Employee told her boss she felt ‘ugly’. She insisted on a video call but then did something unexpected

Not every day at work is the same. Some days, you might feel exhausted and overwhelmed by the responsibilities. However, supportive colleagues can provide emotional strength and motivation in ways we don't realize on such challenging days. That's what happened to Alaina Booth (@alainabooth on TikTok). Worn out by work, the woman was having a bad day when her manager surprised her with a simple yet meaningful gesture that left Booth in awe.

One day, Booth told her manager that she felt "ugly" and looked tired ahead of their meeting. In response, her boss found a brilliant solution, ensuring that Booth felt comfortable during their work meeting. In the now-viral TikTok video, the woman shared a glimpse of her online meeting with her manager. Interestingly, both participants could be seen with hilarious digital filters applied to their faces. Simultaneously, the overlay text on the screen read, "I told my manager I felt ugly and looked hella tired today during our check-in, and this is how we took the call."

Moreover, talking more about her manager's supportive nature, Booth shared, "She’s not a regular manager; she’s a cool manager," in her video caption.  The video received an incredible response on social media, with several netizens praising the manager for being compassionate and encouraging. For instance, @kenny_richh commented, "Not only did she do this for you, but she’s ALSO talking about your growth. You won the manager lottery." @_spaghettiman101 shared, "One time I was testing to see if I liked the avatar filter during a meeting with an agency. It was awful, but we laughed for a good five minutes about it." Similarly, @juliebum1 revealed, "This is my entire team, except we use the wizard filter every Monday for our meetings talking about legit dead SERIOUS stuff lmao."

@thisiissasign wrote, "And that is why I will ALWAYS prefer female management (there are other reasons, to be honest, but the point still stands)." @miamimetagirl pointed out, "Little things like this actually make such a nice impact on your workday, nice manager." @justin_lin_nyc commented, "My product manager used to always have his Zoom as some Zoom avatar Fox filter. He’s gone now, though (he left for a different company). Now we’re just normal faces." @ebs982 praised Booth's boss and wrote, "I appreciate her sense of humor. Reminds me of that video during the pandemic when the lawyer had a cat filter on." @waggles_life commented, "Now this is how you manage! Meet your people where they are and foster their growth."

@just.here.to.watc51 shared, "That’s a great boss. To be able to connect with breakfast on your face with a straight face is epic. LOL!" On a lighter note, @thtsgx asked, "Are you guys hiring? Joking but also serious, I love the way she showed her subtle mental health advocacy." @linkylouwho said, "I work with a lot of blind people, so we get to do all of our Zoom and Teams calls with cameras off. I would hate being on camera, but I do love this!" @caseyriems, who found the video funny, wrote, "Hahaha I was genuinely like this is so relatable and sounds like everyone at my work, and then realized we do in fact work at the same place."

You can follow Alaina Booth (@alainabooth) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.