Tag Page StartupRedFlags

“Work family” cost me a real friendship

I made the mistake of thinking my coworkers were actually my friends. Startup vibes. “We’re all family here!” Weekly team lunches. Heart emojis in Slack. My manager once cried during a check-in and I thought, wow, we’re really close. Fast forward six months: I confide in “work bestie” about considering a new role. She nods, says she gets it. Two days later, I’m in a surprise HR meeting for “cultural misalignment.” Guess who’s on the other side of the Zoom screen? Yeah. I wasn't fired — just slowly iced out. Less eye contact, fewer invites, more “Let’s circle back.” The worst part? I still don’t hate her. I hate that I let a job trick me into trusting like it was a friendship, not a contract. I still miss the fake family lunches. But I miss the version of me that believed them more. So yeah — be kind, but don’t mistake company culture for actual loyalty. That stuff’s not in your paycheck. #WorkIsNotFamily #CorporateGaslighting #TeamBuildingTrauma #StartupRedFlags #BoundariesAtWork