Work Besties Who Podcast

Why Work Besties Matter: Laughter, Sanity & Survival in the Workplace

• Work Besties Who Podcast • Season 2 • Episode 74

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Work Besties as a Support System 

Having a work bestie isn’t just nice — it’s survival. In this episode, Jess and Claude unpack why workplace friendships aren’t fluff, they’re foundational to your mental health, motivation, and sanity.

They share how a true work bestie becomes your emotional armor — the person who helps you breathe through chaos, laugh through deadlines, and stay grounded when things get messy.

You’ll hear:
 • The 3 ways work besties boost well-being — venting, validation, and accountability
 • Real-life stories from Jess & Claude’s own friendship
 • How to evolve your connection when your bestie becomes your boss
 • Tips to build your own support circle at work

Because the secret to workplace well-being isn’t coffee or pizza parties — it’s connection.

🎧 Listen now and tag your emotional partner in crime.

💎 Your Supportive Work Besties, Jess & Claude

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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband

Claude:

Having a Work Bestie isn't just nice to have it, it's actually survival. It's like oxygen, this person that you can vent, you can talk to it.

Jess:

I think the real secret to workplace well-being is having that connection.

Claude:

Hi, I'm Cloud, and I'm Jeff. We are corporate employees by day, entrepreneurs by night, and work besties for life.

Jess:

Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up, laugh through the chaos, and thrive together in every industry. Work besties. Hi, besties. Welcome to Work Besties Podcast. Today we're getting into one of our favorite topics ever: Work Besties as support system.

Claude:

Yeah, because you know, listen, having a work bestie isn't just nice to have it, it's actually survival. You need it.

Jess:

It's like oxygen. Totally. I think the real secret to workplace well-being is having that person who you can go to and just relax. You get that little bit of you got this. Take that deep breath, everything's gonna be okay.

Claude:

And you know that it's not going to go anywhere, which is the most important. So there's this trust thing. And you know, it's let's be real. Friendship, well, and also, you know, friendship at work, really help with your mental health, your motivation, and your sanity.

Jess:

Totally. And we've lived it, we've been the ones hiding in hallways or bathrooms whispering, what in the world is going on here? Yeah. Oh my god, did you hear that? I know. We totally need that one person who just totally gets it with you. So today we're gonna unpack why that connection is so powerful and how to build one if you don't quite have one yet.

Claude:

Yeah, exactly. So, first, let's start, even though you're the insight person usually, but you know, I love this insight, Gallup. That we always say it, Gallup has found that people who have a best friend are actually seven times more likely to be engaged in their job. And of course, best friend at work.

Jess:

Yeah, and can you think of any other fact that really can impact productivity, support, engagement at work? Pizza party, maybe coffee.

Claude:

I think my caffeine helps me, but yeah, but not as much as you can really. Oh, thank you. But it's it's not just engagement, right? It's also well-being. That's where it's not about all the company, but how we feel inside the company. Because let's be real, you know, a lot of time we might be stressed, you know, the deadline, there's chaos, there's a lot of things going on.

Jess:

Yeah, and I think what helps with that is you don't feel so lonely. You feel like somebody else is there, they are going with it.

Claude:

Yeah.

Jess:

And yes, you might have those deadlines, may have those never-ending emails or even meetings, but being able to have someone who you can take that pause andor laugh. Like how many times have we been super stressed? Do we just giggle about something? And it helps.

Claude:

And it's like you remember when we were especially at 6 p.m., you know, those 6 p.m. that's when the late the late night, that's where we bought so many things online, you know, like how Halloween costume. Or the magic Halloween costume. So yeah. So they there's make a big, big difference.

Jess:

Yeah, and it helps you also feel like you belong, because we know that there's still that loneliness epidemic that's out there, and that does not just mean for kids in school, it does also relate to those in the workforce. So having a work bestie helps provide that emotional connection, that psych psychological safety net.

