🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Final Entry for Portmeirion and CFS Scandal“Closure Isn't Silence — It's Sovereignty.”

✨ After 16 chapters…
🖊️ After pages of truth, receipts, and reflection…
📂 After documenting everything from gaslighting to gatekeeping…

The paperwork is filed.
The complaints have been notarized, and the affidavits are in the hands of CHRO.

They have 30 days to review — and a lifetime of evidence to examine.

I’ve said what I needed to say.
Loud. Clear. With truth as my witness.
I did this not just for me, but for every Black woman who was overlooked, overqualified, and over it.

🌱 Now? I reclaim my energy.

This was never about revenge. It was about remembrance.
Of who I am. What I’ve survived. And where I’m going.

To those watching in silence:
I see you.
To those trying to silence me:
I forgive you.
But to those coming behind me:
I did this for you.

🕊️ From this moment on, the investigation is in motion — but my life is in flight.

I’m pivoting to purpose:
🧠 Healing education.
🎴 The Spot the Narc™ game.
🪬 My university, my books, my clients, my joy.

📌 Because closure isn't silence. It's sovereignty.

🔗 Keep rising with me at www.the-second-mirror.com
📚 Explore my healing tools, courses, and stories of resilience.
🌈 The second half of this year belongs to me.

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part XVI “The Receipts Were Watching the Whole Time”

📸 Evidence Has a Memory

They never expected me to keep track.
They never imagined I’d screenshot texts, save voicemails, or quietly catalog timelines like a detective.

But receipts don’t lie — and neither do patterns.

While Dominique, Jennifer, Juliet, and Mikayla were playing their quiet games of politics and passive power, I was building a mirror.
A paper trail mirror.
One they could never unsee.

🧃 Spilled Tea, Sealed Truths:

• Juliet texted me in early January — but turned silent when things got “too real.”

• Mikayla stayed invisible, though she orchestrated Jennifer’s placement.

• Dominique needed temps not for help, but for camouflage.

• Paula knew something was off — but her power was outmaneuvered.

• Jewel, still standing, watched it all replay… again.

And I? I connected the dots they tried to scatter.

🧩 Puzzle Pieces They Ignored

Here’s what they underestimated:

• 📱 Text messages with exact dates

• 📧 Emails that show shifting tones after internal complaints

• 👥 Staffing agency interference

• 👀 LinkedIn connections exposing Casey overlaps

• 📅 Hiring timelines that prove the overstaffing was not about need — it was about cover

🧠 Narc Traits on Display:

• 🫥 Denial of wrongdoing while increasing surveillance

• 🧱 Stonewalling HR investigations

• 🪞 Projection and blame-shifting

• 🩹 Optics over healing

• 🧯 Gaslighting through staffing “solutions”

🪙 What It Cost Them

They wanted me to fold.
They wanted silence.
They banked on burnout.
They expected me to run.

But what they didn’t expect?

📁 Documentation.
🔍 Strategy.
🧠 Awareness.
🕊️ Peace.

✍🏽 Reflection Prompt:

What are your receipts telling you?
Go back. Reread the texts. The emails. The signs.
What truth were they quietly confirming the whole time?

💬 Affirmation:

“I document not to defend — but to reveal. My memory is not weak. My truth is timestamped.”

📌 To Be Continued in Part XVII:
Tomorrow, we dive into the “Casey Connection” — Dan and Juliet, both tied to CFS, both silent, both strategic.
Was this just staffing, or a cover-up dressed as a career opportunity?

🧩 The patterns aren’t a coincidence. They’re a blueprint.
Let’s decode it.

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part XV "Casey Closed: When Staffing Turns Strategic"

🕳️ The Illusion of Help

I thought Juliet was here to help me.
But now I see — she was never helping. She was watching.

Juliet wasn’t just a staffing manager — she was a scout.
And her boss, Mikayla Bordiere, didn’t just “let it happen.” She positioned it all.

But the part no one saw coming?

💼 Dan Casey — works at CFS too.
Same last name. Same company.
And he’s the one I sent my demand letter to.

🧩 Connect the Dots:

• I was placed in a role that Jewel already held.

• Juliet texted me on January 7, 2025 — she was already watching me.

• Jewel told me Juliet reached out to her in December asking about her own plans to leave.

• Mikayla, who reports to no one but the shadows, did nothing.

• Are Dan Casey and Juliet Casey… Related? Married? Coincidence?

This wasn’t just a bad placement.
It was a pipeline of protected manipulation.

🛑 Why All the Temps?

Let’s back up.

Before this chaos, the AP department only had:

• 1 AP Manager

• 1 AP Clerk (Jewel)

That’s it.

But after the previous AP Manager left (the one more qualified than Dominique), everything changed.

Dominique spiraled.
She lost her protector — and started hiring temps like human sandbags.

👥 William Rafferty — hired a week before me
🪑 Me — brought in next
🔁 A revolving door followed

Dominique wasn’t rebuilding —
She was shielding herself.

She once told me:

“I have to keep bodies in those chairs or Paula will take them from me.”

She said it casually.
But it told me everything.

She didn’t want support. She wanted control.
She didn’t want accountability. She wanted placeholders.

🧊 The Real Reason Jennifer Stayed

Jennifer didn’t stay because she was competent.
She stayed because firing her would’ve exposed Dominique.

Jennifer was Dominique’s last defense.
Remove her — and Dominique has no shield.

