Most victims of bullying dream about one day rising up above the haters and pursuing their passions; Vicky Owens, a 23-year-old CEO in the U.K., has managed to accomplish exactly that.
In a recent social-media video, Owens opened up about the brutal bullying that unsettled her teenage years, and the surprising turn of events that has those bullies coming back to apply to her social-media firm for employment.
"I founded Socially Speaking Media in my bedroom in 2021, after leaving my previous marketing job due to life-altering panic attacks," Owens told Newsweek.
"The business grew rapidly to six figures, and now I manage a top 3 percent global ranking podcast," Owens said.
"Today, my team have office spaces in Manchester and a team of talented content creators and creatives. Among them is my sister, Lauren, who was my first hire," she added.
Owens' company has collaborated with the likes of Netflix and TikTok, to create content that has reached millions of users. ALT Marketing School named her as one of their top 100 marketers of 2024. Owens boasts more than 9,000 engaged followers on her personal TikTok profile, where she offers her digital community an insight into her life as a young British CEO.
In the post that has been viewed more than 679,000 times since Owens first shared it on January 12 (@vicky.owens), she said that "she went from rock bottom at high school to owning a six-figure business at the age of 23." The post has been captioned: "Who you were in high school means nothing!"
"With context, I was very shy at high school, I was very tall and I had very bushy eyebrows. I wasn't very good at school either and I didn't do well in my exams. I was a really easy target for bullies," Owens said.
"I had ketchup poured on my head. I had yogurt poured on my head. It was just a really delightful time," Owens added.
The CEO said that, after finishing high school, she went on to do some work in Manchester. It was there that she began experiencing debilitating levels of anxiety and panic, which left her bedbound.
"I didn't want to go to work. I didn't want to go out. I lost all my friends," Owens said.
She added that, while she was stuck at home recovering, she began to experiment with working in social media. After growing her own client base and teaching herself everything there is to know about digital marketing, Owens' company Socially Media Speaking was born in 2021.
What Do the Comments Say?
Since it had been shared to the social-media platform, the TikTok post has been liked by over 51,000 users and commented on more than 1,700 times.
"Interview them, then decline them," one user wrote.
Another added: "I sold my house to one of the popular girls who I was at school with. I thought it was funny that she wanted a house I no longer wanted."
"When people say that school is the best [time] of your life. Lies," a third TikTok user posted.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Melissa Fleur Afshar is a Newsweek Life and Trends Reporter based in London, United Kingdom.
Her current focus is on trending ... Read more
