The Corporate Cleanse (Jen Gray)

Bring a little soul back to the hustle.

Welcome to my new podcast! I started this to open up the conversation around ~Corporate Life~ the highs, the lows, and how to strive and succeed within capitalist and corporate America without completely losing your soul and depleting everything that you are. My name is Jen Gray and I have worked in the tech industry for a long time and finally got everything I thought I wanted: the fancy executive title, the big salary. After getting the boot from my fancy job, I realized that my entire identity was wrapped up in this "Big Girl Job," and I didn't know who I was. I had to take MANY Corporate Cleanses, and now I am focused on empowering others to create a healthier balance between who they are and what they do; to help you maintain (and sometimes rebuild) your identity when corporate life seems to take more than it gives.

Thank you so much for listening, episodes are uploaded every Monday.
Follow The Corporate Cleanse on Instagram for important dates and announcements!
@the.corporatecleanse

You can also find me, Jen - on Instagram 
@jenlgray
More 
@byjengray
Twitter
@corp_cleanse

Bring a little soul back to the hustle. 

Amid mass layoffs, bank failures, $9 eggs - um are we okay? Do we all need to reevaluate corporate life and whether we're giving more than we're getting? Have you made your corporate salary/title/position your entire personality and have lost sight of who you are, who you want to be, and what you want? Today, we're talking about the pros and cons of corporate life, balancing pursuing big dreams while still paying the bills (those $9 eggs, ya know), and the toll that corporate life can take on your values, boundaries, and emotional well-being. 

Thank you so much for listening, episodes are uploaded every Monday.
Follow The Corporate Cleanse on Instagram for important dates and announcements!
@the.corporatecleanse
You can also find me, Jen - on Instagram 
@jenlgray
More 
@byjengray
Twitter
@corp_cleanse

Listen, if you are on the absolute brink of rage quitting your job - sometimes small steps can keep us from doing something rash. In this episode, we talk about small actions (little cleanses) you can take every day to break the cycle of feeling trapped by your corporate life. You'd be surprised at how effective small moments of ease and empowerment can be to help you take your power back, to remember you are in control of your life and your time, and to remember that you are more than your job. 

Today, we talk about the hardest—and the most important—lesson I've learned in my career. We take a look at the chip on many of our shoulders from years and years of injustices, micro aggressions, and just tough human dynamics and how we all carry these bitter seeds planted on our hearts from job to job thinking "this will be fine". 

Maybe you have been passed over for a promotion or laid off when you were a top performer or are continually interrupted in meetings. You are right, you deserve to be validated, you deserve to be seen and heard AND you have to take the accountable road forward because, at the end of the day, all you can control is YOU. 

Today, we're talking about your days. If corporate life has left you a shell of yourself and you're struggling to reset, to rebuild your sense of self, to remember what is important to you (outside of zoom happy hours and quarterly taco tuesdays)—then let's start small. Let's talk about what an ideal day looks like for you. Mine is usually peppermint tea and a spin class so there's a place to start. 

Today, we're talking about the small, unnoticed ways you may be giving up your power in the workplace. We talk about acknowledging and accepting that power is something that is OKAY to have, and really—critical to have—because power is what makes the corporate world go round. Power is how you get things done, how you feel about yourself at the end of the day, and how you work with others. I hope this episode helps you be more aware of how you give up power on a daily basis and how you can slowly and effectively take your power back.

Having a healthy power dynamic between yourself and your workplace is critical in staying aligned with your values and feeling balanced in how you approach your career and the corporate ladder. 

ChatGPT says I might be going through a "millennial mid life crisis". The biggest question on my mind has been if and when I'm going back into corporate life. For right now, it's been a problem for future Jen, but as I've been thinking about how I want to show up for my hypothetical new corporate life era, I've been reflecting on the things I would have done differently in my career. 

From Dominos Pizza to tech executive (just kidding, we really only talk about my tech career) — in todays episode, we talk about the 5 things I would have done differently in my career. During the 13 years climbing the corporate ladder, what are some of my regrets and lessons learned. 

