(06:28):
, I feel like Generation X isthe most resourceful generation.
Jess (06:36):
We were street smart because we had to yes, and I
think what you're trying to sayis we had to be resourceful.
But then we also had to adaptto all these changes and pick up
.
Now I'm working full timethrough a computer, through your
phone.
I mean before, even when wefirst started working, if you
were sick, you were sick, youdidn't work.
But now you're working, nomatter what.
Claude (06:57):
Oh yes, snow days, right , we used to have snow days.
Corporate Gen X Mom (07:02):
We're probably the last generation of
real snow days and we walked toschool uphill both ways.
Remember.
Jess (07:08):
Both ways Carrying like 100 pounds of drugs.
Claude (07:11):
I did it Sorry, my father was bringing me your
friends, they were nicer to you.
Corporate Gen X Mom (07:17):
I took public transportation to school.
Jess (07:20):
Yeah, I took a school bus.
So, tatiana, thank you for thatbackground.
You shared a lot and weappreciate that you commented.
You're all the way up to almost90,000 followers, or slightly
older.
Did you ever expect yourcontent to really resonate with
that many?
Corporate Gen X Mom (07:35):
people.
I hoped it would, becausereally my page is for people to
laugh To laugh, not to cry.
I don't get paid for any ofthat.
It's really for fun and it's tocreate a community of people who
can relate, to understand thatthey're not alone and what
they're experiencing at work,because it's really difficult to
(07:57):
think okay, well, I have thistoxic boss and I don't know how
to deal with this toxic boss.
I can't believe I'm the onlyone who's experiencing that.
And then you open up Instagramor whatever other TikTok,
whatever other platform.
There's so many humorous pagesout there.
There is an old Russian jokethat there is always part of the
(08:20):
joke in every joke, but theother part is not really a joke,
it's reality.
It's funny to some extent thatit's funny, but it's not because
it's true, and so I want peopleto not feel like they're alone.
We're all going through this.
I get so many comments and DMssaying feels like we work for
(08:43):
the same company.
Yes, it's one big globalcorporation.
That's what it is, because it'sthe same everywhere.
Jess (08:49):
To me that's why it resonates with so many people is
because you're bringing tolight the fact that a lot of
what we're going through, oryou're going through, we all are
going through, or we want atsome point.
Claude (09:00):
If not now, we will at some point, or we will even.
Right, it's cyclic, cyclical,cyclical.
Jess (09:09):
I like to clodsplain.
That's what I like to doSometimes when she says a word
that I'm like that's not it.
I like to translate it for her.
So my next question for you isdo you have a workplace bestie,
or a few?
It doesn't have to be just one,absolutely.
Corporate Gen X Mom (09:27):
My manager is actually my workplace bestie
and one of my coworkers who weshare a wall in the office.
We both have offices but weshare a wall and the slightest
inconvenience at least I run toher office.
She doesn't run to my office,but I run to my office but I run
to her office and and we ventand we feel really better after
(09:49):
it and we save on therapy too.
Jess (09:52):
you know it's, it's free therapy and I have the mug.
That's like work bestie equalsyour therapist.
Yeah, it is true, it'sdefinitely one of the one of the
many benefits of having a workbestie is having that person to
bounce stuff off of.
Claude (10:06):
Yeah, this built-in system right, and how long have
you been friends and you knowwhen?
Was it something that came likesuddenly, like you knew, right
away or slowly?
Corporate Gen X Mom (10:18):
We just have been working in the same
department for so long, beensharing a manager for a long
time, been in the same divisionfor a long time, so we know a
lot of people.
We started when the businessreally started and so it's a lot
of things to relate to.
We know a lot of people who areno longer with the company and
(10:39):
so there are a lot of thingsthat we have in common and it's
easy.
That's why it's easy to relateand it's easy.
That's why it's easy to relateand it's easy to vent and it's
easy to compare to the good olddays or whatever, whatever else
because this is not how it usedto be type of conversation.
