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Chapter 1
Reyna
Iwasafrickin'boss.
I wouldn't be lying if I told you that I looked good. The kind of "good" where you draw out the "oooo" before satisfyingly slapping the "d" on the end.
I wore my power heels that made a confident click on the floors as I walked by. My silky white blouse lay just right and tucked perfectly into my pencil skirt that skimmed my hips in all the right places.
My confidence exuded from my pores. There was a part of me that was so proud of how far I'd come in such a short time. And the other part was telling myself to stay humble and keep learning.
But that part can just take a little nap while I enjoyed this walk of glory to my office at Raven Marketing. I saw, out of the corner of my eyes, the way they looked at me. Men, women, they all took note. And I was loving it.
Click, click. Almost there.
After graduating college three years ago, I was climbing the corporate ladder pretty quickly, becoming a seasoned pro. It was all much faster than I’d anticipated.
So when I saw the opening for a brand manager at Raven, I didn’t think twice about applying. Sure, it was probably a little a bit of a stretch considering the number of years I had on my resume, but that didn’t stop me from going for it.
Still, in all honesty, I was a little surprised when they invited me for an interview. I knewIhad the confidence, but it was still a boost to know a company like Raven had confidence inme. I killed it in the interview and had the hiring committee eating out of my hand. A couple of weeks later, here I am.
It was a dream come true.
And it was the next step in my long-term plan to one day own my own marketing firm. This job put me ahead of the plan and gave me the little extra confidence I needed to know that I’d succeed. Everything about me screamed professional: the way I talked, the way I walked, and the way I dressed. It was all kicked up a notch higher today, and I felt incredible. I felt like I could take on the world.
Click, click. Rounding the corner.
“Morning, Reyna.” Ella, my assistant, jumped out of her chair in the cubicle in front of my office as she heard me approach. She shoved a latte at me as I came to her desk, ready to hit me with the schedule for the day.
We were still getting to know each other, and I’d told her not to be on her toes all the time or walk on eggshells around me. I really wanted to nail the cool boss dynamic since we were close in age and Ella seemed like a lot of fun to be around if I could get her to the point where she wasn’t afraid of me.
“Special delivery for you, Ella.” Her eyes went wide as I dropped a pink cupcake box on her desk. Ella started to reach for it but quickly stopped herself.
“Is this for me?” Her blue eyes were full of longing and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yep. I thought it would go great with a cup of coffee. So I grabbed one for each of us.” I winked as I held up the matching pink bag with my own treat hidden inside.
Ella beamed back at me as she thanked me.
“Now, bring your coffee and cupcake, and let’s catch up on what we need to do for the day.” I walked into the bright space that wasn’t quite decorated yet, but still felt comfortable. It was floor to ceiling windows looking out on downtown Atlanta. The interior walls were all glass too, looking at my colleagues working in their cubicles. Only managers got the outside offices.
I dropped my bag on the floor next to the couch and set my coffee on the table. I slipped my heels off and got comfortable as Ella sat in the chair next to the couch.
She arched an eyebrow at my bare foot. I just shook my head. I knew I looked too comfortable, but I needed to save my feet for the day.
It was my understanding that the last brand manager was – well, she was apparently a bitch. Everyone was terrified of her and they’d nicknamed her Cruella. It made sense that Ella was having trouble ditching the fear of the previous tyrant.
I was determined to make about a million changes to positively affect the work environment. I took a bite of the cupcake as Ella started to rattle off the schedule and priorities for the day and thoughtfully chewed. It was my mission to change the previously toxic atmosphere in this office so that this department could achieve great things.
“Ella,” I interrupted her mid-sentence, admittedly hearing nothing she’d said. Probably not the best start. “Let’s start by scheduling an all-hands meeting later this week. We need to have some open dialogue about how we can improve communication within our team."
Ella looked at me with surprise before breaking into a grateful smile.
"I think that’s an amazing place to start, Reyna.” Ella hesitated. “I think there are a lot of things to talk about.”
Ella’s relief made everything worth it: the long days interning at a million firms, juggling crappy part-time jobs while earning my degree in communications from the University of Georgia. All of it led to this very moment, where I couldfinallymake a positive change. Not just for our clients and their marketing and branding efforts, but in actual people’s lives at work.
Ella continued her update about what was happening in the office. She talked about how there were a lot of angry clients that we needed to deal with and also shared her ideas for an upcoming campaign pitch. Honestly, it was impressive. I could already tell Ella was an incredible asset to Raven and had a very bright future. Clearly, being an assistant was just going to be a stepping stone.