My career gave (gives) me many things, chief among them: money. Money to improve my life satisfaction. But what happens when we get stuck in the the cycle of working → buying things → feels good → work more → don’t have time for happiness anymore → buy more things → need to keep working to afford happiness?

Let's step a couple of toes out of this cycle before we feel completely powerless. Today I want to remind you that you have the power to control your life and how you want to live it and what job you stay at or don’t stay at. I share how I've reframed my relationship with mindless consuming and outsourcing happiness and what things I've been appreciating and rediscovering for the month of April - it's an insanely random list - enjoy :)

How many companies do you come across that claim "we're making the world a better place" or "we take care of xyz so you can focus on what matters in life"? 

It’s also a question almost all of us are asked in the interview process “why do you want to work for xyz company” and this is usually a test on whether you’ve done your research by looking up the company website, consumed what they say is their mission/vision and whether that resonates enough for you to work there — whether that resonates enough for you to do the best work of your life so you can assure this recruiter/hiring manager that you will do the best work of your life because your motivators aren’t selfish things like money, security, job satisfaction — your motivators are altruistic because you genuinely want to help do whatever the company mission is whether you’re paid or not. 

Is this required? We dive into this idea of being passionate about your job and whether it's realistic, possible, or good for you. 

Yes, I understand the irony. Me, someone who was fired most recently, giving you advice on getting ahead in your career. But I haven't been fired from a job since I worked at Abercrombie & Fitch, okay? 

I went from manager level to C-suite executive in 3 years and have a whole bunch of accolades and traumas to go with it... as well as some practical, real-talk advice on getting ahead in your career. 

Chances are, you have encountered or will encounter toxic leadership in your career. If you're experiencing this, let me remind you: you are not crazy. Toxic leadership isn’t benign and you aren't just “overreacting" or "being too sensitive”. Toxic leadership creates environments of fear and low morale and that is traumatic. Spending 40+ hours in an environment like that is traumatic.

Toxic leadership is so incredibly tough, but....  kind of unavoidable. I do think there is some freedom in that realization. There is freedom is a radical understanding of where you end and others begin and letting go of everything that you can’t control. 

In today's episode we talk about how CEOs are faring right now in the media (** not well **), how to identify toxic leadership, and three paths forward. 

Also, listening to Taylor Swift’s Karma helps me too. Karma is a cat, purring in my lap cause it loves me.

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been called “organized” in my career, I would def own a boat by now. But you know what? It’s never felt like a compliment.

We use labels in work for many reasons: to get an upper hand on someone, to put that person down or on a lower playing field (again power dynamics), to put someone in a box that we feel more comfortable with. None of the reasons are great.

Perception is really all we have in business - who is perceived as the best leader, who is perceived as the best communicator, who is perceived to be a rockstar. Effectively combatting labels is a HUGE tool in managing your perception.

In this episode we talk about how to craft your perception with intention because that perception (how you are perceived by leadership, your manager, the CFO, the CEO) all will really dictate if you get selected for the high-profile project, if you are considered when asking for a raise, if you are considered for the next management role.

Do you ever get this feeling of not getting a shot because of who you are or who you are not, or whether or not you’re in the “in crowd”? Corporate life is often just a clique game where there are “in crowds” and favorites and social hierarchy. There is nepotism, there are groups that spend more time together because of their similarities, their sameness, their shared life experience, their prior relationships, their interests, their upbringing, their beliefs. 

Surrounding yourself with people you like is part of life, but at work is where it can create really painful and high-stakes exclusion. Exclusion hurts on an individual level and it also impacts what our societies future looks like. 

Favoritism, nepotism, cliques, unspoken fraternities—all come from a good place of good intent (well mostly ha) of wanting to take care of those around you, those who are similar to you, those in your family—but can quickly turn into painful exclusion and discrimination. 

Reorgs, "let's take this offline", Year of Transformation, executive departures, new CFO? There is definitely tea behind the "so and so is leaving the company to focus on family". 

Why do companies speak the way they do? Corporate speak is this weirdly formal language, ridiculous amount of buzzwords, and a focus on spinning positive messaging—all to put on a guise of professionalism and intellect, to lend credibility and worthiness to our jobs, to mitigate consequences. 