Oh yes, I feel like that getsbrought up a lot yeah yeah we
(11:01):
used to do it that way but yeah,and it's really, really
important and I also want to tryto convey that through my
content is that it's soimportant to surround yourself
with people you respect, whorespect you.
(11:23):
It doesn't have to be thistoxic positivity all the time it
doesn't but but you have tosurround yourself with people
you can trust.
And it's difficult to know,especially with new people.
It's difficult to know who youcan trust in the corporate
environment, especially today.
It has been dog-eat-dog before.
(11:46):
It still is, so I wouldn'trecommend trusting just anybody.
That's why it's like if you'veknown a person for 20 years or
15 years or 10 years, they'vebeen with you through thin and
thick and you know you can trustthem, because until you are in
trouble together or until youneed help and that person helps
(12:10):
you or you help that person, youcan't really know for sure who
you can trust.
And I think I have one of theposts where what's one thing
that corporate life taught youis that you can't really share a
lot of things you want to sharejust with anybody beyond like
(12:30):
pleasantries, like you can'tjust go into a break room and
tell your life story to justanyone, even if you want to,
even if you just need to let itout.
You just shouldn't, becausepeople will use that against you
.
You never know, especiallytoday.
It's just such a weird, weirdwork environment today.
(12:51):
A lot of layoffs are happening.
People really don't know whatthe future holds at this point,
especially today.
Jess (13:00):
Yeah, it's definitely a more tenuous time right now, and
being cautious is smart, butthat's why work besties are so
critical, because during thistime, you're going to need to
lean on them even more than youprobably would have before.
We do need to be thinking,especially in a corporate
environment, to show up yourbest self each day and not
(13:23):
reveal too much and or be morebuttoned up and what does your?
Claude (13:28):
because I'm sure your work besties aware of your page.
Yes, she's one of the very,very few people who is she's a
work best and I'm sure a lot ofthem is.
Some example came to yourcontent, some history with her,
(13:49):
I'm sure.
What does she say about it?
Corporate Gen X Mom (13:53):
She says she laughs, and that's really
all I need from people.
I don't need any other reaction.
If you find it funny, tell me.
If you don't want to tell meand you find it funny, that's
still great.
Yeah, at least like it oh, thatthat I don't really care about
(14:13):
either, so it's, it's just outthere.
It's an outlet for me, as it isfor people who consume it.
Jess (14:20):
Yeah it's a reciprocal relationship I mean, based on
just scrolling through againlast night, I feel like you've
got a lot of people thatdefinitely do still like it and
think of it, your content, thatkind of as you just commented on
the mixing of the humor and thetruth I think it's just so
relatable and hits home to somany people.
How do you decide what to share?
Corporate Gen X Mom (14:44):
You know what it's.
Usually I prepare content,usually on weekends, okay, and I
just schedule.
I just schedule it, you know,during during the time that I
want it posted, but it's it's.
It's never a dull moment incorporate world, never Every day
(15:05):
is something new or weirdthat's happening that I'm sure
would be relatable to people andin a lot of cases it's cyclical
, like performance review time,bonus time Usually it's at the
same time for a lot of companiestime Usually it's at the same
(15:27):
time for a lot of companies, andso then there is a series of
content about that.
And then mid-year reviews thereis a series of content about
that, employee surveys, I meanall of that stuff.
And then in the interim it'sjust basically whatever pains me
the most Pet peeves, office petpeeves, and you know
communications with variousgroups within my corporation,
(15:51):
like HR or accounting.
There are these cliches and inmost cases they're true.
Claude (15:57):
Unfortunately, it's true , though it is totally true,
otherwise they would not becliche, you know Right.
Jess (16:04):
True, though it is totally true, otherwise they would not
be cliche, you know, right?
Yeah, so it sounds like, then,touching a lot of your posts are
actually from true inspirations, like true stories, true
stories absolutely.
I feel like that makes thismore authentic.
