‘Don’t brag’: Aussie CEO reveals wild response men still have to her success

A very successful boss and CEO has fired up over comments she’s so sick of hearing.

Millennial boss Brittney Saunders has revealed the grim double standard that still exists when it comes to success.

Ms Saunders, 31, is the founder and chief executive of successful size-inclusive fashion brand Fayt. She says her brand is worth millions and has been described as a social media powerhouse, with more than 500,000 Instagram followers.

But despite all these achievements, she’s reluctant to speak too much of her success as she often fears she’ll be accused of bragging.

On her podcast, Big Business, Ms Saunders said she’s often disheartened to see women who talk about success being torn down because of it.

“I keep seeing articles popping up like female founder makes $10 million dollars and then you go to the comments and it is all men being like ‘oh she’s just fame hungry or she’s just successful because of her looks’,” she said.

“I know I even still feel weird bragging about my successes because I’m worried people are going to say, ‘you’re bragging.’”

She said if she shares her success, someone will claim she’s bragging. Picture: TikTok

She’s got more than 600,000 followers online. Picture: Instagram/brittney_saunders

Ms Saunders argued that she would be applauded if she were a man and made a million dollars.

“They go, ‘good on you mate, you’re the man’ but if it’s a female, they’ll be like, ‘don’t brag about money, you shouldn’t talk about money in that way,’” she said.

Ms Saunders said she finds this response completely frustrating because “men can” and they’re not met with criticism.

The 30-year-old says she is running an 7-figure business. Picture: Instagram/brittney_saunders

She also works with her partner AJ. Picture: Instagram/brittney_saunders

The 31-year-old boss said she also feels there’s a social bias when it comes to women in leadership, and if you’re assertive, you can be seen as mean rather than just direct.

“When a female is assertive … people might see that as, oh, ‘she’s being a b*tch, or she’s being rude, or she’s attacking me or she’s being nasty,” she said.

“I feel like that can often be people’s first thing that they want to think and say instead of, ‘oh, this is my boss, and she’s giving me some constructive feedback about something that I maybe didn’t do the best, and I need to improve or learn better for next time.”

She said women deal with a social bias in business. Picture: Instagram/brittney_saunders

She runs a successful brand. Picture: Instagram

Ms Saunders said working with her partner, AJ, has also highlighted the difference in the way men and women are treated.

She said she’s observed that her partner can deliver a message without someone assuming he is “personally attacking” them or being seen as unkind.

“At the end of the day … it’s never personal. It’s just business and it’s just you doing your job,” she said.

The 30-year-old said that even though she’s achieved so much success, she still feels she’s living in a “man’s world”, and that can make being a boss harder.

“There’s been so many times over the years, where we are dealing with HR related things in our workplace … and it’s so personal and it’s so emotional when at the end of the day I’m just trying to do my job,” she said.

“I’ve had so many moments, especially more recently, where I’ve thought, I wonder if, and again, I don’t want to be like surrendering, but I’ve thought this would be so much easier if AJ was the CEO.”

Originally published as ‘Don’t brag’: Aussie CEO reveals wild response men still have to her success