That’s why two Black women (Jewel and myself) were ignored, excluded, and undermined.
Because we saw too much.
And we were never part of the plan.

🧠 Spot the Narc Traits:

• 🧩 Coordinated silence

• 🫥 Strategic under-qualification

• 👁️ Surveillance disguised as concern

• 🔄 Revolving-door hires to mask instability

• 🧑🏽‍💼 Diversity optics, not inclusion

• 💼 Internal gatekeeping under the guise of HR/legal protocol

✍🏽 Journal Prompt:

Have you ever been encouraged to trust someone — only to find out they were planted to observe or report you? What shifted once you realized it?

💬 Daily Affirmation:

“I am no one’s placeholder. My story doesn’t need your permission — only my permission to be told.”

📌 To Be Continued in Part XVI:
We expose the real exit strategy behind Dominique’s team — who ran, who stayed, and how the “Casey Connection” was never about resolution... it was about protection.

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part XIV "Makayla Knew: The Pipeline of Passive Power"

🕷️ The Spider in the Web

This wasn’t just negligence.
Makayla didn’t “fail to act.”
Makayla oversaw the entire operation.

She wasn’t some soft-spoken bystander trying to maintain peace — she was Juliet’s boss at CFS, and the one who gave Jennifer her Accounts Payable Manager title in the first place.

So when the chaos erupted?
Makayla wasn’t caught off guard — she was simply silent.

🧩 Connect the Dots:

• Jennifer was placed in a management role she was unqualified for.

• Jewel Martin (Black, AP trained) spoke up. She was excluded.

• Then William Rafferty (white) started one week before me, hired as a Financial Analyst.

• I (Black, AP trained) was hired next.

• When William left, another temp was brought in quickly — a revolving door of temporary hires.

Dominique personally told me: “I have to keep bodies in those chairs otherwise Paula will take them from me.”

That comment stayed with me. It explained why Dominique clung to temps — not for support, but for territorial control.

I even reported this to Paula Hawks. Before the previous AP manager resigned, the department only needed one AP Manager and one AP Clerk — and that Clerk was Jewel.

So why the sudden explosion of temps?

What changed?

The answer: Protection. Diversion. Control.

🧊 Makayla’s Method: Chilling in Plain Sight

Here’s what makes this darker:

Makayla knew what was happening.
Juliet went to her.
Jewel came to me when she noticed.

Jewel asked if I told Juliet anything because Juliet had suddenly reached out to her asking strange questions — not just about her own position, but about me, Jennifer, and whether she was planning to leave.

That was when I stopped talking to Juliet.

I realized: She wasn’t supporting me — she was scouting her next move.

👑 The Politics of Passive Power

This wasn’t support. This was surveillance.
Juliet collected data.
Makayla locked the door.

I was not hired to help. I was hired to appear helpful while the real plan unfolded: to replace Jewel if she walked or forced out.

It was never about empowerment — it was about optics.

🧠 Spot the Narc Traits:

• Strategic silence

• Surveillance disguised as support

• Revolving door of temps

• Diversity optics without inclusion

✍🏽 Reflection Prompt:

Have you ever been part of a system that claimed to empower you, but quietly used you as cover? What signs did you miss?

💬 Affirmation:

“I am not disposable. I am not your cover story. I am the truth you tried to silence.”

📌 To Be Continued in Part XV: Tomorrow, we’ll expose CFS Staffing’s inner playbook — how “opportunity” was just another trap, and how Juliet and Makayla tag-teamed the illusion of care while orchestrating replacements.

🕊️ We see the game now. And we’re not playing it anymore.

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part XIII "Pawns in Their Game: Why They Hired Me While Jewel Was Still There"

🔍 Introduction: The Setup Was Already in Motion

Let’s be clear — I did not replace Jewel Martin. When I started working at Portmeirion, she was still there. We even shared the same role title: Accounts Payable Clerk. But the way things were unfolding, it was obvious that one of us was not meant to stay.

It was like watching a slow, silent hand rearrange pieces on a corporate chessboard. Only later would I realize the game wasn’t about skill — it was about silence.

🧩 Two Black Women, One Pattern

Jewel Martin, a Jamaican woman and experienced AP specialist, had already voiced her concerns to Dominique back in September 2024. She reported serious issues: duplicate payments, incorrect vendors, and a department spiraling into chaos under Jennifer’s leadership.

Just like me, Jewel was ignored. But instead of firing her outright, Dominique began to phase her out.

Excluded from meetings. Ignored in decision-making. Silenced through neglect.

By the time I was hired in late November 2024, the pattern was already repeating — only now, it had a new face: mine.

🕵🏽‍♀️ The Double Hire: A Smokescreen of Diversity

At first, it looked like I was brought on for extra help. But let’s ask a real question:

Why hire multiple AP temps if the department was functioning well?

Dominique didn’t just bring me in — William Rafferty started a week before me. It wasn’t about support. It was about control. It was about shielding Jennifer from scrutiny by surrounding her with bodies who wouldn’t question her.

Except Jewel and I did.

🔒 The Silent Replacement Plan

I now believe that if I had stayed longer, Jewel would have been pushed out entirely. The signs were all there: Juliet Casey, my staffing rep from CFS, had already called Jewel — not out of concern, but to gauge her willingness to leave.

Juliet was tracking her like a recruiter, not supporting her like a partner.

When I reported what I saw, including how the environment was making Jewel physically ill, Juliet did nothing.

And it wasn’t just Juliet. Makayla — another white woman in power — also knew.