Claude:

And it literally helps your brain relax. Exactly. It's like an emotional harm, right? And I have to say also it's something where you know that the person is going in the same, going through the same thing. Right, right. You can say your significant other, you know, they they don't know what we're going through at work. So to have this person that you manage, you can talk to is really incredible.

Jess:

Right. A way to state it and how we've said it before is um having connections in all walks of life is super helpful, but having the person who really is living and breathing the same examples, it really helps or create that bond in a more unique way. So that really truly means that work besties, in a way, are kind of like your soulmate because they're good for your soul. They are.

Claude:

Soulmates. So we can go into the how, right? So, how exactly do these friendships support our mental health?

Jess:

Okay, so we are gonna share with you three ways that we see it as helping. At least these were the top three that we felt were the most resounding. Number one, venting, but venting without judgment, which I can personally attest to is the best part of one of the best. There's a lot of vent, I've been able to vent to you, and there's never a judging.

Claude:

And vice versa, right? It's the same thing where and what I liked also, I remember one time you were venting, and I started saying, Oh, you you should do this, and you just say, No, I just want to vent. Remember, it's to as the other person that received the venting, sometimes it's just to vent. It's not to try to resolve, and it feels better. It's like it's everything comes out from the inside. Menting is so important, and also to hear, no, you're not overreacting. Or you are, you are, which is fine. You know, you still let them, it doesn't matter.

Jess:

I appreciate because there are times where you're like, I think you are overreacting, are you are you done? Are you done? I think you are overreacting, but I you have your space, and I get why. So that you're right. Uh without judgment, but somebody who will still hold you kind of accountable respect on that. But sometimes you do just need to vent.

Claude:

It's good. A good venting session is good for the soul.

Jess:

All right. So number two, emotional validation. Explain a bit more then. Yes, I would say this is one where your work bestie will kind of set different elements than say having a friend outside of work. By that we mean when we go through certain situations at work, that person usually is there with you or knows the players, right? So perhaps you're in a meeting and you walk out and you're like, wow, that meeting was really awkward. What the heck was that? Having that person that replied back saying, What the heck was that? is the emotional validation sometimes. You need. You don't need to vent on it. You don't need to, you just need someone to be like, was that right?

Claude:

Real? Was that did that really just happen? I know. It's like being in the twilight, the twilight zone, and it helps you to keep from spiraling. So yeah.

Jess:

And then the other, the other way you think about emotional validation too, is um, there's been times where one of us have been in a meeting and presented, and we've asked the other person for feedback. And usually the person, this is one where I do feel sometimes getting feedback, it's always a gift, but getting feedback can be hard, especially if it's a presentation or a meeting you've really prepped for, and having that trust in somebody who's gonna tell you to you really, yes, it is easier to hear it from them and having that validation because again, they know the background of you and what you did to prepare for it. So yeah, totally.

Claude:

And then there's accountability. Number three, accountability. Number three. So, for example, good work bestie will call you out of with love, and something like, okay, it's 6 p.m., time to get out. You say that you wanted to leave at 5:30, or you wanted to leave at 6, it's 10 p.m. right now, you know. So this accountability is also important.

Jess:

Yeah, it helps giving you that reality check, but also having that cheerleader that's by your side. Yeah, because it's hard, it's hard out there. We are each other's emotional co-worker safety nate. And we have to figure out ways to help people from burning out. That is one of the topics that we get requested the most about is support around burnout and feeling seen, supported at work is that mental health game changer that will help get past some of the burnout situations. All right, so we just gave three things that we feel are gonna help the most. Next, we thought we would give some real life situations that we've gone through. You thought you were gonna kick off with one.

Claude:

And you know, everybody knows now that between the yin and the yang, right? I always say we are the yin and the yang, even at work. So not only our personality, but at work. So for example, Jess' strength was where my weakness, and vice versa, my strength were your weakness. One of my weaknesses was a lot of data, right? Remembering the data and everything. And I remember during a presentation, and there were quite a lot of important people. Suddenly, I had like a blank when someone asked me for a data point, and I had a blank. And you were there and you helped me right away. You were able to answer, and I felt so relieved. That's no, it's true.

