Is LinkedIn just another extractive platform dressed up as career development? LinkedIn is marketed as a platform that will help us find work, build networks, and move our careers forward. But somewhere along the way, it started feeling less like a professional tool and more like Facebook in a blazer with access to your resume, your job history, your anxiety, and possibly your phone number [insert spam here].

In this episode of the Culture Fit Podcast, we’re asking whether LinkedIn is still useful, or not. We get into the job search circus, data mining, spam calls after applying for roles, AI-driven hiring, fake job posts, recruiter chaos, privacy concerns, and the weird pressure to perform professional optimism while the labor market is actively unserious… whew that‘s a lot, but we promise that we fit it all into the conversation in a fun and informative way.

We’re not just asking if LinkedIn is annoying. We’re asking what it costs us to stay visible on a platform that profits from our ambition, connections, career pivots, and dare we say the desperation tied to earning money. Because LinkedIn is not just a job board. It is also a place where workers are encouraged to constantly perform employability in public. Post the win. Soften the layoff. Be grateful for the opportunity. Stay “professional.” Network through the grief. And while you’re doing all that, your employer, future employer, former employer, recruiters, bots, data brokers, and strangers from your industry can watch, interpret, judge, scrape, and screenshot.

So the question is bigger than “Should I delete my LinkedIn?” It’s: what happens when the modern workplace follows us home, into our phones, into our friendships, into our job searches, into our identities, and calls that visibility opportunity?

Taking our power back starts with refusing to confuse visibility with value. Maybe it means building networks that do not require constant performance. Maybe it means remembering that our humanity was never meant to be optimized for search results, recruiter filters, engagement metrics, or AI screening tools.

And maybe deleting LinkedIn is not gonna solve all the things, but questioning why one platform has this much influence over our livelihoods, our reputations, and our sense of professional worth, feels like a very necessary place to begin the conversation.

Our Words of Encouragement

You are not your profile, your title, your searchable résumé, or your ability to be professionally pleasant while being watched. Protect your peace, build real relationships, and remember: your humanity does not need an algorithm’s approval.

Discussion Questions

* When did being visible online become part of surviving at work? Who benefits when we’re all playing Hunger Games online to prove we are hireable?

* Is LinkedIn helping us build real careers, or is it bullying us into acting stable while work keeps getting more unstable?

* How do we protect our humanity on platforms that reward polish, powerful connections, and constant self-promotion?

* What happens when employers, recruiters, and coworkers can quietly watch our job changes, layoffs, opinions, and professional networks?

* Is deleting LinkedIn a real act of resistance, or is it only possible for people who already have strong networks, access, and money?

Credits

Show Hosts:Remington Bennett @thenewladder (on TikTok and Instagram)Amber Coleman-Mortley I Love You, Bitxx xx (on TikTok and Instagram)Ellyse O’Halloran I Love You, Bitxx (on TikTok and Instagram)Show Editor:Nicole Ro

*This was written by humans. We used a grammar checker but there might be typos… sorry if you don’t like typos.

We’ve all seen the internet advice: “Just cash out your 401k and start a business.”Respectfully… should we? Or is that one of those TikTok financial tips that sounds empowering until the IRS enters the group chat?

In this episode of Culture Fit Podcast, we’re talking with Cristina Briboneria about the financial do’s, don’ts, and absolutely-please-pause-before-you-do-that realities of 401ks. Because for a lot of mid-career millennials, the retirement conversation is starting to feel less like “future planning” and more like “how do I survive this current economic group project?”Between layoffs, burnout, rising costs, credit card debt, job instability, and the general feeling that corporate America keeps moving the goalpost while asking us to smile on LinkedIn, it makes sense that people are questioning everything. Including whether the retirement advice we were handed still works in today’s economy.We get into what a 401k actually is, how it differs from an IRA or Roth IRA, what people should know before making an early withdrawal, and why so many mid-career professionals are even considering touching retirement money in the first place. We also talk through the real-life math of what someone might walk away with after taxes and penalties, and whether it ever makes sense to cash out a 401k to pay off debt, start over, or fund the next chapter.This is not financial advice. This is financial clarity with jokes, side-eye, and a healthy respect for how expensive being alive has become.DISCLAIMER: This episode is for educational and conversational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please consult a qualified financial professional before making decisions about retirement savings, debt, or withdrawals. We not trying to get sued by ya’ll… BFFR.Subscribe for more conversations about work, culture, survival, burnout, belonging, and the deeply unserious ways corporate life keeps trying to steal our souls.-------Show Hosts:Remington Bennett @thenewladder (on TikTok and Instagram)Amber Coleman-Mortley I Love You, Bitxx xx (on TikTok and Instagram)Ellyse O'Halloran I Love You, Bitxx (on TikTok and Instagram)Special Guest:Cristina Briboneria (LinkedIn | @cristina23b Instagram)Show Editor:Nicole Ro

There is a very specific kind of workplace delusion that happens when you have cried in the bathroom, survived a reorg, exchanged Slack side-eyes, and trauma-bonded over a manager who says things like “let’s circle back” while actively ruining your nervous system.