Juliet went to Makayla.

And still — nothing changed.

🧠 Divide, Distract, Dismiss

Let’s look at the pattern:

• Jennifer causes chaos.

• Two Black women raise concerns.

• White leadership closes ranks.

• The Black women are isolated.

• The Black women are blamed.

It’s not just toxic — it’s systemic. And it’s old.

We weren’t a team. We were pawns.

🧬 Workplace Plantation Politics

This goes deeper than corporate dysfunction.

Historically, Black women have been pitted against one another to maintain control — on plantations, in politics, in boardrooms.

Jewel and I were never meant to work together. We were meant to be cycled.

Use one until she resists.
Then quietly prepare her replacement.

Keep the white woman — Jennifer — centered, protected, and unaccountable.

✨ Reflection Prompt:

Have you ever realized too late that you were placed in someone else’s shadow? What did you do with that realization?

🧠 Spot the Narc Traits:

• Divide and conquer

• Smear campaigns

• Corporate silence

• Passive removal

💬 Affirmation:

"I was never too loud — they were too used to my silence."

📌 To Be Continued in Blog 14: Tomorrow, we explore how Makayla became the silent thread between it all — and why white allyship without action is just performance.

🕊️ Stay sharp, stay seen.

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part XII "Two Black Women, Same Fate: Racism in the Accounting Department"

🧩 When Patterns Repeat, They're Not Accidents

Before I was brought on as the new Accounts Payable Clerk, another Black woman held the same position — Jewel Martin, a Jamaican woman with professional experience and a reputation for getting the job done. Her story closely mirrors mine, and what happened to her should've served as a warning of what was to come.

Jewel, like me, spoke up.

Jewel, like me, was ignored.

Jewel, like me, suffered the consequences of speaking truth to power in a space not designed for our voices.

🔍 The Jewel Warning: Disregarded Truths

Back in September 2024, Jewel warned Dominique directly: Jennifer didn’t know what she was doing. Duplicate payments were being issued to incorrect suppliers and vendors. This wasn’t a petty complaint — it was a red flag. A professional AP specialist sounding the alarm.

What did Dominique do with that information? She ignored it.

Instead of investigating or holding Jennifer accountable, she protected her. And not long after, Jewel began to be phased out of team meetings and excluded from accounting discussions.

She remained in the department, yes — but not as part of the team. Her silence was expected. Her discomfort was dismissed. And her warnings were weaponized against her.

Sound familiar?

🔁 Enter Me: History Repeats

Then came me. A Black woman. Qualified. Experienced. Clear in communication.

Was I brought in to replace Jewel? It’s starting to look that way.

Because when I arrived, Jewel was still there. And so was Jennifer. And interestingly — William had just started one week before me.

So why the rush to hire two new clerks into an already staffed department?

Because Jennifer couldn’t handle the work. And instead of removing her, Dominique built a human buffer around her.

It wasn’t about finding the right fit — it was about shielding incompetence with bodies.

🤫 Internalized Sabotage: Divide and Exclude

Jennifer frequently made comments about Jewel behind her back, painting her as the problem and pushing a narrative that Jewel was "difficult." The same pattern happened with me. The moment I went to Paula, Jennifer’s tone shifted. Suddenly, I wasn’t to be trusted either.

She began pulling in Chrissy, Diane, and others into her circle to isolate and discredit me — turning an already toxic department into a war zone of whispered alliances and fake professionalism.

This is strategic. It’s called corporate triangulation, and it’s how bullies thrive in workplace systems.

🧃 Juliet’s Role: Helping or Hunting?

I didn’t just report this to internal leadership. I also went to my staffing agency, CFS. I told Juliet Casey, my rep, everything. And you know what’s interesting?

Juliet had already called Jewel, too.

But she wasn’t calling to check on her well-being — she was gauging her willingness to leave. Juliet was scouting for replacements, not offering support.

I told Juliet how stressed Jewel was. How the workplace had started making her physically sick. I told her how Dominique excluded Jewel from meetings. I told her everything.

Nothing changed.

🧠 The Real Question: Why Protect Jennifer?

Why is Jennifer, a woman with no AP management experience, still in that seat? Despite multiple complaints from two qualified Black women? Despite financial discrepancies, duplicate payments, audit failure risks?

That’s not incompetence — that’s protection.

And it reeks of racial bias.

⚖️ Protected Classes, Violated Rights

Let’s be clear:

• Race and Gender are both protected classes under federal and Connecticut law.

• To be hired to replace another Black woman who had already raised the same issues — and to then be ignored and walked out the door without process — is discriminatory and retaliatory.

This blog is no longer just about a hostile work environment. It’s about systemic suppression of Black women’s voices in corporate spaces — and the institutions that enable it.

And historically, this is nothing new. White women have long weaponized proximity to power against Black women. From slavery to boardrooms, we’ve been punished for raising our voices. Jewel and I are two more names on that legacy — and we won't be silent.

🪞 Reflection Prompt:

Have you ever watched someone get punished for speaking the truth, only to see history repeat itself in your own life? What was the common thread?

🧠 Spot the Narc Traits:

• Gaslighting via exclusion

• Smear campaigns

• Passive-aggressive undermining

• Silent retaliation

💬 Affirmation:

“I don’t become less truthful just because others become uncomfortable.”

📌 To Be Continued in Part XIII: Tomorrow, we break down Juliet’s full involvement and explore how predators align to protect each other, until someone dares to say “enough.”

