"You sold yourself to the devil when you put on your first pair of Jimmy Choos"

Those of us who love fashion and pop culture are still pouring over photos of last night's Met Gala. For me, Blake Lively was my favourite in a stunning Versace number, understood to resemble the Statue of Liberty. Today, everyone is talking about Kim Kardashian wearing the Marilyn Monroe dress and the new Anna Wintour biography conveniently which just hit bookshelves.

So, as part of today's recovery plan I felt it was necessary to rewatch The Devil Wears Prada, heating pad, tea, and chocolate in hand.

This movie is not old (it's from 2006 mmkay, so it depends who you ask) but it is interesting to see how this movie has withheld the test of time. There are subtle, and not so subtle hints at body image and the pressures of the fashion industry, but what has ended up really getting my attention is the toxic office culture. Miranda Priestly, the powerful Editor-in-Chief of Runway Magazine, is who we all assume to be inspired by the real life Anna Wintour. Now, I do not have any history working in the fashion industry, nor can I speak to Wintour's persona. character, but what I can say is I have experienced my fair share of toxic office culture over the years.

The earlier part of my career was dominated by men in the boardroom, but as time has passed, there were more and more women holding leadership positions. Wonderful right? I felt inspired, and saw it as cracks in the glass ceiling. When I joined one company in particular I was so excited to see the amount of women that I reported up to, this was actually a big reason for me to join. This would be the first time I would have a female people manager. I knew her through my network and found I really liked working for her. I experienced a great amount of personal growth in capacities beyond the strengths I was originally hired for. For that I am very grateful, but I also learned that she was not the norm at this company, and it is inevitable that you will not have the same people manager forever.

There was one person in senior leadership who, let's say was the closest thing to Miranda Priestly that I have experienced, but less polished. The swearing, slamming on boardroom walls, and other unacceptable and chaotic behaviour was, well, acceptable at this place of work. The first time I was verbally assaulted (this sounds extreme, but looking back, this is what it was) I was so humiliated. We were in a boardroom with another senior leader, who did nothing to diffuse the behaviour by the way, and had paper thin glass walls. The entire floor of my company heard what happened, and I came back to my desk (in open concept of course) red-faced and welling up with tears in my eyes. I felt everyone's eyes on me, yet no one actually came to check on me. I was afraid to get up from my desk and go to the bathroom to cry in private, why was I trying to be tough? I learned quickly that this was the culture, and this was the first of the many occurrences of bullying that I ignored until they got too great for my mental health. I felt that it was necessary to be grateful for the work, the salary, the benefits, and I was not the only subject of this treatment. It was one of those institutions where you would historically be happy your child had settled into a job. I stopped taking care of myself, and my health was not a priority. I didn't even take any time off when my mother had been fighting breast cancer. I tried to seek support through someone I trusted in senior leadership, only to experience retaliation. Things got so bad that I went on a leave and ultimately quit.

Watching The Devil Wears Prada hits home for me, and makes me want to scream "ANDREA NOOO!" as she prioritizes her work above her personal life. To this day, I still struggle with my confidence in the workplace due to the PTSD I have experienced working at this company, and so many years have passed. This begs the question, why do we allow those in leadership positions to wreak havoc on our mental state? Who gave these people permission to behave so badly? This doesn't happen overnight, and culture is everyone's responsibility, from the top down. In the boardroom, and in intimate project meetings. It makes me think of psychology experiments I studied in university about group dynamics, and when people are willing to step in, or ignore bullying.

I am hopeful that the Great Realignment (or call it Resignation, whatever you prefer) gives employees increasingly more power than ever before in today's job market. Companies have a greater responsibility for diversity, inclusion, and to make the workplace safe. Younger employees are more unlikely to accept a toxic culture, and same goes for those who don't want to face a long commute every day after working from home during the pandemic.

Oh, and you Miranda Priestlys out there struggling with this new power dynamic? Our time has come.