• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
CEO of company shares tearful selfie of ‘lowest moment’ after having to lay off staff

Home> News

Published 17:04 10 Aug 2022 GMT+1

CEO of company shares tearful selfie of ‘lowest moment’ after having to lay off staff

Braden Wallake, CEO and founder of B2B agency HyperSocial, took to LinkedIn to speak about the ‘failings’ on his part

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

The CEO of a company has shared a tearful selfie illustrating his ‘lowest moment’ after having to lay off staff, having admitted it was all his ‘fault’. 

Braden Wallake, CEO and founder of US-based B2B agency HyperSocial, took to LinkedIn to speak about the ‘failings’ on his part that led to the ‘toughest’ thing he’s ever had to do. 

“This will be the most vulnerable thing I'll ever share,” he said, adding that he’d ‘gone back and forth’ on whether or not to post it. 

Advert

“We just had to layoff a few of our employees. I've seen a lot of layoffs over the last few weeks on LinkedIn. Most of those are due to the economy, or whatever other reason. 

“Ours? My fault. I made a decision in February and stuck with that decision for far too long. Now, I know my team will say that ‘we made that decision together’, but I lead us into it. And because of those failings, I had to do today, the toughest thing I've ever had to do.” 

Braden Wallake's tearful selfie.
LinkedIn/Braden Wallake

Wallake said HyperSocial had always been a ‘people first business’, and always would be, explaining how he wished he was a businessman who was ‘only money driven and didn’t care about who he hurt along the way’. 

Advert

"But I'm not,” he continued. 

“So, I just want people to see, that not every CEO out there is cold-hearted and doesn't care when he/she have to lay people off.

“I'm sure there are hundreds and thousands of others like me. The ones you don't see talked about. Because they didn't lay off 50 or 500 or 5000 employees. They laid off 1 or 2 or 3. 1 or 2 or 3 that would still be here if better decisions had been made.” 

Wallake that he loved each of his employees from the bottom of his heart, from ‘every single thing that makes them smile’ to ‘every single thing that makes them cry’. 

Advert

Wallake had to lay off 'a few' of his employees.
Tetra Images, LLC/Alamy Stock Photo

He said he’d always hired people based on who they are as people, adding: “People with great hearts, and great souls.” 

The post then concluded: “And I can't think of a lower moment than this.” 

Some LinkedIn users praised Wallake's candour, while others felt cynical about his motives.

Advert

One wrote: "I am sure it was very difficult for you. To me this is a tad cringeworthy and tacky, but as off the mark as this is, who am I to question your intentions? My hope is that you can use the notoriety of this post to make connections and create opportunities to serve the employees you let go in a positive way. Then this would not have been in vain. Good Luck!"

Someone else commented: "Takes a ton of courage to share this. How many of your current employees would be unemployed if you didn’t own a business? You just owning your business is employing many. Tough decisions have to be made at times. Perhaps if things get better you can hire those back you had to layoff if they are not employed at the time. And it’s not weak to love your employees. It just shows you’re a good person."

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected] 

Featured Image Credit: LinkedIn / Stephen Dwyer / Alamy

Topics: Business, US News

Jess Hardiman
Jess Hardiman

Jess is Entertainment Desk Lead at LADbible Group. She graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

X

@Jess_Hardiman

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

22 mins ago
2 hours ago
12 hours ago
13 hours ago
  • 22 mins ago

    Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly finally announce unique name of their baby daughter and fans are pointing out incredible detail

    Fans have been calling this a 'full circle moment'

    Celebrity
  • 2 hours ago

    Trump slammed for 'deranged' threat to Iran 'leader' as he issues urgent warning amid Israel attacks

    Donald Trump has been causing a stir over his latest comments on Iran

    News
  • 12 hours ago

    Experts reveal why millennials are abandoning organized religion and what they're doing instead

    Americans are becoming increasingly disassociated with traditional religion, according to a new study's in-depth analysis of millennials

    News
  • 13 hours ago

    Underrated Jennifer Lawrence movie that fans say is 'the best they've ever seen' is leaving Prime very soon

    The movie saw Jennifer Lawrence get her first Oscar nomination

    Film & TV
  • Enron CEO told employees to buy stocks just months before company collapsed and lost $74,000,000,000
  • Billionaire CEO reveals the two biggest red flags in interviews that instantly put him off candidates
  • New Starbucks CEO sends lengthy letter to employees announcing major changes to 'declining' company
  • Man explains how he made 400 of his employees into millionaires after selling company for $3,700,000,000