How I Outsmarted the Corporate Test That Was Supposed to Fire Me

When Cate Brown tried to fly under the radar at her corporate job, she didn’t mean to expose the entire leadership team’s collective IQ gap. What started as a plan to quietly bomb a company-wide “assessment” test turned into an HR Hunger Games of ego, panic, and accidental promotion.

In this brutally funny episode of Honest Pursuits™, Cate breaks down how she gamed the system, outsmarted her bosses, and realized that maybe “quiet quitting” was just creative strategy.

If you’ve ever wondered why mediocrity gets promoted or why you keep shrinking yourself to survive a room full of men named Chad—this one’s your mirror.

🎧 Listen if you’ve ever:

Tried to play dumb at work but accidentally became Employee of the Month.

Scored higher than your boss and paid for it with meetings.

Wanted to quit but also wanted the severance.

👉 This episode is your permission slip to stop proving your worth to people who’d fail your test.

Duis quis tortor sed sapien tincidunt ultrices tempor et ligula. Sed finibus, sem elementum tincidunt tempor, ipsum nisi ullamcorper magna, vel dignissim eros sapien at sem. Aliquam interdum, ante eget sagittis fermentum, mauris metus luctus sem, at molestie lorem.

These aren’t sponsored (yet). They’re survival tools. The emotional duct tape that kept me from throwing my laptop into traffic.

💡 Mentioned in This Episode:

• 🧠 Notion — because apparently “organize your breakdowns” is a productivity hack now.

• 💬 BetterHelp — when you need therapy without the small talk or the pants.

• 📘 Atomic Habits by James Clear — because you can’t manifest your way out of bad habits.

• 🕯️ $6 Lavender Candle (Target) — practically aromatherapy therapy.

We all have one brutal truth we’ve been avoiding. Mine became a podcast. Yours deserves a mic too.

📲 Confess your Brutal Truth.
Slide into the DMs on Instagram @honest.pursuits and drop your confession (anonymous if you want).
We might feature it on the next “Hot Seat Story Night” episode. No judgment. Just honesty with Wi-Fi.