Our Entire Department Quit because of our CEO

Added: 2026-05-08

[00:00:00]CEOs are typically known for having a bit of a power trip and an ego larger than the company they claim to run. So, naturally, many employees want to see these people humbled and reminded of exactly who makes the company function.

[00:00:12]And I'm lucky enough to have participated in one of those humblings after our entire department quit and struck a blow to the company so bad the CEO still writes emails about us 5 years later. I'm not kidding. We're all permanently banned from the office. Let me give you a little bit of backstory to set this up properly. I used to work in a marketing firm in the video department as one of their videographers. I was one of the guys in charge of going to productions, gathering interviews, and B-roll footage for some pretty big brands. I'm talking brands that you've heard of or even use every day. And the thing about us on the video team is we took pride in our work and gave every production our full attention. So, even if it was a small shoot, we were on top of it, treating it like it was a full feature, high-budget film, doing the absolute best we could. And I was also in charge of making sure the footage got imported to our company server and organized with notes for our editors so they could do their magic. On the days the company didn't have any video shoots scheduled, we videographers became additional editors. The company even preferred that we worked on the higher level videos. So, not only were we the lead videographers on all these shoots, we were also the lead editors for a lot of them. You could say as employees, we were pretty valuable and pretty underpaid. On our team, we had myself, Mickey, hi, Ian, a fellow videographer and one of my best friends still to this day. Drew, a third videographer with me and Ian, and Rob and Christy, two of our producers, Christy also serving as the team lead. I'm the kind of guy who likes to get to work early. And yes, this is relevant. I prefer to get to work 30 minutes early so I don't have to stress in the mornings and I get to mentally prepare for the day ahead. Our workday started at 8:00 a.m. sharp. Almost everyone on our team got there a little early or right on time. Everyone but one person, Rob. Rob was consistently 2 minutes late almost every single day.

[00:02:03]Now, some of you heard that and you may think just 2 minutes. And that's kind of my thought, too. You know, just 2 minutes, that's not a big deal. But others of you may have heard that and you might say to yourself, "Well, 2 minutes a day can add up over the year, and you are correct. That does add up."

[00:02:19]But I'd also like to add that this was the type of work environment that encouraged working through lunch and also working late just to make sure we get the projects done, all unpaid, of course. Some nights I personally wouldn't even leave that office until 10 p.m. All because my tasks for the day were piled on. And of course, with these companies, everything's a priority. So, with all that knowledge, I kind of think the 2 minutes should be forgiven, don't you? Now, nothing at work started until 8:05. We always opened with our team morning meetings. And the reason it was 8:05 was because it was scheduled for people to get in at 8, make sure that they were settled, and then they could walk into the meeting. Honestly, it kind of sounds like Rob still fell within that 5minute window of getting ready and getting settled. But what do I know? Rob wasn't holding up any morning meetings.

[00:03:05]He always got his work done on time. And let me tell you, Rob is a cool banana.

[00:03:09]This is where I introduce Richard.

[00:03:11]Richard is the CEO of this company. And he also has slight mood swings that we're pretty sure were caused by a certain white powder that he indulged in from time to time. Let me give you an example. This man would come in, speedrun through the office trying to hype everyone up. And one time, even in our little department, he came he came over and started doing box jumps on Ian's desk, or I guess we can call them desk jumps. and proud of it, too. Like, he is so proud of this.

[00:03:39]>> Ian, check this out. Nice.

[00:03:43]>> Wow.

[00:03:43]>> Yeah. Been working out.

[00:03:45]>> Uh, yeah, that's impressive.

[00:03:46]>> Oh, thanks. Richard really liked Ian.

[00:03:49]This man was on fire and not in the way he would suggest. One time he sent out a companywide email featuring a video of him with AC/DC's Thunder Struck playing in the background as he fist pumped repeating the phrase, "People of service." People of service. This was supposed to hype us up while pushing the next big company initiative. Well, 30 minutes later, we get another email and this man looks sick. Like, I'm talking pale in the face. He's tired, slumped over in his chair. The energy is zapped from this man. And the soothing sound of Thunder Struck is nowhere to be heard.

