They Paid Me $12,500/Month To Just Sit And Smile On Zoom

Have you ever wondered about the silent faces in a corporate Zoom meeting? Today's guest, Ava, had a job title you've never seen on LinkedIn: 'Engagement Consultant.' For years, tech startups and venture capital firms paid her an exorbitant amount of money simply to be an attractive, attentive presence on their most important sales and investor calls. She was the secret weapon used to make small teams look more substantial, more trustworthy, and ultimately, more profitable. But what starts as intoxicatingly easy money slowly becomes a moral nightmare when Ava discovers she's helping to sell a sophisticated corporate surveillance tool disguised as a wellness app. Faced with a crisis of conscience, she makes a daring choice. Instead of quitting, she decides to use the system against itself, turning her high-paying retainer into the seed money for her own escape. This is a story about the absurd underbelly of the corporate world, and how one woman funded her freedom right under her employers' noses. Stories are dramatized based on real anonymous posts. Names and details are changed for privacy. Produced with AI assistance.