Few cultures are more fascinating than corporate cultures. People will spend most of their lives working for multiple companies, and their interactions in corporate environments will end up defining many aspects of their lives.
Laura Whaley knows that as well as anyone, and she’s been able to turn her sketches about those interactions into a large audience. The 28-year old Canadian has racked up over a million followers in the last few years, posting clips about the vagaries of corporate communication while working from home as an IT consultant.
It’s an unusual sideline for sure, so let’s take a deeper dive to see exactly what Whaley does, how she does it and why she has become so popular.
The Corporate Culture Path
Whaley’s early path certainly didn’t offer any hints that her path would be anything but ordinary. Laura works as an IT consultant in real life, and she’s fortunate enough to be able to do it from home.
Things shifted considerably in 2020 when Whaley started a unique diversion, making videos satirizing corporate culture. She did this with another woman she describes as her “work bestie” who also happens to be a corporate communication expert.
They have a rapport that basically translates to a buddy show as they try to unravel the mysterious layers beneath the messages, memos and emails that define life in the corporate bubble. These chats quickly took off when she joined TikTok, and Whaley’s most prominent tagline, “How do you say professionally?” made her a social media sensation.
Whaley has expanded her content to cover nearly all aspects of corporate life, and she’s part of a growing army of TikTok humorists trying to figure out how to handle the new normal when it comes to working remotely.
She’s definitely at the head of the pack, though. Her social media handle, @loewhaley, has become something of a brand, although Whaley doesn’t seem to have done a lot to capitalize on it to date.
Which is interesting, because Whaley obviously has talent. Her looks are definitely part of the package, but Whaley also has some solid chops as a humorist, too. Her work is clever, funny and entertaining, and it seems clear that there are bigger opportunities for her on the horizon.
Personal Life
While she may have tons of followers, Whaley has been very private and low-key when it comes to her personal life. The non-work photos on her social media accounts show her in a variety of outdoor settings, but they’re all solo shots. They reveal little or nothing about her beyond that fact that she loves the outdoors and has a cute dog.
Whaley is just as private about her dating life. She offers no information about boyfriends, love interests or anything else that might reveal who she is beyond her work behind the screen as a humorist.
She seems content with her current dual-gig set up, and Whaley certainly has provided her share of light moments during the difficult days of the pandemic. It would be fun to see her expand and spread her wings, but it’s anyone’s guess where her talent will take her from here.
