Ex-C-suite executive shares how a HR mistake gave her a Rs 50 lakh pay hike and all-paid MBA

A former C-suite executive has opened up about some of the most unusual and difficult moments from her two-decade corporate career, including being told to hire another nanny when she wanted to go home to put her son to bed. Julie Fedele, now based in Australia and the founder of Polywork Careers Platform, shared a series of experiences from her years working in London and Melbourne in an Instagram post.

Her recollections range from a major pay increase and employer-funded MBA to disagreements over workplace expectations, senior executives, bonuses and office politics.

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She was told to hire a second nanny

One of Fedele’s most striking memories involved balancing an intense corporate schedule with motherhood.

She said her boss once suggested that she hire a second nanny after she said she wanted to go home and put her son to bed. Fedele said she had not been home for an entire week at the time.

“My boss once told me to get a second nanny when I said I wanted to put my son to bed. I hadn’t been home all week,” she wrote.

She described the incident as one of the “craziest” experiences from her career.

A leaked contract helped her secure a $50,000 raise

Another episode began when Fedele discovered that a male colleague doing the same job was being paid substantially more.

She said her HR department accidentally sent her the colleague’s employment contract. After seeing the salary difference, she challenged the situation and ultimately secured a $50,000 pay increase.

She also said her employer agreed to fund her MBA as part of the outcome.

“I once got a $50k pay rise and my MBA paid for because my HR accidentally sent me my colleague contract. Same job. He just happened to be a man,” she wrote.

She refused a private jet for a 60-minute meeting

Fedele also recalled being reprimanded after declining to use her company’s private jet to attend a meeting that would last about an hour.

What made the situation especially ironic, she said, was that she was working for a sustainability technology company at the time and believed flying an executive by private jet for such a short meeting was environmentally questionable.

“I was reprimanded for refusing to take the company's private jet to a meeting. I was on the C-suite of a sustainability tech company and said that executives flying pj's for a 60 min meeting is bad for the environment. He didn't get it,” she wrote.

She was told to sit beside a CEO’s assistant

Another meeting left Fedele questioning workplace hierarchy and gender dynamics.

She said she was not allowed to sit at a small table to take notes and was instead asked to sit with the CEO’s assistant. According to Fedele, she and the assistant were the only two women in the meeting.

The incident was among the experiences she recalled as part of what she described as a sometimes bizarre corporate environment.

One boss would not review presentations before 11 pm

Fedele also described a work culture in which late-night deadlines became routine.

According to her account, one of her bosses refused to review presentation decks before 11 pm. This meant Fedele had to remain at work and continue working on them until around 4 am.

The experience highlighted the extent to which senior-level expectations could extend working hours well into the night.

A meeting threat was followed by a surprise promotion

In another incident, Fedele said she had a confrontation with a senior colleague during a meeting and was threatened with losing her job.

The situation took an unexpected turn after the meeting when an opposing senior figure offered her a general manager position.

She accepted the role.

Another surprise promotion

Fedele also recalled a separate incident involving a male boss who allegedly threatened to terminate her position. She said she responded by approaching a senior executive who did not have a good relationship with the boss.

She subsequently secured a new role

After approaching the senior executive, Fedele said she was subsequently able to secure a new role. The account presents this as a separate development from the earlier incident involving the alleged termination threat.

She turned a team lunch request into an early finish

Not every story involved conflict.

Fedele said an executive once asked her to organise a team lunch. Instead of making it an elaborate event, she booked a pub just three minutes away from the office and went home by 2 pm.

She recalled that the executive was not impressed with the arrangement.

Bonus dispute ended with a request for every file

Fedele said one of her bosses withheld her bonus after learning that she was leaving the company.

Her response was to ask HR to provide all of her previous bonus files, along with the current one, and said she would send the documents to her lawyer.

The account was another example of how disagreements over workplace compensation could escalate into formal disputes.

Her boss criticised her to a client, then was accidentally exposed

Fedele also recalled an incident in which a boss allegedly spoke negatively about her to a client.

According to her account, the boss accidentally copied Fedele into the email exchange. The client then replied positively about Fedele’s work, while also addressing her directly with a “Hi Julie”.

The episode, she suggested, left her with an unexpected glimpse into what had been said about her when she was not part of the conversation.

Two more stories are being saved for her memoir

Fedele ended her list by suggesting that some of the most extraordinary experiences from her career remain untold for now.

She said she has “2 BANGERS” that she cannot discuss because she signed non-disclosure agreements.

“I have 2 BANGERS I can’t share because I signed NDAs but you bet your bottom dollar that when they expire I’m putting them in my memoir,” she wrote.

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Her stories spark debate online

Fedele’s post prompted a range of responses from people who found the stories both relatable and extraordinary.

One user called the experiences “equally tragic and brilliant”.

Another praised the collection and said it takes time for people to learn how to stand up for themselves, adding that they were glad Fedele had done so.

A third commenter offered a much harsher assessment, writing: “The corporate world is a prison. I hope you got out!”

Not everyone was convinced by the account, however. One user responded: “I’ll take things that never happened for 400 Alex...”

Fedele’s recollections have therefore prompted both admiration and scepticism, while offering a glimpse into the unusual situations she says she encountered across two decades in corporate life.