🕊️ Stay tuned, stay strong.

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series — Part XI: “The Hand That Picked Me”

When the Gatekeeper Is in On It:

“You think you’re walking into a new beginning… but sometimes, the gatekeeper’s already been given a script.”

🌀 Introduction:
This post isn’t just about Portmeirion anymore. It’s about who opened the door for me to be placed there in the first place — and why they stayed silent when I began to speak up.

Because I didn’t get to Portmeirion by accident.

I was placed there by CFS, a staffing agency that claimed to advocate for me, but disappeared when it mattered most. I contacted Juliet Casey, my recruiter, on January 7th, 2025. I told her about the toxic behavior, the red flags, the finance team disarray. And what did I get?

Silence.

🧩 Let’s Break It Down:

🔻 Disregard for Duty of Care
Staffing agencies are supposed to protect their talent. Juliet heard my concerns and did nothing. That’s not neutrality — that’s negligence.

🔻 Co-conspirator Silence
When Dominique retaliated, CFS did not step in to investigate. They did not advocate. That’s complicity.

🔻 Placement Over Protection
Let’s be clear: placing someone in a known hostile environment without addressing concerns is a breach of ethics. Especially when the recruiter has been warned.

💼 CFS: More Than a Middleman

This isn’t just about “a bad fit.” This is about profit over people.

CFS didn’t just place me — they endorsed an environment of fraud, emotional abuse, and silence.

They kept me there long enough to bill Portmeirion, then cut ties when it got messy.

It’s the same narcissistic cycle: love bomb with praise and opportunity, then ghost when you stand up for yourself.

Sound familiar?

📜 From Personal to Pattern:
First it was my parents.
Then lovers.
Then friends.
Then jobs.
Now staffing agencies?

👁 The same spirit. Just different costumes.
💡 And once I saw the storyline, I could finally stop playing the role.

🪞 Affirmation:
“I will no longer mistake silence for safety. I speak my truth, even when the gatekeepers turn their backs.”

📝 Journal Prompt:
Who gave the toxic person access to you?
What signs did you ignore?
What would you do differently now that you see the pattern?

📍 Why This Post Matters:
Because healing is not just about calling out narcissists — it’s about calling out the systems that protect them.
Today, we flip the script.
Because I’m not the problem —
I’m the proof that integrity still exists.

🩸 Final Note:

But here’s what keeps me up at night:

Makayla.

The one who placed Jennifer.

Makayla knew Dominique didn’t pay attention.
Makayla knew Jennifer didn’t have accounts payable experience.
And she definitely knew I did — years of it. Overqualified, in fact.

So why was Jennifer — the inexperienced one — supported? Protected?

And why was I — the experienced one — isolated?

Unless… Makayla saw something in Dominique.
And saw something in me.

Because predators don’t just prey on the weak.
Sometimes they target the strong.
And sometimes… predators attract each other.

In the end, it’s not about who’s good or bad —
It’s about who bites first.

🔒 To Be Continued… Blog XII: The Power Play

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Spot the Narc™- Part IX: “Different Faces, Same Cycle”

🔮 INTRODUCTION:

They say our parents are our first gods.
But what happens when the gods are narcissists?
When love is a leash, not a lifeline?
When manipulation is mistaken for protection…
and survival becomes your love language?

Before the job, the friends, the lovers, the betrayals —
There were my parents.
And that’s where this karmic loop began.

👣 A PARASITE THAT MORPHS

Narcissism entered my world through my mother’s womb.
Not because she was evil — but because she was unhealed.
She gave birth to me on the same day she lost her son.
And from that day forward, I was no longer me —
I was a placeholder for her pain.
A living reminder.
A mirror she never asked for.

And when someone refuses to look in the mirror,
they break it instead.

That’s what my childhood was:
A thousand sharp pieces of broken glass —
each one shaped like guilt, gaslighting, control, conditional love.

But the parasite didn’t stay at home.
It followed me to school.
To sleepovers.
To the hospital room.
To my first job.
To my first heartbreak.
Morphing.
Shifting.
Growing stronger every time I chose silence over truth.

🧬 THE NARCISSISTIC CYCLE: NEW FACE, SAME MASK

If your nervous system has been trained to confuse chaos with comfort,
you will unconsciously seek the same story —
just with different actors.

📍 Mom became the blueprint.
📍 My sister became the rival.
📍 My best friend became the betrayer.
📍 My boss became the manipulator.
📍 My landlord became the gaslighter.
📍 My coworker became the puppet-master.

And I?
I became the mirror — over and over again.
Until one day, I stopped reflecting them...
and started seeing me.

🔁 SAME SCRIPT, NEW SCENE

The universe will continue casting you in the same karmic play
until you learn the role you were never meant to play.
Until you stop being the scapegoat.
Until you see the pattern.
Until you break the cycle.

Because narcissistic abuse isn’t just a person —
It’s a pattern.
It’s a parasite.
It feeds off your unhealed self-worth.
And it shapeshifts every time you ignore it.

💡 TODAY’S AFFIRMATION:

“I see the pattern.
I choose a new script.
I am no longer available for recycled pain.”

🪞JOURNAL REFLECTION:

• Who was the first person that taught you love could hurt?

• When did you first betray your own voice to keep someone else comfortable?

• How do the narcissistic patterns in your family mirror those in your adult relationships?

• Where in your body do you feel these memories? What do they need?