Suddenly, you look around and think: Wait… are these my people?!

And sometimes, yes. Sometimes you get super lucky and you really do meet beautiful, funny, generous, life-giving people at work. Sometimes a coworker becomes a true friend. Sometimes the group chat survives the company, the layoffs, the toxic tyrannical boss, and the weird all-hands where everyone pretends the vibes are fine.

But sometimes? Actually far too often, what felt like community was actually just proximity with a shared Wi-Fi network.

In this episode of Culture Fit Podcast, we’re asking the very tender and very chaotic question: Are my coworkers like family, or is that toxic AF?

Corporate America loves to say, “We’re a family here,” but somehow it never means, “We will care for you unconditionally, protect your dignity, and make sure you are resourced.”

It usually means:Can you stay late? Can you be emotionally available? Can you perform loyalty? Can you pretend this layoff was strategic and not deeply weird? Can you bring your whole self to work, but only the parts of your whole self that make leadership comfortable? Can you just… comply?

Pushing Back Against The “Work Family” Myth

The phrase “work family” sounds warm at first. It sounds like belonging. It sounds like someone will notice when you are overwhelmed, celebrate your wins, check in when things are hard, and defend you when the room gets shady. But in practice, “we’re a family” can become one of the biggest red flags in workplace culture, because families have boundaries too. Healthy families do not require you to sacrifice your health to prove your love. Healthy families do not punish you for asking questions. Healthy families do not call you “valued” on Monday and delete your email access before Friday EOD.

A workplace is not automatically toxic because people are close. We want to make that very clear. Real friendship can happen at work. Real support can happen at work. Real community can happen in shared labor. And all of this should happen because we spend so much time at work. But we can’t take it for granted that it will happen or assume that everyone is on board and wants the same level of intimacy.

When companies use the language of family to blur the terms of employment they force everyone into this awkward relationship of inappropriate familiarity. At the end of the day, a job is still a job; a paycheck is still a paycheck; a manager is still a manager; HR is still HR; and a company can love your “energy” while also being fully prepared to eliminate your role before lunch.

Psst… Do you have any homies that are trapped in a trauma-bonded work family? We got you. Share this episode to start the conversation!

A Gentle Word of Advice

Do not shame yourself for wanting belonging at work. That desire is human. Just be careful with any workplace that asks for family-level devotion while offering employment-at-will level commitment. Let your coworkers earn access to you. Let trust be built slowly. Let people show you who they are when there is tension, not just when there are cupcakes in the breakroom.

And please remember: getting along with people at work is beautiful. Having work friends is beautiful. Laughing through the chaos is sometimes survival.

Our Words of Encouragement

You do not have to perform loyalty to prove you are a good person, a good coworker, or a good teammate. Healthy community will not ask you to abandon yourself to belong.

Work may introduce you to your people, but it should never be the only place you go looking for them. Your life is bigger than the office, the org chart, and the group chat.

Losing a “work family” can hurt, even when the relationship was conditional. Grieve what felt real, release what was not safe, and make room for community that does not require you to shrink.

Discussion Questions

* What parts of yourself did you edit, soften, over-explain, or hide in order to remain “safe” inside a workplace community?

* When a company says “we’re a family,” who is expected to give unconditional loyalty, and who still gets to make transactional decisions?

* How can you tell the difference between coworkers who are truly in community with you and coworkers who are simply bonding with you under the pressure of the same toxic system?

* If your sense of belonging was no longer tied to your job, title, team, or productivity, what relationships, rituals, and spaces would you need to rebuild your identity outside of work?

Credits

Show Hosts:

Remington Bennett (on TikTok and Instagram)

Amber Coleman-Mortley I Love You, Bitxx (on TikTok and Instagram)

Ellyse O’Halloran I Love You, Bitxx (on TikTok and Instagram)

Show Editor:

Nicole Ro

*This was written by humans. We used a grammar checker but there might be typos… sorry if you don’t like typos.

Welcome to the first-ever episode of Culture Fit Podcast, where we ask the important questions, like:

* Why does this workplace need my whole personality?

* Why is “we’re a family” always followed by unpaid emotional labor?

* And why does this company retreat feel like summer camp with performance reviews?

