To learn more about this clever Instagram page and find out how it all started in the first place, we reached out to Aileen A. Merciel, Surfing Corporate creator, Editor-in-Chief and podcast host. Aileen was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and explain where the vision for Surfing Corporate came from.
"The original idea began in 2017 after I had just undergone a life-threatening surgery due to intense work-related stress," the creator shared. "I was forced to press pause and ask myself some hard questions: 'Why did I allow work to jeopardize my physical and mental health? Why didn’t I set boundaries? Why hadn’t I been able to handle the stress better?'"
"My way to process this was writing about it through a humorous lens, my go-to coping mechanism," Aileen explained. "I started jotting down some of my 'corporate wisdom' tidbits here and there, then I started diving deeper into broader topics about corporate life and writing personal stories of my most embarrassing moments at work."
"Before I knew it, I had what looked like a decent manuscript. I titled it 'Surfing Corporate: An Insider’s Guide to the Corporate World,'" Aileen shared. "But when I began to research the publishing process and how to submit queries, I discovered that publishing companies don’t bother reading new authors’ proposals if they don't have a strong social media following. Total bummer, because the only thing I had was a personal private account with a few close friends."
"Social media was not my thing, and I didn’t have the faintest idea of how to build a brand or community, but since I had already invested so much time in the Surfing Corporate idea, I decided to give it a try," the creator continued. "I never expected the Instagram account to take off like it eventually did, or the subsequent podcast I co-host with Glenda Pacanins (my former colleague), which was nominated for a 2024 Ambie Award!"
We also asked Aileen why she believes working in the corporate world is so difficult. "There’s so much pressure in corporate environments to be 'successful' (whatever that means), to climb the ladder, to be noticed, and to get that promotion before someone else does," she told Bored Panda.
"You’re in a constant competition, and that leads to people being guarded at all times, in offense mode, and taking themselves way too seriously. In many corporate settings, politics and optics are more important than the work itself, which is exhausting for people like me who don’t have a 'Succession' or 'Game of Thrones' mentality," Aileen added.
Aileen also shared that she's had a wide range of corporate jobs because she's worked in several different countries (Venezuela, Mexico, and the US). "I’ve worked for medium-sized media companies, global media companies, start-ups, and more, experiencing very different work cultures," she noted. "I’m lucky to have worked for awesome companies where living up to the brand values and driving innovation was more important than individual egos."
"I’ve also been part of companies driven by personal agendas, which is very hard to navigate," the creator added. "Of course, there are always going to be coworkers and bosses you don’t vibe with, or politics you don’t agree with. Learning to navigate tricky, uncomfortable situations and challenging personalities is a skill you can apply to all types of scenarios, not just work."
We also asked Aileen for her top pieces of advice for anyone who wants to enter the corporate world. First, she says listen, listen, and listen! "In the first few months at a new job, the more you listen and let others talk, the better," she noted. "That’s how you learn about people’s motivations and frustrations, about power dynamics, and you also learn a lot about the unwritten office rules that aren’t in the handbook."
Next, Aileen recommends making sure you find your tribe. "For me, that was people with a sense of humor who didn’t take themselves too seriously. I would seek opportunities to make a random weird observation or a joke just to see who would smile back, who would give me a judgmental side glance, and who didn’t get it at all," she explained. "Finding your tribe is essential for building support and camaraderie at work, and I’ve made incredible friends this way."
Aileen says it's wise to evaluate the pros and cons at your corporate job as well. "Every company has its positives and negatives. No workplace is perfect. As long as the positives outweigh the negatives, and you’re still learning and gaining something valuable from your job, you’re in a good place," she shared. "However, if the pendulum swings mostly to negative outcomes and your mental and physical health are constantly affected, it’s not worth it, no matter how much you’re being paid."
Aileen also believes that humor is the most important tool for surviving a corporate job. "I think the reason someone like me (a creative person who didn’t have strong innate political skills) got so high up the corporate ladder was partly because of my sense of humor. People tend to feel less threatened if you’re funny and self-deprecating, and humor also helps you build trust with your direct reports as well as with upward management," she explained.
"Corporate life can be soul-crushing, so it’s up to you to decide how you’re going to face hard times or handle challenging people. You can choose to escalate something with an insult, or de-escalate it with a joke. Getting a group of people to laugh during a tense work meeting is a great high for me," the creator shared.
Finally, Aileen wanted to give a huge thanks to the community that follows Surfing Corporate on Instagram and to their podcast listeners. "We’re currently on a hiatus, but we have 45 cool episodes and we’re currently working on new ones. Stay tuned!"
And if you'd like to hear more wise words about navigating the corporate world, be sure to check out Surfing Corporate's blog!
To learn even more about what it’s like to be in the corporate world, we also got in touch with Ellen Venkrbcova, Marketing Manager at Femme Palette. Femme Palette is a mentoring platform and community helping individuals and companies thrive through a personalized approach to career development, and lucky for us, Ellen was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about some of the pros and cons of having a corporate job. “In today's world of work, I'd say that a major advantage of choosing a corporate career is the fact that it offers relative security,” she shared.
“As long as you're doing a good job, you likely will be needed, and a large corporation won't disappear from the market anytime soon,” Ellen explained. “Corporate companies also typically take good care of their employees in the form of various benefits and perks, meaning you'll save on expenses like meals, gym memberships, or even therapy.”
But working in the corporate world isn’t for everyone. “On the flip side, if you're someone who thrives in fast-paced environments with constant change, you may find corporate processes a bit stiff and slow for your liking,” Ellen told Bored Panda. “Hierarchy is firmly set, so as a junior or mid-level employee, you probably won't be having 1:1 chats with the CEO. On top of that, competition in corporate settings can be fierce.”
We also asked the career expert for some advice for women interested in entering the corporate world. “Be prepared to put conscious effort into being visible. Three things I'd recommend focusing on would be building a strong personal brand, building confidence to speak up in meetings, and working on your negotiation skills,” Ellen says.
“As women, we can feel apprehensive in these areas for fear of being labeled as ‘pushy’ or ‘aggressive,’ but if you want to grow in a corporation, you can't afford to blend with the crowd. Find your strengths and put them forward confidently,” she noted.
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance can also be tricky for corporate employees, but Ellen says it's all about setting boundaries and letting others know you have them. “Setting your Slack/Teams status to ‘Personal Time’ or ‘Vacationing’ or blocking personal time in your work calendar so your coworkers can see you're not available are a couple ways of doing that,” she noted.