Jess:

I I really if it's the one I'm thinking of, I think it was yeah, it's somebody asked like a double click into what you were presenting, which just means like the slide didn't have the exact answer, and you knew it. I knew you knew it because you and I had practiced it, and I believe it was something actually we had worked on together, so I had the the actual Excel file. So, yes, I helped you, but I believe I even said, like, Claude, you you and I were just discussing this. You're the one who came to me on this. Yeah, yeah. Because it was true. Yep. Uh so I do think that's another thing we should put in there too, is uh accountability, but also uh accolades for your work bestie helps substantially because I could have taken that time to still your thunder, but I knew all the hard work you would put in there, and it's so important to have that level of trust with somebody to get to that.

Claude:

Exactly.

Jess:

Well, that's awesome. I I did not did not think that that was gonna be the example you were gonna do. I think the example I thought you were gonna do was how I always forgot we had that one email that we had to send together at the same time. Yeah. And I always forgot like clockwork. And literally it's it wasn't the exact same week of the month. And there was one where I think we were specifically told I had to go out at this exact time period. And you like clockwork came to me and you were like, Are you ready to go? And so you kept me in check, so I didn't have to know.

Claude:

And that's where I loved is I don't like there's competition, right? One because we were in the same role but different brands, yeah. Let's say. So it could have gone to competition, but on the contrary, it was totally like helping each other. So could have been someone sending the email before the other one to make ourselves look good, but we never did that. So we actually, as a job, we were like one, two, three, four. And we were hit it at the same time.

Jess:

You know, those little things they matter, they do, right? I think uh it would always make us giggle too. I know, but at the end everybody was giggling because they knew if they came at the same the same moment. Those are just a couple of examples. There's so many of them. I think that's the cool thing about having a work bestie, is it's they're always there to help you. Um and vice versa. You're always willing to lean and help them. Exactly. And to laugh. Yeah. And laugh. Especially during the most stressful down days. There's times where I just say something and you give me the look and it just puts me in a different mood. The look. The look, the look. There's only one. Let's let's switch topics here. We do know that not all work friendships are smooth sailing. Even with your work bestie, there are times that things can get a little rocky or bumpy and which is normal. Right. Every relationship. And sometimes what sets that off, you could be put in situations where you make it a competition. Whenever we did that, we made it into something funny. Yeah, but I don't think we just joking competition. I don't remember. Did we try something as a competition though? We jokingly would be like, oh, I did this first, or I had five slides versus your six slides. Like silly stuff. Like we never made it into like a full-on, like oh yeah, but it was as a joke. But but there are some people that maybe are both going for a promotion or going for something that you could make into a competition. We always felt, as work besties who were at the same level, that as we're going on our journey, that even if we were trying to go for something the same, that it wasn't about making the other person look bad. It was always exactly it was always that we lift both of each other up. So that's something that we totally do recommend is is really always remember the importance of that. Totally lifting each other.

Claude:

That is such a big one. That should have been the number one, actually.

Jess:

But what a but what we did recognize though is sometimes that person, and it isn't you, does get that new role. And suddenly they might become your boss or even a higher level. And that definitely puts a different spin on a work best in friendship.

Claude:

Okay, and I know we all we think differently. We little think a little differently. For me, for example, if I have a friend that became my boss, I will be very careful. I will not joke or send like email, oh my god, you know, I'm ready to kill myself. You know, or this guy anyway. But you know what I mean. You know, I'm like, oh my god, I can't stand this guy. Because now I'm like, they are more like my boss, so I still want to be professional, even though I think and I know I'm sure that they know what I'm thinking, but I'm still not going to make those funny I am so whatever as much.