Well, real, the home now,because I'm like, oh my god,
this must be what she's goingthrough right now.
So, based off of the post thatyou have had, has there been any
(16:25):
kind of unexpected or wildreactions that you've gotten
that you were kind of shocked?
Corporate Gen X Mom (16:30):
by.
You know what?
I'm not shocked at anythinganymore, and the corporate life
for you hilarious reactionswhich I'm sure commenters of
those comments don't findhilarious but I do is when men
try to mansplain things to meand you know like or I don't
(16:53):
want to call them like corporateboot boot lickers or anything
like that, you know, that's howI see them like oh, nobody wants
to work.
Or just shut up and do the job.
You're getting paid for it.
Or why are you complaining?
Start your own business.
It's like what?
Why are you?
Jess (17:09):
on my page.
Corporate Gen X Mom (17:11):
Yes, exactly, I think you're on the
wrong page.
First of all and second of all,I love my job, but I will still
complain.
I'll continue complaining andmost of my posts are not about
the job.
I'm sorry.
I have you completely missingthe point?
They're not about the job, it'sabout how corporations operate.
(17:33):
It's the culture.
It's the people who work there,it's the personality hires.
It's the people who work there,it's the personality hires,
it's the pay inequality.
It's or I should well payinequality.
It's the lack of paytransparency it's.
You know, I say one thing butdo another thing.
(17:56):
It's all about that.
It's never about the actual job, and I don't even know why they
spend time commenting and takethis it's silly, because
obviously they're not followingme.
They're not, they're notunderstanding the message.
Obviously because they'resaying stuff like that and you
(18:18):
know I just find it funny and Ilike to mess with them.
I would be responding to theircomments and then you know it
creates engagement, so that'sgreat.
Jess (18:30):
It gets the rest of your people to like double down on it
and respond.
So you commented on thebeginning.
Your handle is true to who youare.
You're a corporate woman who isa mom and Gen X.
So how are you able to balanceworking in a corporate
environment, being a mom andthen kind of also doing a side,
(18:51):
a whole nother side job ofmanning the social content?
How are you able to balance allof that?
Corporate Gen X Mom (18:58):
It's difficult.
I'm not going to lie.
I have an absolutely amazinghusband.
My daughter goes to school andmy husband takes her to school,
I pick her up, so we have thatbalance in the family which a
lot of women I feel lack.
I'm also following a lot ofmoms and I love mom content and
(19:24):
the biggest issue I see is thatthere isn't this partnership
that the family should be.
You know how a man comes homefrom work and says, oh, I'm so
tired, but then a mom comes homefrom work and she still has
another job to do at home.
In my family that is not thecase 50-50, or my husband does
(19:46):
more than 50 most days and he'sretired, so he is a man of
leisure, so he can do it.
Claude (19:51):
I work, I work you said that, mama um.
Corporate Gen X Mom (19:55):
I use the word mama Exactly Trophy wife.
Jess (19:59):
I think you hit on a point that I loved here, especially
amongst, I think, gen x isprobably the first time you
really openly hear it too how apartnership in a family needs to
be 50 50 across almosteverything.
It can't just be the working,because we pick up and do a
corporate job every day too, orhave jobs not to say it has to
(20:21):
be in a corporation but and thento come home and still have a
full-time job technically so, sodoes your spouse yeah, what I
like.
Claude (20:28):
also, I think it was Michelle Obama that was saying
it's not 50 50 all the time,right, yeah, at some point it's
going to be the man 70, thewoman 30, and then later on it's
going to be the man 70, thewoman 30, and then later on it's
going to be 40, 60, and then 50, 50.
That at some point, dependingwhat's happening in your life,
you know it's, but at leastthere's that support that is so
(20:49):
much needed.
Yeah, I mean, that's what.
Corporate Gen X Mom (20:51):
Absolutely Without, without the partner,
partner support.
It's just, it just becomesmadness and it just becomes
animosity.
It just becomes madness and itjust becomes animosity.
