One truly fascinating thing about the internet is its anonymity. Needless to say, sometimes it might lead to trolls bullying and throwing dirt online but it also provides freedom and creates a safe environment to open up about things you never would face to face. Whether it's regarding family, relationships or work, getting things off your chest helps to move on with your life.
Enter Wall Street Confessions, an Instagram account dedicated to exposing a side of finance we never knew even existed. Embracing both serious and lighthearted topics, "Wall Street's Gossip Girl" asks people to speak up and unveil the truth about what working in big banks and investment firms really looks like.
Take a look at some of the posts Bored Panda has collected from this page and make sure to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Since 2019, the account has grown to become a community of 128K finance enthusiasts who are sharing about banking, money, and the industry that has it all. While the page collects anonymous confessions and tackles important matters about mental health, gender inequality, work-life balance and work abuse, some of the content is also positive and lighthearted.
Ri Sharma, a 21-year-old content strategist, is the founder and the voice behind Wall Street Confessions. The idea to create this Instagram account came to her when she was studying at Marymount Manhattan College, she told The Business of Business. Investment banking was her dream job since she was 16, so ever since she began studying finance, she started emailing anyone who’s anyone in the business.
Sadly, that didn't work out and Ri started to notice that there was very little honesty in banking: "When I was recruiting as a young woman of color, I thought that there were deeply rooted problems in the industry that no one was talking about. And I decided to start an anonymous confessions page for people on Wall Street. And I was 19."
It began with only a few confessions from Ri’s friends who worked or interned in finance. The creator of the account asked them to tell her one or two things that happened while they were working on the Street, and these stories quickly picked up traction. Ri noticed that a lot of women started sharing their stories about gender and equality: "Women really, were and continue to be the backbone of the page by being so vulnerable so consistently."
Also, people seem to be very surprised when they meet her or find out who she is. "Whether it's through an interview, or through just looking at my Instagram and finding my personal [account]. They're always very surprised that I'm a woman. And I'm so young," she explained.
This is terribly sad. There are great men out there who are happy to be with women like her.
When it comes to making an impact, Ri mentioned that her posts get people thinking at least on a granular level: "If someone's been working for 90 hours a week, or 80 hours a week, and they see something on my page, and they don't feel so alone, I view that as impact in and of itself. Because that is what the page is meant for."
Before uploading people’s confessions online, the creator posts them as is, with the exception of grammatical edits. She tries to be "as authentic as humanly possible without bothering the person who I know nothing about". However, recently she started asking anonymous confessors to share their LinkedIn account just to be sure that the source is real. "There's a shift as the page grows and evolves, and as I'm progressing," she told Forbes.
Hope they changed all the details. Otherwise OP's reputation just went in the garbage.
Ri Sharma continues to advocate for people working on Wall Street, especially women and minorities who tend to be the most vulnerable in such fast-paced work environments. "I'm very fortunate that initially women were brave in sharing their own stories," she said. Of course, it’s difficult to tackle such deeply rooted issues but by talking about them, people are starting to take action and seek change.
Knowing that this is not an isolated incident, I weep for the human race.
That happened to way too many people during lockdown. I'm glad I live alone!
I hate interviews where you are asked technical questions. Due to stress and anxiety I forget the most basic things in interviews. Things that I'd just look up on the job if I forgot and it would be fine. It feels like high school where you needed to do complex math without a calculator because "you won't have one when you start working". Well, guess what...
Because men with the emotional depth of a kiddie pool will feel somehow weak by association if they have someone slightly damaged on their staff. Don't blame yourself, blame the weak, cowardly and fragile people who will go to any measure to prove their toughness even if that means firing someone who may require medical intervention. Image is everything (yet it means nothing).
Personally I would never do it but if she's making money and can support herself, who cares? I wonder if she was already doing that when they got together. If not, I can kinda see how that could be frustrating but if she was and he already knew about it, hush up. It's just jealousy.
It's not always a trap. This is just a horrible girlfriend. Ditch her and get a dog.
Note: this post originally had 109 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
It's a real mixed bag. I feel like there should be a section for the horrible companies and a section for the good ones, and names should be named. Because if I knew which companies supported the sexism and racism, I would do everything in my power to avoid dealing with those companies and all their subsidiaries.
The aspect I find most frightening is that most workers in the finance sector are completely unaware of the nature of money and how it is 'created'. There is a complete disconnect. They talk about 'making money' as though it somehow appears out of thin air, through whatever action they take, rather than the reality of what they are seeing is nothing other than a redistribution of the products of other people's efforts. Of course, even the word 'investment' perpetuates this myth. When someone 'invests' in the stock market they are not providing useful funds to the related company, they are simply gambling on the future perceived value of a business and money will be redistributed according to how that changes. It is all an incestuous cess-pit and should be made entirely illegal.
The truth has always been there. It's whether you choose to deny it or face it.
worked for HSBC in branch, fox hunting boss was vile, hit me, called me names, made fun of me, told me i was a trouble maker when i reported another co worker bullying me who was stealing money or hiding it so id get the figures wrong, i ended up on anxiety pills and they fired me, couldnt do anything, hated that job so much, one time it snowed real bad and i was really poor, working in a bank the ages are shocking and i couldnt afford a bus pass so id walk three miles home, they all drive past my house not one offered me a lift, so glad theyre being made redundant now, what goes around comes around
Working in a bank branch =/= working in finance
Load More Replies...
Where's my violin? OMG, poor traders making 6 figures a month and crying? I'll remember that at the next post-raiding economy plans done on workers getting fired, how can we have been so selfish since then?!
It's a real mixed bag. I feel like there should be a section for the horrible companies and a section for the good ones, and names should be named. Because if I knew which companies supported the sexism and racism, I would do everything in my power to avoid dealing with those companies and all their subsidiaries.
The aspect I find most frightening is that most workers in the finance sector are completely unaware of the nature of money and how it is 'created'. There is a complete disconnect. They talk about 'making money' as though it somehow appears out of thin air, through whatever action they take, rather than the reality of what they are seeing is nothing other than a redistribution of the products of other people's efforts. Of course, even the word 'investment' perpetuates this myth. When someone 'invests' in the stock market they are not providing useful funds to the related company, they are simply gambling on the future perceived value of a business and money will be redistributed according to how that changes. It is all an incestuous cess-pit and should be made entirely illegal.
The truth has always been there. It's whether you choose to deny it or face it.
worked for HSBC in branch, fox hunting boss was vile, hit me, called me names, made fun of me, told me i was a trouble maker when i reported another co worker bullying me who was stealing money or hiding it so id get the figures wrong, i ended up on anxiety pills and they fired me, couldnt do anything, hated that job so much, one time it snowed real bad and i was really poor, working in a bank the ages are shocking and i couldnt afford a bus pass so id walk three miles home, they all drive past my house not one offered me a lift, so glad theyre being made redundant now, what goes around comes around
Working in a bank branch =/= working in finance
Load More Replies... Where's my violin? OMG, poor traders making 6 figures a month and crying? I'll remember that at the next post-raiding economy plans done on workers getting fired, how can we have been so selfish since then?!