Jess:

So you set healthy well, you set boundaries. I both set healthy boundaries, they're just different styles. Exactly. So for you, I think in this particular instance is what we're saying is you can still be best or work besties with them. You might just have to evolve your friendship in different ways. And in both ways, we do evolve them. Yours is more you will still kid around with them and potentially talk about what's going on personally or maybe a little bit, no? And I'm not going to overshare. Yeah, exactly. Or like overshare at all work. Right. Yeah. And I think what where I shift it is I still sometimes overshare with my boss, who I'm very close with, absolutely adore, but I don't necessarily vent. I try and say, here's everything that's going on, and we kid about stuff. Yeah. It's the same with me. It's all about that level of trust that's to your point.

Claude:

It's the same. Like we try sometimes I will vent like crazy. And it's again healthy, right? Um, like someone for sometimes some people on my team vent to me and we're not work besties. Yeah, but I'm still, you know, very friendly, but I'm still being careful because they're still our superior. Well, they're your boss, nobody's superior.

Jess:

Well, oh my god, yes. I think you could say we're both valid, or we're both right. There's no right or wrong. The the recommendation though would be for both of us is you're going to have to think about shifting your relationship a little.

Claude:

Yeah. There's no competition. But I'm right.

Jess:

You were right for your personality. All right.

Claude:

Now, how do you build your support circle? If you don't have a work bestie or you've always been afraid of having a work bestie and sharing, how do you get those connections? Well, first you listen to our podcast and we become your work besties.

Jess:

Reach out to us. We love everybody. We'll be your work bestie. You're all amazing. Jokes aside, if you really don't have a work bestie, we recommend start small. Find somebody that you have something in common with and ask them to grab coffee. Yeah. Um, maybe even lean in and offer to help somebody on a project. It could be something just as simple as a compliment, too. Yeah. Hey, I saw your presentation. That was really cool. We pick them up with that.

Claude:

Okay, it's really showing genuine interest because people then can feel that you're being authentic.

Jess:

So yes, it's showing genuine interest. It's checking in regularly. If you've got weekly calls and you guys had a joke about the last time someone entered the call, they forgot to put their video on and it was really funny, or forgot to keep putting themselves off mute. Maybe check in each one and be like, I wonder if so-and-so is gonna forget mute again. Something silly like that, just to ensure you're consistently bringing back that check-in and that trust.

Claude:

And also say how are you doing? Are you okay? Yeah. You know, that's really check-in is really important too. Are you fine?

Jess:

It depends on how long you've worked in companies and how the culture is in each of them. But sometimes I've found friends just watching comments through our team chats or Slack when you're in bigger meetings, and uh somebody says something that really made me giggle, and I I don't do it through the the meeting. I do a one-off just for them, and I've really built some strong relationships based off of that. Exactly. And you don't have to be in the same department to be world besties, you know. It's actually probably better if you're not. Yeah. It works both ways. It goes both ways. So here's the big takeaway: friendships at work are fun. Just on they're foundational.

Claude:

Yeah, they help you love through all the things, chaos, deadline, and uh office politics, so friendship. Humanize your, you know, your work environment and what is better than humanized through genuine connections.

Jess:

Exactly. So text your work bestie or DM them a Slacker Teams message right now and tell them they're your emotional partner in crime. Emotional partner in crime. That's so cute. Love it. I mean, it's true. You're my hype person at times, you're my sounding board, you're my unofficial therapist, and sometimes I forget to tell you how much you matter to me. So don't forget to remind them. Dito. And keep tell each other memes. We should have had that as the fourth eye line item. We'll see you next time on Work Bestie's 2 podcast, where we'd like to keep it real, relatable, and slightly chaotic, just like that favorite office chat thread.

Claude:

Yeah. And until next time, take care of yourself and your work bestie. Bye.

Jess:

Remember, whether you're swapping snacks in the break room, rescuing each other from endless.

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Claude F

Co-host
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Jess K

Co-host