After years of working for small businesses, I found myself employed as a manager for a craft store within a corporation. Though it was not as big as the some well-known craft chains, it was still a different environment than with which I was comfortable. I had high hopes for the job, knowing that larger companies can generally pay more than small businesses and usually offered more benefits. What I found was a company in chaos, struggling to survive in a changing world, and employees who were both overworked and underpaid.

As my time continued with the company, I began to truly hate the job, losing respect for my boss who never valued my experience, knowledge, or input, and never helped me to grow as a manager within the company, seeing me as just some kid who knew nothing about business. That could not have been farther from the truth; my own business idea slowing cooking within the depths of my soul. While my health started to suffer from unexpected complications, I still did what I could to stick by my employees, knowing that they needed a compassionate leader who wanted them to survive.

This is the true story of the lies of a corporation, leading up to and including the COVID-19 pandemic, and my struggle to continue for both my employees and my own family, trying to hold on to the tiniest sliver of my own sanity until I could someday get out and have the needed time to start my own business.