And for most I'm sure that's,you know, source of good content
on social media.
But other than that in reallife in real life that must be
(21:14):
really, really difficult to dealwith.
Yeah and balance, because again, a woman can't handle all of it
and the burnout is real.
Claude (21:24):
Exactly, and then you become frustrated.
Right, you're starting thatfrustration and I think what
kills the most is the resentmentyou know, resentment is like
that.
What kills it all?
Corporate Gen X Mom (21:38):
So please tell me and the audience how
have you become besties and whyare you in the same room?
Jess (21:49):
Thank you, Tatiana for asking us a question.
I love this.
I know, I love this Do you wantto come on and be on all of our
podcasts?
Corporate Gen X Mom (22:04):
Where are you guys located?
Jess (22:06):
So we're located in New York, and we, too also work in a
corporate environment and havebeen working for years For years
together, oh yeah, years ingeneral, but together we've been
working for a few years.
Claude (22:21):
Two and a half, I think three, I don't know three feels.
Jess (22:24):
It feels like 20, but it's .
It's only been a few years umand we kind of instantly bonded
at work.
We just had similar, well,similar, but very also
complementary personality.
Claude (22:38):
So the first time was um I, you are a boomerang, she was
a boomerang.
I worked at this company beforeand then she left, and then I
came and then at the time ourboss say oh you know, claude,
why don't you speak to?
Jess just wants to know what'sgoing on in the company, etc.
And from there away we kind ofbonded from there Before I came
(23:01):
back, exactly, and then she cameand I think we also trauma
bonded, I have to say, which alot of times that's what happens
right, and also about projects,and that's where really we saw
where we were complimentary, wewere supporting each other.
For me, it was incredible tohave this support, and I keep on
(23:26):
saying all the time thateverybody always laughs, but the
yin and the yang right and itworked very well and we were
laughing all the time.
We have our little quirk ofsometimes dressing the same.
Jess (23:41):
Well, I mean so for for like events, like we had like at
work sometimes it'd be liketheme days or something and then
Halloween we would dress up thesame.
For that it's not like we walkinto work dressed up the same
all the time yeah, I wasthinking that's TMI all in the
morning.
Yeah, I think you, I, some ofthe things, themes that you
(24:01):
share is kind of some of therealities that bonded us.
We were in a stressful workenvironment.
It could go one of two waysright.
We were peers that we couldhave taken that time to take the
other one down.
We could have, or we could have, like doubled down and figure
out a way to work with eachother, which is what we did,
(24:23):
yeah, to get through it.
And instead of both coming upto the table, showing up
differently where some someareas was my strength and some
was your strength, and weprobably would have that would
have been really obvious to theperson we reported into.
Instead, we just like let'sjust do it together for each
thing and then both of ouroutputs are not the person at
(24:44):
the time was like trying toseparate us.
Claude (24:46):
Yeah, I don't think they appreciated it, but it we
actually made it us even closerand then you had you could see
afterwards, you know theorganization actually were
laughing about our relationship,our work bestie, and also the
people that reported to us, youknow started to have a good
ambience in the department.
Jess (25:09):
And it was happening, right as it sounds similar to
what you were talking about.
During COVID, everybodyobviously was 100% remote and
then after COVID, we were 50-50,right Like 50% coming back and
you could tell the dread ofpeople being in the office.
But a bunch of them wouldcomment like what days are you
guys going to be there?
Because at least if we werethere they would get some kind
(25:30):
of a comic relief and they feltlike the ambiance, as you
commented, was a little bit moreenergizing and fun.
And, jokingly, one of them saidsomething along the lines of it
was I, in my mind, havereinterpreted their conversation
to say that she said we shoulddo a podcast, but I think she
said reality show right.
Claude (25:48):
Yeah, I think at one point we thought because we
thought that we were so funny.
You know, it's just us like I'msure with your work best, yeah,
right.
Jess (25:56):
I mean that's very funny.
