Cloudflare Video Expose By Brittany Pietsch - No Happy Ending, At Least Not Yet

Through an illegal video-taping of her termination at tech company Cloudflare marketing specialist Brittany Pietsch became famous. She positioned herself as the voice of workers. 

Of course, the expose was controversial. 

Some speculated Pietsch would never work again, at least not in marketing. Others, given the growing power of influencers, projected that she would have the pick of the litter in jobs. An unintended consequence of the latter is that the naive might also attempt to enhance their brand and career opportunities through the kinds of exposes that are illegal or professionally risky.

Well, six months later, so far this story does not have a happy ending. And since marketers, like many in media, film production and writing, are facing declining demand, the future does not seem especially bright. 

Initially, Pietsch did land another job in marketing. But apparently that went poof. On her LinkedIn profile, she reaches out for work - in a stunner of a poignant plea:

"I feel embarrassed to be posting this, but desperate times as they say.

"It’s been almost 6 months since I was laid off, and I am at my wit’s end. The amount of conversations, interviews, presentations, and research I’ve done for companies I will never work for is beyond what I could have imagined."

She adds that she would be a "kickass sales representative."

Essentially Pietsch has been caught in a perfect storm of 1) a difficult job market for many types of white-collars and 2) the legacy of her video caper.

Some, though, who cross the line into questionable behavior do get off the hook, at least for the time being. 

The iconic example of that is law firm Paul, Weiss associate Matteo Godi. In February 2022, Politico reported that Godi had hacked Wikipedia under an anonymous identity. The objective, it seems, was to make his former boss then-Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson be positioned as more liberal and her possible competitors for the US Supreme Court Justice opening as less liberal. Many other media outlets, such as Business Insider, ran with the story.

Godi did not lose his job at elite Paul, Weiss. He is still there. The employment issue is: What will be his overall career mobility? He could possibly move up where he is since Paul, Weiss is establishing a NonEquity Partner tier. As for becoming an Equity Partner there? I don't anticipate that route as promising. 

The real question is: Could Godi obtain an equally prestigious position elsewhere, if he "experiences out" in Big Law as an associate and has to find work elsewhere? Godi did not respond to my email to talk with him.

As a coach, my advice to Pietsch is to pick up gig assignments to pay the bills. Meanwhile, transform a lemon into lemonade through creating an influencer identity about fixing. 

She can do that through a show on YouTube or TikTok as well as a podcast. In the presentations she can tell her own story and interview others who made serious errors of judgment, perhaps were victims of bad publicity and/or otherwise found themselves shifted from life's winners to losers. Yet, they developed strategies for fresh starts. 

I can be Pietsch's first guest. One-dimensionally I pursued a Ph.D. When my generation of scholars in the humanities were finishing up the degree the market, once strong, collapsed for university teaching positions in that discipline. The Afterward was a very difficult rite of passage into American pragmatism. But most of my Generation of Lost Scholars made it to the Promised Land of success, not just the one we had so carefully planned.

Fortunately in America, imagination and grit can be the platform for comebacks. Once back and successful, most sins will be forgotten. But the wrench in the works is if those derailed lose confidence and drive.

I offer Pietsch complimentary confidential coaching sessions (For an appointment contact Jane Genova 203-468-8579 or janegenova374@gmail.com)

***************************************************************************

In business and life you usually have only one shot at whatever. Up the odds of success with Jane Genova. I am an intuitive coach and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)