I joined the store as a sales associate, thinking my mission was simple: help people find clothes they liked in the right size. Easy, right?

I pictured myself as a kind of fashion guide, darting between racks and fitting rooms, making sure customers walked out happy. And I did exactly that - running across the store, juggling hangers and sizes, doing my best to fulfill every fashion need that came my way.

But my manager didn’t see it that way. She reminded me daily that my real purpose was not just to help, but to sell, and sell a lot.

There was this invisible daily sales target hanging over my head, no matter how many happy customers left with their perfect fit.

By the end of one particularly exhausting shift, my manager called me aside. Her face said it all before she even opened her mouth - she wasn’t pleased.

She told me, flatly, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think this role is for you. You didn’t sell enough. No need to come tomorrow. You’ll get paid for today.”

I was stunned, tired, and disappointed. I blurted out, “Why? I did my best, really! Please give me one more chance.”

But she shook her head. That’s when she delivered the line that stuck with me: “In fashion retail, you need to learn to lie. Whatever the customer is wearing, you should act excited ant tell them they look fantastic in it.”

Apparently, in that glossy, high-end fashion world, enthusiasm wasn’t just encouraged, it was a sales tactic. And honesty? Well, honesty didn’t make the cut.

One positive thing that came out of all this is that I discovered I still genuinely love fashion, it didn’t fade with the job. I just realized I enjoy it in a different way. Instead of selling clothes under pressure, I’d much rather be drawing Fashion Paper Doll books. Drawing fashion feels freeing and creative. No targets, no pressure, just the pure joy of imagining something beautiful and watching it take shape.