Claude (25:57):
Look at your content and then someone yeah, about the
podcast and just Literally thenext day I was like, oh, so this
is the name we should have forour podcast.
Jess (26:08):
I got his email address.
Here's what I think we shoulddo for the season one.
And she was like oh, this is areal thing.
Claude (26:14):
Yeah, yeah, it's a real thing, and since then we're not
working together in the samedepartment, still in the same
company.
But different departments.
But we are still work besties.
Jess (26:27):
If you want to use any of this content, we are okay with
it, but yeah.
I think a lot of what you heardis what you write about right,
that's great.
Corporate Gen X Mom (26:37):
It's always good to have someone you can
talk to, because if you don't,it's very isolating and just
like at home if you don't havethat kind of a relationship with
your partner, and here it's thework bestie.
Yeah, it's very isolating andit's hard and it builds
resentment and you know you maynot necessarily hate your job,
(26:59):
but you just hate being there.
Claude (27:03):
Exactly you dread going.
Corporate Gen X Mom (27:07):
The work bestie absolutely makes it worth
commuting to the office.
Okay, let's put it that way.
Claude (27:15):
No, definitely.
I know that.
I mean we are not workingtogether anymore.
I mean next to each other.
No no, but next to each other.
No, no, but next to each otheranymore.
But I know that I was going tothe office much more, wanted
even more going to the officethat now I'm still going, but
it's a bit different, it's anadjustment yeah, one of the
things we do still, too, is likewhat days are you going in?
Jess (27:36):
yeah, even though we don't sit next to each other just
because, as you comment on youget, get more energy.
You're mad.
Even just being live inmeetings together, we give the
looks yes, or we live together.
Claude (27:46):
Take the subway home.
Yeah, we take the subway home.
Corporate Gen X Mom (27:49):
No, that's cool.
Yeah, I think best friends andit doesn't necessarily need to
be work best friends, but I feellike best friends stem out of
these long-term relationshipslike school, work, college,
whatever and they stay with youfor life.
If you have enough trauma torelate to that, you've been
(28:11):
through enough things that youknow this is your person.
Claude (28:15):
Yes, exactly, these are like lifelong friendships, for
sure yeah, and and the personthat trust you have no problem
to say something, knowing thatthe day after, oh, I should not
have said that, but you know youdon't have to think that
because she's your person orhe's your person.
Corporate Gen X Mom (28:34):
Absolutely.
Claude (28:35):
Or they're your person.
Jess (28:36):
I was just thinking this is one of the things that I
think people loved and hatedabout us.
You have, like, certain phrasesand sayings that you say all
the time, I feel like in everypodcast.
I should like write them down,get them through a law Like a
bingo.
Yeah, yeah, let's do that,let's do it.
Claude (28:53):
Because you're like Kayla you literally hit on all
your typical phrases already.
Jess (28:57):
You've done them all, the yin and the yang.
You've done them all, thesupport.
You forgot one.
You already said authenticity.
Which one did I forget?
I love it we have a lot of freetime because I'm sure, the same
as you, on your weekends, you'redoing this whenever we are
meeting to strategize on stuff.
One of the things I keep sayingis I'm going to splice the
things that we say consistently.
(29:18):
And she says I love it.
It's better I love it than Ihate it.
And mine is very odd.
Mine is like I'm curious.
I say it all the time.
I'm like I love it, yours islike a nice positive and mine's
like she's curious yeah, when Isay I'm curious at work, it's
usually because I'm talking to aman.
Corporate Gen X Mom (29:41):
I'm curious .
Help me understand.
Claude (29:44):
But you know the answer Exactly.
But you already know the answer.
Corporate Gen X Mom (29:47):
Yeah, well, my answer was in the email that
I sent per my last email.
Jess (29:52):
It was in the email recapping the meeting that we
had about my previous emailExactly.
I can explain this to you.
Exactly, exactly yep, yes, Iwill say that if I say it at
work, it usually has a differentcontext, but I don't mean it
that way.