🎯 SPOT THE TRAITS:

• Emotional entanglement disguised as love

• Conditional acceptance

• Repeated guilt-trips & silent treatments

• Mirrored behavior from one relationship to the next

• Lack of closure, accountability, or repair

🧠 LESSON:

Until you understand the storyline,
you will keep attracting the characters.
This isn’t about blame — it’s about awareness.
The parasite dies when the pattern is seen.
Not when you run…
But when you remember who you are.

📌 Tomorrow’s Blog: Part X — “The Day I Chose Me: When the Mirror Finally Cracked.”

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part VIII

“The Weekend Plot: Retaliation Was Brewing”

“When you speak truth in a system built on silence, retaliation is not random—it’s calculated.”

After I spoke to Paula Hawks on Friday, January 31st, I thought I did the right thing. I believed I finally had a safe space to report what I saw. We spoke openly, and I trusted she would at least look into it.

She confirmed she was going to speak with Dominique shortly after our meeting.
That conversation lasted over an hour.

I wasn’t in the room, but I felt the shift in energy.

Later that Friday, Dominique and Jennifer had a Zoom call. When I tell you their tone changed immediately, it wasn’t paranoia—it was spiritual discernment. Something had shifted.

Dominique was plotting.

She had the weekend to retaliate and she did exactly that.
By Tuesday, February 4th, I was walked out with no HR meeting, no investigation, and no follow-up from Paula.

This wasn’t impulsive. This was a weekend-long revenge plot wrapped in faux professionalism.

🚩 Red Flags Breakdown:

• Paula failed to protect a whistleblower.

• Dominique weaponized her power after being confronted.

• Jennifer participated in a silent alliance.

You know how you can feel people making plans behind your back? I felt that in my soul.

🔍 Psychological Insight:

• Guilty Leaders Overcorrect: When people in power know they’re being watched, they often lash out to reassert dominance.

• Whistleblower Suppression: Retaliation is often masked as performance-based or “miscommunication,” but timing reveals the truth.

⚖️ Legal Breakdown:

• Retaliation Timeline: The gap between reporting and termination is clear. I was fired days after reporting misconduct. That’s retaliation.

• Violation of Protected Activity: Speaking up about fraud and toxic culture is a protected right under state and federal law.

✍🏽 Journal Prompt:

Have you ever felt someone plotting behind your back?
What did your intuition know before you had the proof?

🔮 Affirmation:

“Even in silence, I see the truth. I trust my inner knowing.”

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part VII

“CFS Knew First: When the Warning Signs Were Ignored”

“I gave everyone a chance to do the right thing. No one did.”

Before HR. Before Dominique’s email. Before the walkout.

I warned CFS first.

On January 7th, 2025, I sent text messages to my staffing manager, Juliet Casey, alerting her that something was deeply wrong at Portmeirion. I didn’t go in guns blazing. I was calm, professional, and direct. I stated that the environment was hostile, and the accounting practices were not only unethical—they were dangerous.

Juliet acknowledged my concerns but never took action. No escalation. No site visit. No investigation. No protection.

I was placed in a chaotic, unstable accounting system where I watched duplicates, overpayments, and accounting blind spots pile up like dirty laundry no one wanted to claim. I brought this up because I wanted to prevent harm—not cause trouble. But my voice, once again, was dismissed.

Juliet’s silence spoke volumes. When staffing agencies ignore early warning signs from their talent, they become complicit.

By the time I reported the same issues to Paula at Portmeirion on January 31st, the damage was already brewing. Dominique was already preparing her retaliation.

⚖️ Legal + Ethical Breakdown:

• Negligent Retention: Staffing firms have a legal and ethical duty to act when placed employees raise red flags.

• Failure to Mitigate Risk: Juliet's inaction left me exposed to harm while enabling the client’s misconduct.

• Duty of Care Breach: Staffing agencies are expected to protect their contractors—not sacrifice them to toxic workplaces for billable hours.

🔍 Why This Matters:

• Portmeirion wasn’t the only one who failed. CFS did too.

• Had my concerns been heard in early January, this scandal could’ve been prevented.

• When agencies fail to advocate for their people, they become mirrors of the very corruption they claim to be separate from.

✍🏽 Journal Prompt:

When have you warned someone in advance and been ignored?
How did it feel when the truth finally came out?

🔮 Affirmation:

“My truth deserves to be heard the first time.”

🪞 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part VI

When HR Becomes Silent, the Whole Building Shakes

On Thursday, January 30th, 2025, I did what most employees are trained to do: I took my concerns to Human Resources. I sat in the Portmeirion office, holding months of internal anxiety, and scheduled time with Paula Hawks, the HR representative. We met on Friday, January 31st via Zoom, and for nearly an hour, I explained everything I had witnessed: the financial discrepancies, the AP department’s dysfunction, the lack of leadership, and my growing fear that I was being iced out for simply doing my job with integrity.

Paula listened. I pleaded with her to check my references. To call Roger and Neils—two past supervisors who could confirm my ethics and track record. I told her this wasn’t the first time I’d been in this position, and I reminded her that I had nothing to gain by speaking up—only everything to lose if I stayed silent.

She nodded. Took notes. Told me to work from home that Friday.

Then she scheduled a private Zoom call with Dominique Duran, the Controller.

What happened next wasn’t a mystery—it was a calculated response.

Later that day, Dominique held a Zoom meeting with Jennifer Luning, the AP Manager I had raised concerns about. Their energy shifted. Their tone changed. And by Tuesday, February 4th, Dominique sent me a cold, grammatically flawed, and passive-aggressive email terminating my assignment. No HR follow-up. No investigation. No closure.