[00:04:24]In this new email, he was complaining about the output of numbers not meeting expectations. He was very aware of this because he had TVs installed all around the office that showed each department and even each individual employees progress. The next day after those emails, Richard went MIA with no warning that he'd be gone. This man was gone for a week. Normally, you wouldn't really question that. You're like, "Yeah, the CEO is on vacation." But after those strange emails and the very odd mood swings, it was kind of natural for us as the employees to be a little confused.

[00:04:55]This was when Richard's right hand, Gus, came in. Gus assured us that everything would all be okay. And I'm calling him Gus because this man was calm and collected and had a voice that I can only describe as Gus from Breaking Bad.

[00:05:07]He was pretty much the exact opposite of Richard who did eventually come back to work. So, what happens when you get a rich man on substances who also has a micromanaging problem? The exact type of man to get upset about an employee being 2 minutes late. Richard took issue with Rob being late, but instead of telling Rob, he told Christy to tell us that because Rob was consistently two minutes late, we were all as a team going to have to come into the office 30 minutes early for the rest of the week. If anyone was late again this week, they would extend the time to 45 minutes early. And if it happened again even after that, an entire hour early. Now, as you can imagine, that didn't go over too well with us. What's even more unfortunate is that Christy was the one getting caught in the middle of all this. It wasn't really her decision to punish the entire team for Rob, but if she didn't do as Richard asked, she would be risking a demotion. However, because she's the one having to enforce the stupid rule, she got our initial thoughts. Yeah, that's stupid. I'm not doing that, said Ian. We're not in kindergarten, I told Christy. We're grown adults who get our work done.

[00:06:11]Besides, I already get here 30 minutes early. I'm not going to accept punishment for being late when I'm doing everything right in the first place.

[00:06:18]Rob, obviously upset, felt bad for us getting in the situation and apologized, but even then, I didn't think Rob did anything to warrant having to give an apology. It was a classic tale of power tripping, and we all saw it for what it was. Drew also felt the situation was unfair, but Drew was also drinking the company Kool-Aid, so he wasn't about to cause any trouble. Yeah, we don't really talk to Drew anymore. We were team guys, said Christy. When one of us messes up, we all mess up. Richard says we need to compare ourselves to a real baseball team. Nobody gives a about what Richard says, said Ian. I'm getting here at 8 a.m. like I agreed to and no earlier than that. Yeah, same here. I said, "Uh, yeah, I'm getting here at 8:2." Agreed Rob. Young Drew stayed quiet. So Christy felt our tone was a little harsh, I guess, and she started crying. You're so mean, she said in this version of events. Well, let me tell you, when you make a workhorse like Christy cry, it ain't going to go too well. I tell you what, it ain't going to go too well. It wasn't long before we were called into the office of Gus.

[00:07:17]That's right, Richard's little bestie.

[00:07:19]The unofficial mouth of Richard. And therefore, in a roundabout way, Richard knew what Richard tasted like. Gus calls us into his office one by one. First was Rob, then Ian, and finally me. His office had a nice view of downtown, and that was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed was how eerily quiet everything was once I closed the door. Gus was trying to intimidate me.

[00:07:42]But what Gus didn't know was that I had already been mentally abused and exhausted at this company for so long.

[00:07:47]And after all the late night hours, lastminute projects, nonsensical changes to videos, I didn't give a anymore.

[00:07:55]How do we fix this problem, Mickey? Fix what problem? I replied, your friend is late almost every day. And you don't think that's a problem? Has he missed any deadlines? Disrupted anyone else in the office with box jumps? Missed a week of work without saying anything? I don't think he did. Regardless of your position on the matter, he was late and he has been for many days this month. 2 minutes late. It's still late. So, I have to suffer for him with him. Why, Mickey? It's come to my attention that you used to have a business of your own.

[00:08:24]Am I correct? We've talked about this before, Gus. You know that I know that you know that I had a small business before I worked here. And what would you do if one of your employees was consistently 2 minutes late? That depends on what is my employee working through lunch almost every day and working late nights to get projects done? Well, the answer is no, Gus, but you can bet if they were, I wouldn't complain about a measly 2 minutes every morning. In fact, I think we should all stop working through lunch and we should make sure that we're out of the office at 5:00 on the dot. Mickey, if you're working late almost every day, then maybe we need to discuss a bigger problem here.