On the podcast, please, no, Iusually am actually just
generally interested to know doyou have any new things coming
(30:16):
up that you might want to share,or any?
What's the?
Corporate Gen X Mom (30:18):
next for you nothing, nothing new, just
gonna go with the flow.
Okay, make fun of the samepeople, make fun of the same
processes, make fun of the samedysfunction, people in different
ways.
You know there are so manydifferent ways to make fun of
the same thing.
Claude (30:37):
It's quite impressive because we do some, also some
content.
It's not that easy to alwayscome up.
It takes a lot of creativity.
So I mean I'm quite impressedby your handle because it's like
so natural and it doesn't feelrepetitive at all.
So that is quite impressivebecause it's not that easy.
Corporate Gen X Mom (31:01):
A lot of inspiration, I should tell you,
comes from watching cat videos,because when I see those funny
animal videos, it's notnecessarily cats, it can be all
other animals.
You see an expression on theirface or the way they do
(31:25):
something and you're like, waita second, that's Chad from
accounting and you immediatelycome up with a meme.
Yeah, so I highly recommendFive Star.
For me, a lot of theinspiration comes from just this
funny content that's alreadyout there and I try to make sure
(31:49):
that I, you know, tag theoriginal poster In a lot of
cases.
In a lot of cases, these arejust like compilations.
They count there.
That's not their originalcontent either.
Yeah, the accounts there.
That's not their originalcontent either.
(32:09):
They're collecting their themedcontent.
If it's like a cat page or a dogpage, that's a lot of videos
there.
Or like monkey content,whatever, and it's not theirs.
But in several cases I've seenit's theirs.
It's theirs.
(32:30):
It's either their cat, or thenI have to ask permission to redo
.
So the content creation it's aprocess, but it just comes
naturally when you're watchingthings and sometimes yeah,
sometimes you know, come up withoriginal content and sometimes
(32:50):
you saw something completelyunrelated to corporate world and
you're like, oh, wow, thiscould reenact this with a
corporate world theme.
So there is just so much stuffout there and people are going
through so much stuff out there.
And people are going through somuch stuff out there and
they're sharing it with theworld and it's like right,
(33:12):
that's wonderful, that's justlike I don't even have to, you
know, and the algorithm helps aswell, you know because you know
once, once you're once you likea cat video, once that's it.
That's, that's all you get.
Jess (33:25):
That's it, You're done.
You are now a cat video woman.
So, Tatiana, we wanted to askyou, as I kicked off with what's
one small thing peoplelistening, so all the work-festy
community out there what's onesmall thing that they can do
today to create a more positiveenvironment in their work or
(33:46):
their corporation?
Corporate Gen X Mom (33:47):
I feel like people should stop taking a lot
of things personally anddismiss the idiots Like don't
engage.
Don't engage with negativity.
Come to work, do your work.
If you have toxic co-workers,toxic boss and you can't do
(34:10):
anything about it, just ignorethem.
You are there to do your workand then you go, and then you go
home and you continue lovingyour life outside of the
workplace Because, at the end ofthe day, all we need to
understand someone said it thatthe companies are basically
renting you.
They're paying you for yourskills and you have to
(34:34):
understand that it's not yourpurpose to make them money.
You are there for your skills.
They're paying you.
If they can't pay you more,they can't afford you.
You need to find someone whowill.
You shouldn't settle and youshouldn't treat that workplace
as one and all place.
You go there and you earn themoney to actually fund the
(34:57):
things that you love doingoutside of work and once you
switch that to this kind ofmindset, it helps.
It helps a lot.
I know a lot of people maybecan't do it or they want to do
their best.
They want to go above andbeyond.
They're thinking that they willget rewarded for it.
(35:17):
In some cases they will.
In most cases they won't.
But someone else also saidnobody at work will remember
that you were working 80-hourweeks, but your family will,
your family will remember.
Your body will remember thatyour burnout was caused by that
(35:38):
and that's your own fault.