🔍 Let’s Decode What Went Wrong:

⚖️ Disregard for Compliance

HR exists to protect humans, not just resources. When Paula ignored my documented concerns, failed to follow up, and allowed the Controller to retaliate, she didn’t just fail me—she failed the entire system.

💢 Emotionally Reactive Leadership

Dominique’s email was not professional—it was personal. It was a knee-jerk reaction to being exposed. She let her ego override her judgment and dismantled what little structure was left in the department.

🚨 Loss of Team Trust

Once Paula allowed retaliation to occur without intervention, the team lost a valuable truth-teller—and the message to others was loud and clear: If you speak up, you’ll be next.

⬇️ Unraveling Morale & Retention

Chris cried during his exit interview. William left abruptly. I was walked out. All of us were silenced in different ways. And yet, Portmeirion wonders why turnover is high and audits are red-flagged.

📓 Reflection Prompt:

Have you ever told the truth and been punished for it?
What did that experience teach you about leadership and self-worth?

🧠 Affirmation:

“I am not afraid to speak truth to power. My voice is my protection.”

👁️ Spot the Narc Traits:

• Emotional retaliation

• Silence as punishment

• Covert power shifts

• Delegated sabotage

To Be Continued…
Tomorrow, we take a deeper look at CFS, the staffing agency that placed me—and why they, too, played a role in this unraveling tale of negligence, favoritism, and racial bias.

📰 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part V

“The HR Illusion: When Silence Becomes Strategy”

🪞 Introduction:

They tell you to go to HR.
That HR is safe.
That HR will protect you.

But what happens when HR isn’t about human resources…
…it’s about hushing the truth?

This is the story of how I did exactly what I was “supposed” to do — and was punished for it anyway.

💻 The Day I Went to HR:

On Thursday, January 30, 2025, I was working in the office when I asked Paula Hawks if she had time to meet with me, the HR representative then asked if I would be working from home the following day. I told her I would be. Paula didn’t want to have the zoom call while I was in the office… Why?

That Friday, January 31st, we had a private Zoom call.
For nearly an hour, I told her everything:

• The disorganized and toxic accounting department
  
  

• Duplicate and missing vendor payments
  
  

• Tense favoritism
  
  

• A culture of fear, mismanagement, and manipulation
  
  

• My professional history of whistleblowing and integrity
  
  

I asked Paula to call my professional references — Roger Blanchette and Neils Van Dunien, both of whom had seen me protect employees and stand up to unethical executives before.
I explained I wasn’t new to this — I was true to this.

She nodded. She thanked me.

And then she did nothing.

🔁 The Chain Reaction:

After our call, Paula had a one-hour Zoom with Dominique.
Then Dominique called Jennifer, her favorite.

By Monday morning, the tone had changed.
It was cold. It was calculated.

Then, on Tuesday, February 4th, Dominique responded to my email with an abrupt, passive-aggressive message that abruptly ended my assignment and resulted in me being walked out—without any investigation, HR follow-up, or accountability.

🧊 Let’s Be Clear:

Paula Hawks didn’t fire me.
But her silence enabled it.

⚖️ Legal & Ethical Failures:

Let’s call it what it is:

• Retaliation for Protected Activity
  
  

• Failure to Launch HR Protocol
  
  

• Complicity in a Hostile Work Environment
  
  

HR is supposed to act as a neutral party. But when Paula warned Dominique, she tipped the scales and colluded — whether intentionally or not.

That weekend, Dominique plotted her response.
She didn’t act alone. She acted with Paula’s silence.

🧠 Psychological Impact:

The emotional whiplash of being ignored after speaking up is real.

It sends the message:

Your voice is a threat, not a contribution.

It creates a workplace where people don’t feel safe.
Where abuse festers.
Where truth is punished — and dysfunction is protected.

🪞 Reflection Prompt:

Have you ever been brave enough to speak up and then felt punished for it?
What would you say to the version of yourself who still believed someone would listen?

💬 Affirmation of the Day:

“My truth is not too loud — the system is just too quiet.”

🔍 Why This Story Matters:

So many people are told to “go to HR” when something feels wrong. But no one talks about what happens when HR chooses silence over action.

This blog isn’t just about Portmeirion.
It’s about every company that preaches integrity, but punishes it.

Tomorrow’s blog will dive into how leadership enabled chaos in accounting, and how people like Dominique weaponize control — even when they’re the ones losing it.

To be continued…

📰 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part IV

🧠 Psychological Profile: “The Controller Who Lost Control” 

“Dominique was the Controller—yet couldn’t control her emotions, her professionalism, or the truth unraveling around her.”

Let’s unpack that…

🌀 The Irony of the Title:

A Controller is meant to keep order. To protect the financial integrity of a company. But in this case, we witnessed:

• Disregard for compliance
  
  

• Emotionally reactive communication
  
  

• Loss of team trust
  
  

• Unraveling morale and retention
  
  

She didn’t control the chaos.
She became the chaos.

🎭 Psychological Traits of a Narcissistic Controller:

🔹 Control = Safety

Many controllers mask deep insecurity through micromanagement. When someone speaks truth to power, it threatens their sense of order.

🔹 Power Over People, Not Systems

True leadership manages systems and supports people. Faux leadership tries to control people and ignores broken systems. That’s what we saw here.

