A CEO turned the tables on her high school bullies by rejecting their job applications, reflecting on the experience as a moment of karma and emphasizing the importance of kindness and perseverance in overcoming past challenges.
23-year-old Vicky Owens from Alderley Edge, UK, took to her TikTok page back in January to post a video sharing her experience being victimized by the future job seekers.
In the video, which has since amassed over one million views, Vicky recalled how she went from being “rock bottom at school to owning a six-figure business at 23.”
“The girls who used to bully me at school are now applying to work for me,” the businesswoman started her video, which she captioned: “Caption: who you were in high school means nothing!”
23-year-old Vicky Owens, CEO of Socially Speaking Media, exposed how her school bullies tried to get hired at her company
Image credits: vicky.owens
Vicky went on to describe herself as a “very shy and tall” girl while in high school, noting that she had bushy “manly” eyebrows.
She further stated that she didn’t get good grades and didn’t do well in exams, in addition to being an “easy target” for bullies.
The British native even recalled the heartbreaking times her tormentors put ketchup on her head and dumped yogurt on her.
Image credits: vicky.owens
Nevertheless, Vicky pulled through, making it to college after high school. She eventually developed debilitating anxiety and, as a result, became bed-bound.
“I had lost all my friends,” the content creator admitted before explaining how she found a way to make money by running local businesses’ social media accounts.
Upon growing a client base, Vicky founded Socially Speaking Media, a Cheshire-based social media agency that focuses on elevating brands through “results-driven” content, as per its official website.
Vicky recalled how she went from being at “rock bottom at school to owning a six-figure business at 23″
Image credits: vicky.owens
The entrepreneur has since transformed her company into a thriving six-figure business and worked with big-time clients, ranging from TikTok to the hit Netflix series Emily In Paris.
“It literally blew up in a year,” Vicky explained, as she went on to hire her sisters, finally making a team of four at a Manchester-based office.
“Those girls at high school who used to bully me, who used to pour various food on my head, are literally nowhere in life,” Vicky concluded her video.
Image credits: vicky.owens
The company ultimately outgrew the capacity of her four employees, prompting the CEO to advertise a job opening on LinkedIn in an effort to alleviate the workload.
That’s when she received applications from three unlikely sources from her past, The New York Post reported.
“The company just started to get bigger and bigger, so I put out a hiring post, and three of the girls that were absolutely awful to me at high school applied for the job,” Vicky said.
“I put out a hiring post, and three of the girls that were absolutely awful to me at high school applied for the job,” Vicky said
Image credits: vicky.owens
While two of the bullies simply didn’t “give her the time of day,” one of them generally made her life a living hell, as per The Post.
“The other girl was someone who flung yogurt all over my head in the canteen in year 10,” Vicky recalled. “Another time I was out with some of my friends in Nando’s in year nine or year 10, and this girl walked past and flung ketchup across my face.”
It’s safe to assume that the TikToker found it ironic that the “girl that was awful to [her] at school wanted to now work for [her].”
@vicky.owens who you were in high school means nothing! #highschoolmentality #bullying #highschool #dreamjob ♬ original sound – Vicky OwensDescribing her initial reaction to seeing her former harassers applying to work for her, Vicky said: “I found it very interesting [that they had applied].
“I was really baffled whether to reply to them [the job applications] or to decline them.”
Vicky’s story inspired many people on social media
English (US) ·