Big Sis Briefing: 5 Things I’d Tell Every New Corporate Baddie in 2026

If you are stepping into corporate for the first time, whether through law, banking, consulting or any other professional role, this is what I wish I had understood much earlier in my career after spending more than fifteen years inside the system.

Stand up as much as possible

Boring, I know. But trust be, get the standing desk and use it daily. Sitting all day does damage over time, even if it does not feel dramatic or urgent in your twenties. Years of sitting, commuting, wearing heels and working through discomfort quietly compound and those impacts tend to show up later when you are less able to reverse them.

Stretch during the day, get up between meetings, take walking meetings where you can and treat movement as part of your job rather than something optional you fit in later.

Maintain strong friendships with people outside corporate

Keep close relationships with people who work in healthcare, trades, education, social services, small business, government or community roles. Those friendships anchor you in reality and help you remember what matters beyond performance reviews, status and internal politics.

Without that external perspective, corporate culture has a way of narrowing your worldview until it feels like the only version of success or contribution available to you.

These relationships also help you sanity check behaviour.

Corporate environments can normalise conduct that is unhealthy, manipulative or quietly destructive and without comparison points, it becomes harder to recognise when something is off.

People outside the corporate bubble often provide clarity simply by reacting with disbelief to things you have started to accept as normal. That perspective is invaluable.

Protect your creativity

Corporate life has a way of draining creative energy unless you are in a very specific role that actively nurtures it.

Whatever you loved doing as a teenager, whether that was music, writing, gaming, art, performance or making things with your hands, deserves a place in your adult life that is not tied to productivity or visibility.

Create for no audience and no outcome, because that is where the value sits.

Resist the urge to monetise or optimise every interest. Not everything needs to become a side project, a personal brand or content.

Creativity that exists purely for you becomes a pathway back to yourself when work starts to blur your sense of identity. Protecting that part of your life helps you stay connected to who you were before your job title carried so much weight.

No one really knows what they’re doing

Most people are figuring things out in real time, even those who appear confident, senior or authoritative. The people who are generous mentors tend to admit this openly, while others maintain the performance and avoid showing uncertainty.

When you feel lost, behind or convinced you are the only one struggling, pause before assuming you are the problem.

There is very little room for vulnerability in many workplaces, which means confusion often gets internalised rather than discussed. That silence can be isolating but it does not reflect your competence or potential.

Progress in corporate environments often looks far more polished from the outside than it feels from the inside.

Find your people and hold them close

Across your career, you will encounter people you never wish to work with again and others who will become lifelong friends and trusted allies.

Pay attention to the people around whom you feel safe being yourself, asking questions and speaking honestly without fear of gossip or quiet retaliation. Those relationships make difficult environments survivable and good environments meaningful.

Seek out mentors and sponsors who understand your industry and path, who have no incentive to use you for their own positioning and who want you to succeed on your terms.

Maintain those relationships outside formal systems and treat them with care.

People who offer guidance without agenda are rare and they are worth protecting.

One last thing…

You need to take responsibility for your wellbeing because no one else will do it for you.

While leadership styles are evolving, most corporate structures still prioritise outcomes, growth at all costs and shareholder value over individual health and sustainable high performance.

If you do not set boundaries and build routines that protect you as a whole person, the system will take everything that it can from you.

Your health, creativity, relationships and sense of self are not secondary to your career. They are what allow you to have one that lasts.

Onwards!

💖

Mel