Basically, that's what I'mtrying to also convey and tell
people.
Claude (35:43):
Yeah, which is so true.
And so it makes us step back alittle bit and realize, yes,
like you say, it's not ourpurpose in life.
You know, this is not it, it'snot our whole identity.
It's not our whole identity.
Corporate Gen X Mom (35:58):
It's just part of it, and especially if
you don't like it, especiallythen and you like doing
something completely different,you just go there, you earn your
paycheck and you go home andyou love and you do the things
that you love yeah, yeah, sure,that's really good advice.
Not easy for everyone, as thiscomment, not easy for me not
(36:22):
easy for me also, and I shouldsay that as say that as Gen X,
we've been brought up by boomersand we've been trained in the
corporate world by boomers andbasically we are the people with
that work ethic that until it'sdone I'm not going home or I'm
giving my all or I'm going aboveand beyond.
(36:43):
And what I love about Gen Ztoday is that, well, I'm not
giving my all today because thevibe's off type of thing, and I
love it.
And I couldn't, for the longesttime, accept it.
I was like what the Like?
You have got to be kidding me.
How dare you?
And then it dawned on meshouldn't we all be like that?
(37:05):
Yeah, we should.
If you have done your job, ifyou have completed your tasks,
but then at five o'clocksomebody comes in and asks you
something.
It can wait until tomorrow,nobody's gonna die.
I want to go home, I think,because outside of working in an
ER.
Claude (37:23):
I feel like no one has a reason to say you have to stay
in business and meanwhile, likeyou say, us Gen X will take it
at 5 o'clock and say okay, letme finish it Exactly.
Corporate Gen X Mom (37:33):
And I've been like that for a very, very
long time and I still amsometimes because I'm at that
level where I kind of need tolog in and respond to like a
CFO's question or something likethat.
But you know people five levelsbelow me, they shouldn't be
expected to be that, especiallyat the level that they're paid.
Claude (37:55):
Yeah, no no, you can't.
Corporate Gen X Mom (37:57):
You can't pay a minimum wage and expect
someone you know to work 80 hourwork weeks.
You can't.
Jess (38:05):
Yeah, I think that's probably one of the best bits of
advice we've gotten in a longtime.
You know, to work 80-hour workweeks, you can, oh, so true,
yeah, I think that's probablyone of the best bits of advice
we've gotten in a long time.
Claude (38:11):
So thank you for that.
But we really love what youcreated, gen X, to really make
us corporate people seen andmake us laugh, and moms and moms
also make us laugh and reflect.
So thank you again so much.
And can you tell our audiencewhat are your handles where they
(38:32):
can follow?
Corporate Gen X Mom (38:33):
you Sure, it's just a corporate Gen X mom,
that's it Perfect.
Jess (38:37):
So simple and easy and amazing.
All right work besties.
Well, if today's episodedoesn't make you want to go text
your work bestie with a meme ofyour own, definitely go find
Tatiana Because, believe me, youwill find a lot of content to
send right away.
So a huge thank you toCorporate Gen X, mom Tatiana for
(38:58):
being on here and for keepingit real.
I think your content, yourexamples today on this podcast
were just as authentic and downto earth and even funny as much
as your memes are.
So if you don't already followher, please go follow her now,
because your feed needs thatlevel of honesty and humor, and
your work bestie will love ittoo.
(39:19):
For those that liked thisepisode, please give us that
thumbs up, subscribe, share thisepisode with your work besties,
and don't forget to keep yourwork besties close.
Remember whether you'reswapping snacks in the break
room, rescuing each other fromendless meetings or just sending
that perfectly timed meme.
Claude (39:40):
having a work bestie is like having your own personal
hype squad, so keep lifting eachother is like having your own
personal hype squad, so keeplifting each other, laughing
through the chaos and, of course, thriving.
Until next time, stay positive,stay productive and don't
forget to keep supporting eachother.
Work besties.
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