When I got a phone call to come into an interview, I was both ecstatic and shocked at the same time. Ecstatic because I never thought that I would even get a phone call, much less an interview with a luxury salon. And shocked because, let's be real, why me? Everyone always thinks that they are never “good” or “fit enough” for a job.

Anyways, I interviewed with a salon recruiter at their corporate offices, then with the salon manager who decided to hire me within two hours of our interview. I will never forget how I felt on top of the world that day.

It was a good day because, soon enough, I would start the job that would bring me back to my financial freedom I was desperately missing due to working two minimum wage jobs that hardly made me enough money to survive. I needed a job that would bring me mullah quicker than a cheetah.

I was counting down the days that were nearing towards my first day at my new “real” job again. Before even stepping foot into the salon, I had to go through extensive training at the corporate office in order to “prepare” myself for my first day in the salon. With that being said, it sucked. That was the longest, most wasted and most boring week of my life. I wanted to pull my hair out and cry of how bored I was. But luckily, I managed to pull through and keep my hair.

After that boring week passed, I finally reached my first official day in the salon. I was excited but mostly nervous to meet new people and put to use what I had learned during my training courses.

Let's keep in mind that I deal with anxiety, including social anxiety. On my first day, I met too many people, it was overwhelming. I felt like I was constantly being evaluated on my appearance and the way I presented myself to everyone. Even though I love people, they still make me feel anxious. Especially when I am meeting over 150 people in one day. It was too much to grasp onto that many different types of personalities in one day.

I could not even remember half of their names. After meeting everyone, I did come across a few people that instantly made me welcome. I also came across a few people that I could tell were instantly judging me for no apparent reason. There will always be people who are like that; no matter what you say or do, they just seem to not like or have a problem with you. Embrace yourself and forgot about those types of people because they are not worth your time or energy.

About two weeks into my position, I knew this was not the right place for me. I knew it when I was interviewing, but I shook off that gut feeling and told myself to just go with it because I could possibly end up liking it, but boy was I wrong. I hated this job more than I ever hated any job in my lifetime. Yes, it was that bad.

As time went on, I found myself dreading my position more and more on a daily basis. I did my best at trying to hide it but it eventually crept up on me and changed the way I was acting at work. Each day I slowly felt more stripped of who I was at my core. My boss kept mentioning that I was being “too causal” and “too loud” with clients, which in all honesty I was just being myself.

Oh, did I mention that I was European? I am Romanian and yes Romanians are “loud.” It is not on purpose. It is just a part of who we are. However, apparently to my boss, that was not OK because it showed a lack of “professionalism,” in her eyes at least. I never did or said anything to offend or offset a client; in fact I have only made clients happy, or at least attempted too. I always went out of my way to help an upset client but never did my boss decide to mention when I was doing something right. I kept wondering if I did or said something wrong, but I could not think of any scenario because I did nothing wrong.

From then on, every day I went to work being myself and left feeling defeated of who I was because of what was said to me. The one thing that separates me from others and makes me who I am is my personality. I love making people happy and feeling great about themselves. To have someone tell me that I basically needed to be less like myself ruined everything at work for me. It was a horrible feeling that left me leaving work unhappy as each day passed.

Working at a luxury hair salon had this sense of falseness to it, which is why I quit. The people, the environment, just everything felt staged and fake. I felt it from day one but choose to ignore it which was a bad idea. In fact, my boss said that we come to work to “put on a show”…EW. No one wants to interact with fake people. That mentally is horrible and should not be enforced in any job.

I thought some of the people I meant there were my “friends,” but was terribly wrong. We had a launch party for a new color line and it was mandatory for all managers to attend in order “to support our team.” Personally, I dread events like these because I could not feel more out of place. It is great to get outside of your comfort zone but to attend an event where you feel unwelcome and awkward is not my cup of tea.

That night, my anxiety levels were out of control. But, as always, I masked it perfectly with my smile. Once I arrived inside the venue, I immediately found my “friends” to at least hang out with as my anxiety levels peaked. I knew that if I were at least around them, I would feel a bit better about being in a big crowd of people. Immediately within 30 seconds of approaching them, complimenting them and saying, “Hey, you all look gorgeous!” they all said it back to me and then turned to look at each other, proceeding to walk away from me as if I was not even there to begin with.

It did not come as big of a shock to me when they just decided to suddenly leave, but it still angered me. No one likes to be ditched and I have never before had a group of people immediately leave me that fast, where they wanted me to see them do it. That instantly proved to me exactly who those people were: fake.

Afterward, I ended up going to a table where I talked to two hairstylists whom I actually liked. We all agreed that we hated the event and decided to leave it. We had to wait until the doors were clear so no one would notice our disappearance. Within 20 minutes, we were out.

The minute I stepped outside, I felt this instant relieve of anxiety and left home blasting the music in my car. In retrospect, that always makes me feel better. Side note: If you are ever having a crappy day, just drive with your music on full volume singing your lungs out and there is your daily dosage of serotonin. Trust me, it always makes you feel better. Just try it.

Now, to all the bosses and managers out there, please acknowledge all the hard work your employees put in, in order to make a company successful and most importantly let them know when they are doing a good job. Do not only point out their weaknesses but also their strengths. Yes, critique is a crucial part to evolving as a person, but a balance of critique and praise is what evolves an individual as a whole, personally and within a company.

Employees, treat your co-workers with kindness and respect because you never know what someone is going through. We all have problems so treat others, as you would want to be treated. Choose to make someone’s day better.

Overall, I am telling my story in hopes that if anyone is feeling underappreciated, disrespected or unhappy at a job, find something that makes you happy. Do not worry about what others will think of you, find something where your presence, personality and worthiness is accepted and appreciated by others. As cliché as it sounds, do not let anyone bring you down.

BE AUTHENTIC. BE YOU.