Woman Reveals Truth After Boss Notices She Was Quiet in Meeting: 'Careful What You Wish For'

A woman whose stony-faced demeanor at work sparked concern from her boss has revealed the hilarious truth.

In a July 3 TikTok video that has been watched over 126,000 times, Cora Breilein from San Francisco described the moment her boss pulled her aside after noticing she was uncharacteristically subdued.

Breilein said her boss told her that he "couldn't really tell" how she felt following what was an important work meeting because she "wasn't very reactive." "I am super expressive," Breilein told Newsweek. "All throughout college my professors would always comment that they could tell when an exam was challenging because of the faces I was making."

Cora Breilein had used Botox before.
Cora Breilein shows how her face was after treatment with Botox. She kept a straight face throughout the meeting, and, in fact, it was a little too straight for her boss. CoraBreilein

On this occasion, though, Breilein appeared surprisingly withdrawn. However, as she went on to reveal in the video, there was a good reason for this: she had had Botox. In fact, she reckons she had maybe had a little too much. To demonstrate, Breilein shows how the injections have left her unable to move much of her face including, most notably, her eyebrows. This goes some way to explaining her manager's concern.

Breilein is not alone in turning to Botox, though. In 2021, a report published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons highlighted how Botox injections were the most popular non-invasive cosmetic procedure in 2020, with 4.4 million performed in that year alone.

Breilein is no stranger to procedures of this kind. "I've actually been getting it and its competitors Dysport and Daxxify regularly for a couple years, though this was the first time it worked this well," she said.

"Funnily enough, I posted a video about a month ago complaining that I feel like it's never strong enough. Guess you need to be careful what you wish for!" she added.

Breilein makes no bones about why she started getting the injections. She said it was part of an effort to "rein in any premature aging that was being caused from over-expressing," although she now thinks she may have overdone it.

"The first couple days of Botox, it can make your face too tight, and I was having trouble smiling and raising my eyebrows like I usually do," Breilein said. "Face-to-face with friends and family, I think they could tell I looked a bit different but couldn't tell what it was!"

Thankfully, in sharing her story to TikTok, Breilein found plenty of other people who have had similarly hilarious experiences.

Commenting on Breilein's apparent face paralysis, one TikTok user wrote: "that's one of the reasons I got Botox, I have no poker face and Botox helps."

Another commented: "I got Botox a few days ago and I can't make an angry face anymore."

"Thank you for this," a third posted. "I'm right where you used to be and I feel like I don't get enough. But I'm scared of looking too frozen."

Though it may have made for an awkward conversation at work, Breilein has been delighted at the response to her post.

"I also love that folks are becoming more transparent about their injectables, thanks to social media," she said. "For years, there's been a lot of head scratching about what people have had done; now, if people are comfortable sharing, they do!"

It's not put her off getting Botox again, either. "If anything, I'm getting my money's worth of the product, which is awesome," Breilein said. "Though I probably won't get as much next time."

Have you had a workplace dilemma? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more

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