[00:08:56]>> Yeah, Gus, I think maybe we do. We sat in his office like an unstoppable force trying to move in a movable object.

[00:09:02]Anything else? I asked. No, that'll be all for now. Please tell Drew to come see me when you get back to your desk.

[00:09:08]Drew wasn't in Gus's office long. I don't think he put up much of a fight like the rest of us. Back at our little area of the office, me, Ian, and Rob were calling it a day. I'm done, said Rob. I feel like a child. Yeah, dude. I can't stand this place, said Ian. I don't think they understand that the three of us, and I guess Drew are pivotal in getting these videos made.

[00:09:28]They have all these projects lined up that we need to film. Like, what are they going to do if we all leave? Maybe we should show them how valuable we are, I said. F it. Let's leave, said Rob.

[00:09:37]Over the next month, we all cleaned up our resumes and applied at other places in our field. Rob was the first one to land another job. Like a boss, I watched this man type his resignation letter on the company computer at his desk, printed out, and hand it directly to Christy, who sat right behind him. I don't remember if he gave a two weeks notice or not, but I do know he wasn't back in the office after that. His next job was remote and came with a nice little pay bump. Ian landed a new job next. He took all of his PTO, went to Yoseite for a week, came back to the office, and emailed his resignation letter to Christy and Gus. He was escorted out of the building shortly after sending it. His new job was hybrid and came with an enormous salary increase of at least 30K extra a year.

[00:10:17]I'm not going to tell you what Ian did, but you've probably seen some of his work on TV. Around this time was when I was in talks with another company. They were strongly considering me for their video team lead position, which came with its own healthy salary increase.

[00:10:30]because we pretty much lost half of our small department in the same month. It was just Drew and me going out on video shoots. It got so bad that even Gus himself had to come and help us with a couple of them. We were spending all of our time filming these projects and hardly any of our time was being devoted to the highlevel editing they wanted us to do. Yes, they were beginning to feel the consequences of their actions. One Wednesday, I got a text from one of the guys at the new job I was looking into.

[00:10:54]And surprise, surprise, they offered me the position, making almost $20,000 extra a year. Coincidentally, Gus called me into his office right after I got that text. I stood up from my desk knowing that I held all the cards because I no longer needed anything from this company. I didn't need their support. I didn't need their health insurance, and I certainly didn't need their money. I had the equivalent of FU money right in my text messages. It was invigorating. Richard and Gus knew they had messed up, and that's what sparked this little conversation that Gus wanted to have with me. "Ah, Mickey, thank you for seeing me," said Gus. "Please take a seat." I sat in the same chair I did earlier that month, having a very different conversation with the same man. Mickey, I just want you to know that you are valued here at this company. And to show our appreciation, we want to offer you a 10,000 salary increase. After this pay period, you can expect to see the increase reflected on your payub. Thank you, Gus. I really appreciate that. And I stood up, shook his hand, and left. I didn't quit right there because I knew if I did, I wouldn't get a chance to say goodbye to all of my friends in the office. Just like Ian, I would have been escorted out immediately. So, I asked the other company to send me an offer letter. I looked over it that night and signed it.

[00:12:05]The next day, when I walked into the office, Drew and Christy were the first two faces I saw. I decided it was best if I told them last. So, I made my way around the office and found all the people that I liked and told them I was leaving. They knew there was going to be no twoe notice. The company didn't allow a two weeks notice. So, we all hugged and said goodbye right there in the moment. Then, I made my way back to Christy and Drew. Hey guys, I'm leaving.

[00:12:28]What? said Christy somehow surprised. I got an offer letter from a better job with better pay and I took it. What about your task for the rest of the day?

[00:12:35]Well, I'm offering 2 weeks to help you all out. So, if Gus and Richard want to let me stay for 2 weeks, then I'll go wrap up my work. But if not, sorry. Can you at least tell them at the end of the day, "No, I'm telling Gus now." And with that, I belineed into Gus's office. I didn't really feel like I owed Christy anything because while she was caught up in the middle of Richard's mess, she still could have said no. "Good morning, Mickey," he said, giving a friendly smile. "I'm about to head into a meeting, so this conversation will have to wait. I just wanted to let you know that I'm quitting, Gus. I took another job." Gus was quiet, caught off guard.