Our opening episode is called, “Is This A Job… Or A Cult?” because honestly, like so many people, we’re all processing how we’ve navigated our careers and our need for belonging at work .

For this conversation, we’re joined by Kayla Burney, writer, researcher, and digital media specialist, to talk about the blurry line between strong workplace culture and cult-like control. You can follow her work on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn and via her website. Kayla shared her the knowledge she’s accumulated around cults to help us process our own experiences with “strong company culture” that leans a little too far into ownership rather than belonging.

Let’s be honest. We’ve all heard of or seen this our selves: Some workplaces do not just want your labor, they want your devotion! They want your weekends, your compliance, your smiling face on Zoom, your “quick thoughts” after hours, your undying devotion to the mission, and your ability to rename your burnout as growth.

And in return? You get to participate in the vague promise that “we’re building something special.”

Cute. Suspicious. Deeply unwell.

So... How Do Cults Show Up at Work?

When people hear the word “cult,” they often think of something extreme or dramatic. But in this episode, we talk about cult behavior beyond the stereotype. We want you to leave this conversation understanding that cult-like dynamics can show up anywhere people are pressured to ignore their instincts in exchange for belonging, identity, purpose, approval, or survival.

Psst… Do you have any homies that are trapped in a workplace that feels more like a cult? Share this episode to start the conversation!

The Belonging Trap

One of the biggest themes in this episode is the difference between real belonging and emotional recruitment. Real belonging gives you room to be human, but emotional recruitment makes you feel chosen, useful, needed, special, and responsible for keeping the whole thing alive. That distinction matters, especially for high-achieving, idealistic, purpose-driven people. The people who care deeply and want their work to matter. These are the people who are used to pushing through, over-functioning, saving the day, and turning stress into productivity. Because if you can convince someone that exhaustion is devotion, they may not notice they are being exploited until their nervous system files a formal complaint. And they just might not even file that complaint because they’re either too traumatized, too afraid, or too over it to take action.

Coming Back to Yourself… Our Biggest Hope for You

So what does recovery feel like? Recovery can from leaving a workplace that felt cult-like can take time because leaving is not always the end of it. Coming back to yourself may require a real detox. It may require a mindset shift where you learn that you don’t need to earn rest, urgency is not the same thing as importance, and your worth is not tied to how useful you are in a collapsing system.

Healing from a toxic workplace can mean rebuilding trust with your own instincts. We believe it can mean laughing with friends who get it, going to therapy, journaling, long walks, silence, rage, naps, prayer, playlists, crying in a random parking lot, or simply realizing that you do not have to make chaos feel meaningful anymore.

And it also means forgiveness. You’re going to feel guilty for resting. And you will miss people who were also part of the harm. You might even wonder if it was really that bad.

This is all a normal part of your healing and grieving process.

A Gentle Word of Advice

If your workplace makes you feel like you are always failing, always proving, always apologizing, always bracing for backlash and mass firings out of nowhere, or always trying to decode the real rules beneath the stated values… pay attention. Your body may understand the culture before your brain has language for it.

A healthy workplace does not need to consume your entire identity to make you feel like you belong. A good leader does not require devotion to earn respect. A real community does not punish you for having limits.

And no job should make leaving feel like spiritual warfare.

Our Words of Encouragement

You are allowed to care about your work without letting it consume you.

You are allowed to want purpose without surrendering your boundaries.

You are allowed to leave the group chat, mute the Slack channel, close the laptop, and remember that you are a whole person outside of what you produce.

And if the company needs your soul to function, that is not culture. That is a red flag with a benefits portal.

Discussion Questions

* Have you ever worked somewhere that used “family,” “mission,” or “culture” language to blur boundaries?

* What is the difference between feeling supported at work and feeling emotionally responsible for the workplace?

* What are some red flags that a workplace is asking for devotion instead of professionalism?

* Why do you think high-achieving or purpose-driven people can be especially vulnerable to toxic workplace cultures?

* Have you ever confused chaos with closeness or urgency with importance at work?

* What helped you come back to yourself after leaving a toxic job, boss, team, or organization?

* What would a workplace have to do to prove it is actually “safe to be human here”?

Credits

Show Hosts:

Remington Bennett (on TikTok and Instagram)

Amber Coleman-Mortley I Love You, Bitxx (on TikTok and Instagram)

Ellyse O’Halloran I Love You, Bitxx (on TikTok and Instagram)

Special Guest:

Kayla Burney (on TikTok and Instagram)

Show Editor:

Nicole Ro

*Real humans wrote this... so there will be some typos. We use grammar checkers but sometimes things get through. If you hate typos we are sorry.