The CEO of an Ohio-based marketing firm who made headlines in August for posting a “crying selfie” on LinkedIn to announce layoffs has once again come under fire – this time for announcing the death of his grandmother on the networking site.
“My grandma passed away today,” begins the post by Braden Wallake. “I got the text from my mom, closed my computer, and headed straight over to her house,” he continued. “While driving to my moms, I was reminded days like today are why I do what I do.”
He then opined over “hustle culture,” and how he’s had “sleepless nights” and had to ‘skip fun things for work.’
“But the reason I started HyperSocial was to help these same people build their businesses in the background so they can go have fun, spend time with family, do the important things that matter besides work, be next to people that matter.”
LinkedIn users were not amused.
“Such a sad post, to use your Grandmom’s death as a way to promote your company,” wrote one user, Jason A.
“Very sorry to hear about the passing of your grandmother,” said another – Brian FitzGerald. “When can we expect the crying selfie?”
Wallake hit back at critics – telling the New York Post “I’m not exploiting her death for company promotion,” adding “It would suck if I couldn’t be there for my mom because of work. And the same thing for our clients. We exist so they don’t miss out on life.”
On LinkedIn, he wrote: “Sometimes I get so lost in the weeds it’s hard to remember the why behind what I do,” adding “But when I’m able to go be with my mom when her mom passes away and know that I can step away with no issues, I’m ever grateful for it.”