Dear Corporate World: We Need to Talk

A breakup letter (with benefits)

Oh, Corporate World.

We had some good times, didn’t we?

The business-class flights. The hotel upgrades. The power heels and even more powerful slide decks. You gave me structure, purpose, a title that turned heads and burnout dressed up as ambition.

But we need to talk. Because while you were handing out promotions and high-fives for KPIs, I was quietly breaking, behind corner office doors and bathroom cubicles. Not because I wasn’t capable. I was. I am. But because somewhere along the way, I realised the rules I was playing by?

They weren’t written with someone like me in mind.

I did everything right. Worked the hours. Hit the targets. Outperformed expectations.

And yet, as a mother with small children, even that wasn’t enough. I wasn’t seen for my leadership, I was seen as a liability. And while I was on maternity leave, I was quietly replaced.

Not because I couldn’t do the job.

But because I didn’t fit the narrative anymore.

So yes, Corporate World, we need to talk.

Because when brilliant, resilient women start quietly exiting, not because they’re not coping, but because they’re tired of always having to, you’d think it might be time to ask: why?

You told me resilience was everything.

You forgot to mention it might also break me.

You applauded my grit. But never asked if the race was still worth running.

You gave me a seat at the table. And then questioned whether I belonged every time I opened my mouth.

You called it high performance. I called it survival.

You said, “Lean in.” I say, maybe it’s time we looked at the table, not just the posture.

And now? Now I’m building something else. It doesn’t come with a corner office or a shiny job title.

But it feels a hell of a lot more like me. So thank you for the lessons, the training ground, even the exhaustion.

But I’m choosing to lead differently now. Not because I’ve stopped caring. But because I finally do.

With clarity, experience and still plenty of ambition.
Kate