Corporate speak is a big reason why work can be so draining, so passive aggressive, so shaming, and why our meetings are longer than they need to be! We dig into what corporate speak is, reasons we use it, and what's hiding under the surface of all those buzzwords. 

I have a complicated relationship with my anxiety. Anxiety has pushed me and has gotten me far in life. Moderate anxiety has kept me on my toes, driven me to tend to the things that I care about, and nudged me toward my best self. 

But anxiety plays dirty — oh it plays dirty. Anxiety has also driven me to take on more than I can handle, to dress rehearse tragedy and every bad scenario possible, to be stuck in flight/fight/freeze instead of healthily moving through the stress cycle. And it's driven me to try to over control everything in my corporate life, which is impossible, so I tried to control everything in my personal life = a ferocious scarcity mindset. 

In today's episode we talk about money anxiety, uncertainty anxiety, control anxiety, and status anxiety. It's time to evaluate what anxiety you have, where it comes from, how it has helped you in your life and career, but mostly importantly, what it has cost you.

Reflecting on my career now, I realize that none of my steps and career changes were perfectly planned out, none were super intentional beyond wanting to make more money - and none were completely life-altering that set me on a completely different course. 

But yet I still have stress sweated my way through frantically calling everyone in my contacts list to get opinions and to try and get someone to make my decision for me. 

Let’s list out and dissect all the things that manically run through your mind when you come to a crossroads in your career: compensation, equity, stage of company, company performance and brand equity, perks and benefits, your team/your manager, familiarity, your reputation. 

Oh ... Is iT HaRd bEiNg aN eXeCuTiVe? I understand reaching the executive level is a privileged place to be and reaching that level was really great. I’ve never learned so much in my life. I’ve never learned so much about business, about myself as a human, about communication, about human dynamics, about group dynamics, about leadership, about empathy and inclusion. I am really grateful for the opportunity I got to enter the ranks that I always felt out of reach.

The driving forces to want to be promoted to the executive level were: money and to be in the room where it happens. I wanted to matter, I wanted my voice to be heard, I wanted to be in the “know”, I wanted to make decisions and make an impact

But there was A LOT I didn’t know. There was a lot I was surprised by, a lot I wish someone had told me so I could be prepared, a lot that I don’t think many people talk about, because again, it’s this exclusive club that needs to remain exclusive and fancy and put on this facade of glamour and fanciness, so there isn’t a lot of realness about it. 

*BONUS* episode this week

This week, I sat down with Meikel Reece from The Art of Transformation podcast to talk about self-esteem vs. self-love, our own transformation stories, and navigating career and personal growth.

Meikel is a transformation coach, emotional alchemist, inner child/trauma healing guide and the host of The Art of Transformation podcast.

You can find her on instagram @meikelreece
and The Art of Transformation podcast 

Money doesn’t have to be weird or awkward—it’s a normal thing. Isn’t that we’re all doing?? We’re working to get paid. None of us are working just because we altruistically love the company mission and getting paid is a bonus. And that does not make you greedy. It can be an and conversation. It can be both. It can be that you care about the company, but you also care about the compensation you receive for your impact, for your contributions, for your work, for your skills, for your experience. 

Today, we explore some of your core beliefs about money, how your self worth might be tied to money, and some tactical advice on how to advocate for yourself, ask for a raise, negotiate your salary. 
 
I hope for you all financial independence, financial empowerment, and for not a one of you to get a scope increase or a title promotion without a raise ok? :) 

Welcome to the first official guest episode where I interview Kortney Osborne (full disclosure she's my best friend). We've had oddly parallel career paths all culminating in the fancy tip top executive position and we both—about a year apart—had to separate who we are and what we do. 

We talk about switching from "this is what I do" to "this is what I'm trying", letting go of fear of failure and imposter syndrome, weird massage perks at our first tech job, and how to loosen your grip on your life and your career. 

