{"id":383,"date":"2026-02-01T00:04:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T00:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/?p=383"},"modified":"2026-02-01T00:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T00:04:35","slug":"if-im-not-an-employee-then-i-guess-i-dont-need-to-give-two-weeks-notice-before-quitting-%f0%9f%92%85%f0%9f%9a%a9-time-to-see-how-the-podcast-runs-without-the-girlfriend-discount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/?p=383","title":{"rendered":"“If I\u2019m ‘not an employee,’ then I guess I don’t need to give two weeks’ notice before quitting. \ud83d\udc85\ud83d\udea9 Time to see how the podcast runs without the ‘girlfriend discount’!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I handed him a formal letter of resignation from my “volunteer internship.”<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t scream, and I didn\u2019t throw a tantrum. I simply gathered every single asset\u2014the raw audio files, the half-finished logos, the social media templates, and the chaotic spreadsheet of potential guests\u2014and dumped them onto a single USB drive. I walked into the living room while he was playing video games, placed the drive on the coffee table, and said, “You\u2019re absolutely right. I\u2019m just your girlfriend, not an employee. I realized I\u2019ve been overstepping my boundaries by doing professional work for free. I want to respect your vision, so from now on, I\u2019m going to focus strictly on being your girlfriend. This drive has everything you need to run your show.”<\/p>\n

He looked confused and asked if I had finished the edit for the episode that was supposed to go up the next day\u2014the one with the sponsor read. I smiled and said, “Oh, no. Since I’m not an employee, I didn’t want to get in the way of your business. I’m sure you can handle the editing; it\u2019s your show, after all.” Then I left to go get a manicure.<\/p>\n

The panic didn\u2019t set in immediately, but about three hours later, my phone started blowing up. He realized he didn’t know how to use the editing software to remove the background hiss. He didn’t know the password to the hosting platform. He didn’t know what font I used for the thumbnails. He was spiraling. He texted me, “Babe, come on, stop being petty. I need this up by tomorrow for the sponsor.”<\/p>\n

I texted back: “I\u2019m not being petty, I\u2019m knowing my place! I believe in you!”<\/p>\n

He stayed up until 4:00 AM trying to edit it himself. The episode went up late, the audio sounded like he recorded it inside a tin can during a hurricane, and the “graphic” was just a blurry screenshot. The comments were brutal. The best part? The sponsor noticed. They emailed him saying the ad read wasn’t clear and the production quality violated the terms of the agreement for the payout.<\/p>\n

He came to me the next evening, looking exhausted and humbled, and asked if I could “please just fix it.” I handed him a printed sheet of paper I\u2019d prepared: a standard freelance consulting contract. I listed my services\u2014audio engineering, graphic design, social media management\u2014at current market rates. The total came to roughly $65 an hour.<\/p>\n

“If you want an employee,” I told him, “you have to hire one. If you want a girlfriend, I’m right here to support you emotionally. But my labor isn’t free anymore.” He ended up having to use that $2,000 sponsorship money not to pay himself, but to pay me<\/i> my back wages just to save the contract. We\u2019re still talking about the future of the relationship, but one thing is for sure: I never touched a mouse or a keyboard for him for free ever again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I handed him a formal letter of resignation from my “volunteer internship.” I didn\u2019t scream, and I didn\u2019t throw a tantrum. I simply gathered every single asset\u2014the raw audio files, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readupdatemystory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}