🔹 Projection & Deflection

Instead of responding with professionalism, she mirrored her own discomfort back onto me — framing my truth as toxicity.

🧬 Archetype Breakdown:

Dominique’s behavior aligns with the Shadow Queen archetype:

• Wants to rule with invisible strings
  
  

• Hates to be questioned
  
  

• Punishes those who disrupt her illusion of control
  
  

• Seeks loyalty through fear, not respect
  
  

But here’s the truth:
Real leaders aren’t threatened by integrity — they rise with it.

✍🏽 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part III

🔥 “The Email That Shattered the Mirror”

🕯 Introduction:

Sometimes, it only takes one email to expose a company’s cracks. One message — hastily written, emotionally charged, and lacking leadership — can unravel an entire brand’s illusion of integrity.

On February 4, 2025, I received the following message from Dominique, Portmeirion’s U.S. Finance Lead, just moments after I submitted a calm and professional letter addressing internal concerns:

“Hi Audrah,
We wouldn’t want you to be in an environment you see as toxic, so would rather suggest you seizing assignment, immediately, not wait until Feb 7th. Please kindly collect your personal belongings and I will walk you out shortly.”

This blog isn’t about bitterness.
This is about breaking down exactly why this email marked the beginning of the end. And how a single act of retaliation can cost far more than any complaint ever could.

🔍 Tone & Legal Breakdown:

🌀 Passive-Aggressive Framing

“We wouldn’t want you to be in an environment you see as toxic…”
This isn’t compassion — it’s a deflection tactic. The statement subtly shifts blame back to me, suggesting the issue was my perception, not their behavior. It dismisses concerns instead of addressing them.

🧨 Command Disguised as a Suggestion

“…suggest you seizing assignment immediately…”
Beyond the grammar error (it should say “ceasing,” not “seizing”), this is a termination order dressed up like a recommendation. It’s a tactic meant to make the company look innocent — but legally, it’s retaliatory dismissal for speaking up.

🧊 Cold, Unprofessional Delivery

No thank you. No HR present. No closure. Just a walk-out threat within minutes of my complaint.
This wasn’t protocol — it was punishment.

⚖️ HR & Legal Failures:

• ❌ No Formal Investigation after concerns raised
  
  

• ❌ No Written Performance History to justify dismissal
  
  

• ✅ Clear Timeline proving retaliation after protected activity
  
  

• ⚠️ Violation of EEOC & CT Labor Protections
  
  

🧩 The Ripple Effect:

That one email triggered a domino effect:

1. Employee Turnover – Before I was fired, others left. Chris, the head accountant, cried during his exit interview. William, another temp, ran after diving into the books.
   
   

2. Audit Chaos – Internal audit delayed. Financials in question. Duplicate payments rising. 90+ day balances putting customs and exports at risk.
   
   

3. Reputation at Risk – And now, it’s public.
   
   

Dominique’s failure to lead with empathy, professionalism, and compliance didn’t just hurt me — it exposed a systemic issue.

🪞 Mirror Moment:

When you suppress a voice instead of investigating the truth, you don't protect the company — you destroy its credibility.

🧠 Spot the Narc Traits:

• Dismissive Deflection
  
  

• Covert Retaliation
  
  

• No Accountability
  
  

• Power-Masked-As-Protection
  
  

🧘🏾‍♀️ Reflection Prompt:

Have you ever been told you’re the problem just for expressing discomfort?

• What was your initial emotional response?
  
  

• Did the person ever take accountability?
  
  

• How can you tell the difference between professional redirection and emotional manipulation?
  
  

💬 Affirmation:

“My truth is not a threat — it’s a mirror. I choose clarity over comfort, even when it shakes the room.”

💡 Lesson:

Companies don’t fall because people speak up.
They fall because leadership refuses to listen.

To be continued…

📣 Next Up:

Blog Part IV — “The Accounting Department Was a Ponzi Scheme”
We’ll dive into how unpaid invoices, duplicate payments, and customs delays were just the tip of the iceberg.

📰 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part II Title: Accounting or Acting? Inside the Ponzi-Scheme Vibes of Portmeirion’s Finance Department

If you’ve ever watched Madea’s Witness Protection, you’ll understand the absurdity of watching a luxury tableware brand spiral into chaos behind the scenes. But what I experienced inside the accounting department at Portmeirion wasn’t a Tyler Perry comedy—it was a real-life circus of mismanagement, pressure tactics, and what looked eerily like financial manipulation hidden behind fancy spreadsheets.

Let me take you behind the curtain.

🎭 When AP Stood for “All Pretend”

Let’s be clear: I wasn’t the only one who noticed the red flags.

Chris Sauro, the head accountant, mysteriously resigned right before the internal audit. And why? Because he knew the house of cards was about to collapse—and he didn’t want to be standing in the rubble when it did.

During my private conversation with Paula Hawks from HR, she confided in me that Chris’s exit interview was the hardest she ever conducted. He cried. Not because he didn’t love the company—but because he knew he was being forced to compromise his integrity by issuing duplicate payments, unauthorized disbursements, and backlog payments 90+ days overdue. The result? Disruptions in customs, suppliers, and customer shipments.

Chris knew what was coming. He ran. And I don’t blame him.

📉 William Rafferty: The Next to Go

Then came William Rafferty, another temp like me. Hired to help prepare for the audit. A smart guy. Sharp with numbers. But once he started digging, he realized the soil was toxic.

He didn’t last long either.

