Cox: Happy to have you here today DeAndre Brown aka The Corporate Baddie, aka the Leader in the Gen Z corporate workforce! How are you doing today? 
Brown: Hello, I’m great, and thank you for having me. 

Cox: You have taken social media by storm with your entertaining and educating content on what Gen Zs want out of the workplace. Before we get into where you are now, I want to know a little more about you and your past. 
Brown: Well, I’m originally from Chicago and went to school in Atlanta, where I attended Morehouse College. It was there during my undergraduate program I had several great internships with corporate companies. During those internships, I realized how much of a difference we can make as minorities for these companies when we are in these spaces, and our voices are heard. 

Cox: Nice! So now, when did you know that content creation was going to be your thing? 
Brown: Honestly, I just started posting daily on TikTok and picked up two clients. After that, I wondered what would happen if I devised a strategy to grow my channel actively. So, I started to research TikTok. I found it interesting that over 70% of the users were Gen Z. So, I wanted to create content geared towards them but also to talk about corporate America.  

Cox: Why was bringing corporate America something of interest to you in your content strategy? 
Brown: I wanted to help educate people on how to get into the spaces since I am Gen Z and came from a corporate America background.  

Cox: Were you surprised when it took off? 
Brown: Yes! I figured I’d create content from the corporate America lens about Gen Zs! And when I woke to my content reaching millions of views, I was like, ‘Oh my Gosh, this is actually good.’ 

Cox: There was a bit of a pivot, right? You went from creating content for Gen Z’s on how to get into the spaces to teaching Corporations how to get and keep Gen Zs in those spaces. 
Brown: Yes, and it showed me that what I had in my mind for myself initially was going to be something even bigger than I had imagined. 

Speak about Corporations  

Cox: I want to touch on what I saw you speak about regarding companies having strict employee social media policies. 
Brown: It’s such a great question that we need to explore more. When it comes to tech spaces, companies are lenient with their employee’s social media policies. It’s much stricter when looking at traditional banking and business companies. I think companies have to really evolve their practices to stay current with where society is headed with technology and tools like social media. Social media and the internet are so much part of our daily lives in how we interact, communicate, and express ourselves. So, limiting that for employees won’t be beneficial for corporations in the long run. I do believe that people will start to turn down positions with strict social media guidelines. 

Cox: I love your content when it comes to you bringing awareness to companies trying to take advantage of employees. You generate a lot of content around that topic in such a fun and diverse way.  
Brown: I get the inspiration from my own experience and from stories I hear from others. You know, they try to make employees feel more ‘connected’ as a way to get over on them. They put more on their plates without increasing their pay or benefits.  

 Cox: Speaking of employees, what’s something you stress with corporations to keep them? 
Brown: I think they can actually keep talent by listening to what they want! We don’t care about pizza parties and special events. Those are great for creating wonderful team environments. We want the raise and different benefits when we know corporations have budgets and tools to provide those requests. 

Cox: You reference tech culture a lot. 
Brown: Yes, because the tech companies and people I speak with aren’t required to be at their desks for 9 to 10 hours daily. They work on more project bases. Companies don’t need to hold employees hostage when there is nothing to be done. I think moving forward; companies should start to let it be about completing the assignments at hand and then let employees go about their business. 

His Exit from Corporate America 

 Cox: You recently opened up about leaving your corporate job to become a full-time entrepreneur. You talked about things that happened that let you know it was time to leave. 
Brown: First, I was hardly sleeping. I was doing my full-time job, and after I got off, I worked on my brand deals and content creation. It was a lot! And this was when things were really picking up for me from social media. Then I started to learn that people within the company weren’t happy with the content I was creating. I mean, there were some supportive people, but I didn’t know some higher-ups were really against it.  

Cox: That’s definitely known of their business on what you do with your free time that isn’t tied to the company. 
Brown: Yes, that’s how I felt. And the last straw was when I was contemplating putting in my two weeks. I went to HR to speak about everything I’m going through and the hardships of balancing things. They mentioned that there had been a lot more talks about my content. That’s when I said, you know what, this is the perfect time to put in my two weeks. I felt then that I wasn’t called to that job and company anymore and that my purpose was bigger than it.  

Cox: I know it’s not hard to leave a place when pay is stable and consistent. What was it that really let you know this was the time to exit and start your own? 
Brown: That’s a really good question! When things started to line up, from winning the Career Content Creator award to being asked to speak on multiple panels and engagements, I would have to say. It really let me know people genuinely cared about my perspective outside of social media. You see a lot of influencers and content creators on social media, but only a few of them are asked to speak on panels. I realized I didn’t want to limit myself and that I could do so much more.  

Cox: How does it feel now to be fully in control? 
Brown: It feels great and a blessing. I’m just letting God lead me in the right path and trusting his process. 

Photographer: Darnell Brown
Stylist: Christina Corso