Kortney is a producer and a business and marketing consultant. You can find her, usually in a tracksuit, and on instagram @kortneyosborne 

I'm mostly just catching up with Madi today. I met Madi on my first day of a new job and has been one of those people you just want to be close to; to be in their orbit.

Madi and I chat about building a personal brand within a corporate gig, how to find your voice, how to value and price your services, and how the mom from Santa Claus is a seriously underrated woman.  

Madi has been a hugely successful corporate girly, the marketing genius behind some really cool brands and media ventures, and is now lending her services in the consulting world. Subscribe to her substack here. 

Short answer, yes, ha. 

I go through my thought process of whether to make crocheted bags and pick up a couple of shifts at Trader Joe's vs. going back to corporate life. I also share some of the best lessons I've learned during the break, including the importance of regulating our nervous systems, practicing contentedness versus the need for more, and the benefits of giving your mind time and space. 

Double dipping podcast episodes today with Abby Orchard from The Deep + Unhinged Podcast. 

Ready to dive into the depths of our daily lives? This episode nudges you to find joy in the comfortable, the cozy, and the organized - yes, we're talking about everything from sweatshorts to silverware organizers! But it doesn't stop there. We also delve into the gritty aspects of mental health, navigating big commitments, and the value of friendships across generations. 

Ever thought about how personal aesthetics influence your life? We bring in the lessons from OG skater Rob Giordic on optimizing life and how aesthetics are integral to our pursuit of balance and peace. We invite you to join our chat on the power of change and reinvention, and see how these concepts can morph into acts of self-love. We also lift the veil on the often unaddressed challenges and rewards of embracing change and flexibility.

As we round off our discussion, we muse about the dual power of gratitude and food textures. You'll hear about our first-hand experiences with the transformative impact of nourishing our bodies with healthy snacks. Finally, we introduce you to the concept of percentages in life, a unique approach to identify the focus areas of our lives. Discover how playing with these percentages can translate to personal growth and evolution. Tune in for an episode that promises laughter, insights, and lessons for life.

You can find Abby on instagram @abbyorchard
The Deep + Unhinged Podcast @deepandunhinged
Apple/Spotify 

Why didn’t any of you tell me how brutal the job market is right now?!?

In this episode, we’re talking about rejection. I share my personal experience with the emotional rollercoaster of job hunting, unexpected setbacks, and the resilience that emerges from having all of my well-laid plans and expectations crumble down around me.

We explore the raw emotions that come with rejection (hello rejection depression era), the negative self talk, the fear and panic that does a number on your self esteem. And we chart a path forward so we can build more resilience in our lives through diversifying our identity, staying disciplined in our mindset, and identifying what we can control vs. what we can’t.

If you’re navigating the job market, or still grieving a rejection - I see you and you’re not the only one.

Today we're off-the-cuffing (word?) some listener questions. We talk about interview tips, asking for raises, how to vet a new manager/team, corporate DE&I, and whether or not I can survive without taco bell. Enjoy :) 

Looking back, I don't think I've ever been "ready" for anything in my career. What does ready even mean? So often, this idea of ready holds us back and makes us think that if we just do XYZ, then we'll ask for the promotion or then we'll ask for a raise or then we'll raise our hand for the next big project. 

What if you are ready right now? What if the experience you DO have is enough to start? 

Today, we explore that "ready" might just be a myth, that we all learn by doing, how to anchor in experience you DO have, and how to embrace a beginner's mindset. 

First, a little announcement: your girl is headed back to corporate life 

As I prepare to go back, I want to be really intentional about holding this peace and space that I've created during my sabbatical.  Most of my corporate days can follow a pretty repeatable structure so they can become a little monotone - I can easily slip into auto-pilot. Anything I can do to interrupt auto-pilot, anything I can do to bring me present - has directly increased my life satisfaction, directly increased the things I’m grateful for, directly increased my overall life fulfillment, directly increased my ability to not LOSE it at work.

Romanticizing your life does not mean you have to NOT struggle with mental health, romanticizing your life does not mean that your life is easy, romanticizing your life does not mean being delusional about the shit that all of our lives are filled with.

Romanticizing your life means that you are taking more time to soak in the good stuff than the bad stuff.