He dipped out before he could get entangled in the chaos. Just like me, he saw the truth—but unlike me, he stayed silent. I was the only one brave enough to speak up, not because I wanted drama, but because I refused to carry someone else’s karma.

💌 The Email They Tried to Ignore

On February 4, 2025, I sent a direct and factual email to Dominique Duran, the Controller of the department. I CC’d HR, clearly outlining the toxicity, poor leadership, and serious health implications of their environment.

I wasn’t aggressive—I was honest. I gave them a chance to course-correct.

Instead, my plea for integrity was viewed as a threat.

🚪 When Integrity Is Punished

After my email, things changed. I was stripped of responsibilities. Slowly erased. Why? Because toxic systems silence truth-tellers. But I’m not going quietly.

As you read in Part I, this isn’t about revenge. This is about restoration. This is about creating space for other employees to say, “Wait, I saw this too.” It’s about ending the gaslighting culture of retaliation that protects leadership while scapegoating workers who refuse to play along.

💥 The Real Question: Who Else Knew?

• Why was Jennifer Luning, who had no AP experience, placed in leadership?
  
  

• Why were six-figure errors brushed off like misplaced paperclips?
  
  

• Why did so many good people leave, one by one, in silence?
  
  

Because in a system that rewards silence and punishes truth, it’s not about what’s right—it’s about who’s in control.

But control is an illusion.
The truth always finds a way to shine through.
And this is just the beginning.

🗞️ Coming Tomorrow:

Why Dominique’s email wasn’t just cold — it was corporate retaliation in plain sight. Let’s break it down together.

🪞Spot the Narc IRL

This isn’t just personal. It’s part of a bigger pattern.

The behaviors in this post are real-life examples of what we decode in the Spot the Narc movement — from gaslighting to covert retaliation.

Want to learn how to identify this in your own life, work, or relationships?

🗞️ EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! “The Price of Porcelain: What Portmeirion Doesn’t Want You to Know”

You’ve seen their delicate dishes, their fine bone china, their pristine ceramic wares—passed around dinner tables and tucked into china cabinets across America. Portmeirion: a name that whispers class, tradition, and international elegance.

But behind the glimmering glaze of their imported collections lies a mess they can’t sweep under the rug.

What if I told you the same company trusted with household heirlooms couldn’t even manage their own house? I’m talking about six-figure discrepancies, misrouted payments, holiday bonuses for WRONG vendors, and an entire Accounts Payable department spiraling under mismanagement. Not decades ago. Not during the pandemic. I’m talking about this year.

At the center of the chaos? An AP manager with no prior experience who, upon gaining access to the company bank account, casually declared, “Oh we have a lot of money.” That same manager shuffled invoices like playing cards, hiding reports, deleting emails from suppliers and vendors looking for payment, gaslighting business customer into thinking a check was mailed out, when in actuality she forgot to pay them, and passed the buck so many times it should’ve come with a return policy.

Meanwhile, the few employees who did raise red flags? Ignored. Silenced. Walked out.

I was one of them.

I wasn’t hired to play favorites. I wasn’t hired to be liked. I was hired to protect the company’s money—and the moment I started doing that, they tried to sweep me out with the trash.

From HR managers turning a blind eye, to external staffing partners backing the wrong horse, to controllers asking for supplier statements in the middle of Chinese New Year, the dysfunction was a symphony—and everyone played their part.

But I took notes. I saved the receipts. And now, the porcelain is cracking.

This isn’t just about one employee or one settlement. This is about leadership failure, accounting malpractice, and a culture that rewards loyalty over ethics. It’s about the people who stay quiet and the ones who risk everything to speak up.

Portmeirion wants you to believe it’s business as usual. But now the public gets to see what really goes on behind the curtain—and it’s not a pretty plate.

Stay tuned. There’s more to come.

Full Circle: The Father Wound

Story Snippet:
He gave me half-truths and whole silences. When I shined, he dimmed me. When I cried, he mocked me. His love was laced with envy.
🧠 Spot the Traits: Emotional neglect, competition, generational insecurity
🪞 Reflection Prompt:
What did I crave most from my father figure that I now give myself?
🔐 Affirmation:
"I reparent myself with compassion. I honor the daughter who was overlooked."

The Boyfriend Who Mirrored My Father

Story Snippet:
He didn’t love me—he studied me. Said the right things until I was hooked, then withdrew affection like a weapon.
🧠 Spot the Traits: Love bombing, emotional starvation, manipulation
🪞 Reflection Prompt:
Where have I mistaken intensity for intimacy?
🔐 Affirmation:
"I release the belief that love must hurt. I deserve peace in partnership."

The Narcissistic Manager

Story Snippet:
Micromanaged but never mentored. Took credit for my ideas and blamed me for every mistake. Her mood decided if I was praised or punished.
🧠 Spot the Traits: Control, gaslighting, ego-driven leadership
🪞 Reflection Prompt:
Have I ever normalized mistreatment at work in exchange for “security”?
🔐 Affirmation:
"My voice matters. My boundaries are valid—even in the workplace."

The Cousin with the Secrets

Story Snippet:
She always smiled in my face but shared my private pain as gossip. When I needed support, she used my struggles as entertainment.
🧠 Spot the Traits: Gossip as control, false alliance, betrayal
🪞 Reflection Prompt:
Who in my circle pretended to care while secretly tearing me down?
🔐 Affirmation:
"I trust my intuition over appearances. I honor truth over pretense."