Before I dive into the dynamics of workplace favoritism, you might wonder how a creative, film-loving, introverted girl found herself in the warehouse world.
For me, it was a mix of needing stable income while pursuing my creative projects and, honestly, as a Miami girl, I enjoyed the physical aspect of the work, it kept me moving, energized, and feeling fit.
I really dislike desk jobs, yet I always seem to end up in one no matter what I do. It wasn’t a detour from my creativity at all, just a practical way to pay my bills while building the life I actually wanted.
And you’d be surprised, warehouses in Miami aren’t what people imagine. I met artists, musicians, filmmakers, and other creative souls along the way, people chasing dreams just like me.
In a city like Miami, everyone is creative, similar to how everyone in Los Angeles seems to be, like that waiter or cab driver who casually mentions they were in a movie once.
So when I started working at the Spectra Baby USA warehouse, I honestly thought I had hit the jackpot. By that point, it was already my third warehouse job, so I wasn’t new to the environment or the dynamics that can come with it.
From the outside, Spectra Baby USA looked like a dream workplace.
The owner was insanely wealthy and incredibly generous on paper, she handed out brand-new cars for “Employee of the Year,” hosted holiday parties in and outside of work, gave out free VIP concert tickets, and sponsored fun runs and social events.
It’s a pretty popular breast pump company used by everyday moms, hospitals, and even celebrities, so the brand already had this wholesome, successful image attached to it.
To anyone looking in, it seemed like the kind of job people would fight to have, the kind where everyone walked around smiling with a free iced latte in hand.
But when you actually worked there, especially in the warehouse, the picture wasn’t nearly as glossy.
I started off as a warehouse associate shipping orders, but after several months, I was transferred into the role of RMA manager, where I managed the returns department.
Suddenly I was isolated with my own workspace, my own desk, and my own little corner of the building.
This put me in an interesting position between the warehouse workers and the office employees, especially since I had started out on the warehouse floor myself.
And what I’ve observed and saw every single day was a company divided into clear, unspoken social classes.
The office staff, the corporate side, the ones upstairs in air-conditioned rooms, the ones closer to the owner were always the ones winning those new cars, earning higher pay, getting the better perks, and being recognized as the “faces” of the company.
Meanwhile, the warehouse workers who moved the product, kept the shipments flowing, and literally made the business function were treated like the background crew.
They were expected to be grateful for the vip concert tickets, holiday parties, and whatever else instead of the actual financial rewards or advancement opportunities.
What made it even more heartbreaking was the owner’s isolation. She didn’t know who she could trust, and because of that, she kept her distance especially from the warehouse.
She never came down to see what was really happening, how people were being treated, or how morale was crumbling.
She was depressed, disconnected, and surrounded by people who filtered everything through office politics instead of telling her the truth.
And when leadership is that detached, favoritism doesn’t just happen, it thrives.
Everyone was hardworking in the warehouse, but it seems like if you weren’t favorited for personal reasons like being a relative to someone that works in corporate, you were not going to get other opportunities.
Someone in the warehouse was getting paid 2x as much as someone who was doing the same type of work because this person was the stepson of a woman in corporate. So crazy.
Personally for me, I was always an industrious person. When a new CFO came around, he took a liking to me because of my work ethic. Very nice old man. He offered to move me upstairs with the office people and I politely declined. I had my reasons.
I had to communicate with the office people quite a lot because I dealt with the returns and I got to know them over time, and honestly… I didn’t like them that much. They were pretty snobby and boring.
The upstairs energy was mostly quiet, serious, and stiff. Downstairs in the warehouse, the place was more alive. I still worked hard, but It was a fun environment for me.
I didn’t want to leave the people I had bonded with. They were my family. I was loyal like that. But the truth is, no one else ever got asked to move upstairs except me. I actually ended up leaving the job not shortly after.
I ended up marrying a lawyer who was looking for the best housewife and stepmother to his three kids and he wanted me. He asked me to leave my job, travel the world with him, and move into his home in Tampa and I said yes without a second thought.
Of course, the CFO was sad about it, he gave me his card to call him if I ever needed to come back, just in case. So sweet of him.
Looking back, working in that environment taught me more about people, power, and leadership than any management course ever could. The biggest lesson was this: power isn’t about position, it’s about proximity.
The people closest to leadership get the opportunities, the recognition, and the unspoken privileges, even when they aren’t the hardest workers.
The warehouse was full of talent, dedication, and heart, yet none of that mattered if you weren’t inside the right circle. It wasn’t fair, but it was real.
And even though I left that job and started a new chapter, I’ll never forget the lessons it taught me.
Honestly, Vanessa 