[00:13:06]That friendly smile he greeted me with just seconds ago faded into another corporate mask. "Very well," he said.

[00:13:13]"Please grab your things and come with me." Just as I expected, I was getting escorted out of the building. I was told not to speak to anyone, and if anyone tried to speak to me, they would be turned away. What I didn't expect was being sent to HR so I could give my exit interview. "Well, Mickey, we're so sorry to see you go. Can you please tell us why you're leaving so we can figure out how we can improve?" "Sure," I said, getting comfortable in my chair. This was more or less what I told her. I think this place pretends to value ideas and creativity so you can sell it as a brand. Richard and others have cultivated a toxic work environment that no person should have to endure. And the only ones who thrive here are the cutthroat sales reps who treat this place like the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. You have a team with some of the most creative individuals I've ever met.

[00:13:54]And they're wasted here. Their hands are tied by a man who literally called this place the McDonald's of video production. The pay is crap, the hours are long, and I found a job happy to offer me more money with what I can bring to the table, and I found it in less than a month. Above all that, I honestly don't expect this place to even be here in a year. Now, I know what you're thinking. You did not say that.

[00:14:13]That's one of those reflective conversations after you've had the real conversation where you're like, "Oh, I wish I would have said this." But no, I did. I'm so proud of myself. I actually said that. And let me tell you, HR never lost her smile. Thank you for your feedback, Mickey. Please leave your badge here before exiting the building.

[00:14:29]Good luck and have a nice day. I'd like to say that I had a moment to tell Richard exactly what I thought of him, but no, I never did. I also was incorrect about the company not being there in a year. Well, sort of. It's there, but it's not the same company.

[00:14:43]See, the company lost several big clients, and the reason was clear. The quality dropped big time. Rob, Ian, and I were indeed a huge part of what made those videos special because, as I said before, we took great pride in our work and treated every production like a highbudget film. even if it was just a simple client testimonial for a local brand nobody had ever heard of. If our names were on it, it was going to be treated with care. So, to help make up for the lack of videographers, the company hired contractors to do the work in our place. They straight up refused to hire new in-house videographers. The editors at this company, talented as they are, continuously got stuck with subpar footage with bad lighting and cheap microphones. The reason the footage wasn't great became obvious when a friend of mine reached out and told me the company paid practically nothing for contractors, even on the big brand jobs.

[00:15:31]And you know, you get what you pay for.

[00:15:33]It didn't take long for the company to make a hard pivot and switch their entire branding to podcasting. They demoted Christy and after a year eventually fired her. Now Drew is the only one left out of our old group and he's running the podcast they do. I guess drinking the company Kool-Aid worked out well for him, but I still think we got a better end of the deal. I did get my satisfying ending though in a way. A few years later, Christy actually hired Ian and myself for video positions at a new company she was working for.

[00:15:59]The funny part was that this new company had a contract with our old company. And one day, we were all attending an event hosted by the old company. The event was in the same downtown building, but a few floors below the actual office. Now, the old company wasn't really present at this event, so we didn't see Richard or Gus or anybody, just one single sales rep. One thing I didn't mention before was that at this company we won quite a bit of awards for our videos and the trophies were actually sitting in the office that we used to work in and we wanted a picture with them. We asked the sales rep and him not thinking anything of it led us up to the office and we took our pictures. We got our photos and the office security cameras got us smiling and having a good time in a place that no longer welcomed us. I found out the next day that the rep unfortunately got into a lot of trouble for letting us in the office. Richard sent out a companywide email and in the email he pretty much just said that Ian Christy and I were enemies of the company and we were never allowed back in the doors. I'm barely exaggerating here. All we could do was sit there and smile at the news that we still clearly very much lived rentree in Richard's cod mind. We must have made an impact. And that's the story I figured with. While my current work situation is unfolding, you would all be interested in another crazy story from a past job. So, what do you think? Want to share any of your crazy work stories below? If you want, maybe I can make a video on them. Feel free to leave them in the comments below.