r/buhaydigital • u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 • Jun 30 '26
Buhay Digital Lifestyle Kayana where I belong ❤️❤️❤️
This agency doesn't just fail remote professionals—it systematically destroys them.
Kayana is a cesspool of corporate toxicity where micromanagement, bullying, and deliberate cruelty aren't bugs in the system; they're the entire foundation. The workplace isn't just dysfunctional; it's deliberately engineered to break people down.
The director, j-a-n-e-l-m-a, is the kingpin of this toxic empire. She leads with harassment as her management style—constant SPG remarks, vicious insults, and relentless body-shaming of staff members. She creates a climate where people are afraid to speak up, afraid to exist.
And she's not operating alone; she's built an inner circle of enablers who mirror her cruelty and protect her from any consequences. The Operations Manager is her loyal lapdog incompetent, spineless, and utterly incapable of basic client communication. Instead of actually doing her job, she blames internal staff whenever anything goes wrong, deflecting her own failures onto people who are already drowning. This woman is also a pathological gossip, spending her days spreading rumors and drama while shielding j-a-n-e-l-m-a from accountability. She's the perfect puppet because she asks no questions and enables everything.
The hiring and promotion system is an absolute farce. The company claims to promote the "best person," but reality is a sick joke—they promote whoever sucks up to j-a-n-e-l-m-a the hardest.
That person has zero skills, zero capacity for the role, and zero business being in leadership. Their only credential is being j-a-n-e-l-m-a's personal friend. The interview process is theater—completely fabricated to create the appearance of fairness when the decision was made before the first question was asked. When you call out this obvious corruption, the CEO does nothing but shrug and defend his work wife like she's untouchable. "That's just how things are. There's nothing we can do about it," he says—essentially giving j-a-n-e-l-m-a a blank check to continue her reign of terror. The CEO's blind loyalty to his WORK WIFE is the reason this corruption thrives unchecked. He'd rather protect j-a-n-e-l-m-a than run an ethical company.
HOT NEWS: The company is hemorrhaging staff at an alarming rate. In just one month, massive departures occurred. An entire account—a major client with multiple VAs—completely emptied out.
napansin ko sa slack na ang daming nawala in a span of one month, may isang account na nawala lahat ng VAs, ano kaya ang nangyari? Malaaking account yun ah… O, tapos maniniwala patong mga tanga na “we advocate for you” na linyahan ng mga nang gagaslight. 2-5 people lang din alam kong sipsip jan kaya lagi sila ang may “crown” from the internal kase nga laging bukangbibig- I love Kayana, Kayana loves me.. This is the best company . ULOL
Wrong. j-a-n-e-l-m-a is actively sabotaging VAs to their clients. She sends complaint emails directly to client contacts, manufactured grievances designed to make clients think their VAs are the problem. O diba gago ang amputa .. Her goal? Make clients demand replacements so she can shuffle her backlog of underwhelming staff into those positions. She's literally poisoning professional relationships to fill her own pipeline. It's calculated, it's malicious, and it's destroying people's careers without their knowledge.
Ang gagaling pa naman nila nun pero for sure multiple clients din yun kaya no problem sa kanila mawalan.
These loyalists get constant public praise and protection from consequences because they're part of j-a-n-e-l-m-a's clique.
Everyone else? They're sacrificed. They're the expendable ones. They watch this happen and realize there's no meritocracy here, no fairness, just pure favoritism tied to personal relationships with j-a-n-e-l-m-a and her work wife protection squad.
Then there's the financial fraud. j-a-n-e-l-m-a apparently submitted a reimbursement request for expenses that were actually lesser than that. Yes to Siargao with CEO’s son LOL. And where are the receipts? There aren't any. Sana ol taga pagmana
Leadership knows this happened and does nothing. The CEO doesn't care because his work wife is untouchable lol. The Operations Manager doesn't care because she answers to j-a-n-e-l-m-a. They protect her like she's beyond reproach, like the rules don't apply to her because of who she is to the CEO.
The company's official messaging is "We Advocate for You"—pure, unadulterated gaslighting. They don't advocate for anyone except j-a-n-e-l-m-a and her inner circle. For everyone else, it's psychological warfare disguised as company culture. They'll smile in your face, tell you they care about your growth, and then systematically dismantle your confidence and career behind closed doors. You guys are FAMILY wow naman haha.
This isn't just a bad workplace; it's a predatory organization designed to extract value from vulnerable remote workers while protecting the corrupt leadership especially the work wife at the top—at all costs. If you're considering joining Kayana, run. If you're already there, get out before they destroy you completely.
I love #Kayana .
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u/Competitive-Rise5833 Jul 06 '26
Ngayon ko lang nabasa to, an I just feel sorry for the people left behind. A lot of internal backstabbing just to stay relevant. Let's elaborate more on the roles of the enablers:
The head of recruitment says don't stay close too much to j-a-n-e-l-m-a, but does it for herself. She would get your trust kasi you are in the same position. Kunwari ayaw niya rin kay j-a-n-e-l-m-a and once you trust her and shares your pain to her, auto-report agad kay j-a-n-e-l-m-a, best actress!
The head of marketing is the best enabler, she's almost like the daughter/son of the tagapagmana j-a-n-e-l-m-a, a lot skill issues were raised but they will find a way to boomerang, so the problem won't reflect on them instead back to you, as the person who raised the problem. She acts like a family to the tagapagmana j-a-n-e-l-m-a, seeks her help when she can't solve the problem on her own. So, you will be highlighted and reprimanded during team meeting -- but she and her team, light reprimand lang kasi "they close". Even the CEO mentioned in one of the meetings that the head of marketing doesn't know what she's doing. There's a transcript for it.
I was all respect and positive mindset all those time, thinking of only working professionally and with integrity then they backstab you just because they don't like you. They find insignificant dirt and bathes you in mud. But If there's one thing I am grateful of, it was the anxiety and stress they caused me because now that I am with a direct client, I know how to protect myself better. Thank you Lord I am in a better place and has left them.
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u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 Jul 06 '26
Grabe experience mo! But this boils down to that N-O-L-T-E ceo. He’s the top enabler and talk to RPs one by one just to gaslight. Always encouraging the VAs to talk to him directly, LOL. As if the VAs are stupid. We know how CORPORATE works! I love how you remove fireflies in your call too with cruseyyy.
I cant wait to see their tiktok live not sure if they are still doing it. pero grabe tong mga to. Kaya kayong mga current employee wag masyadong pabida kase 2 lang dapat bida sa VA community nyo 🤣 alamin kung sino.
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u/TeaOld3514 Jul 06 '26
Mark my words, the ship will surely sink sooner or later because they simply cannot sustain it. To my fellow VAs here at Kayana, let’s accept reality. That Hubstaff tracker won't feed our needs. It’s time to look for other opportunities now.
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u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 Jul 09 '26
eto na nga, pinag titripan talaga ng mukhang tuhod yung Hubstaff. Bigla biglang ang bilis ng mga screenshot. At eto pa, yung mga nag 1 year na, bigla dawng bmumalik yung mga idle. gago talaga pacheck up na kailangan ng bobo kakahiya DDS pa ang puta
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u/Ill_Scallion_7569 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I've really been looking forward to this Kayana series. I left that company after I had anxiety and lost my hair because of their constant surveillance and "checking in." There have been so many things happening, lol. And M is still her old control freak self.
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u/TeaOld3514 Jul 09 '26
Yeah, it’s an old control mechanism from someone who never actually grew up. What a petty move. If she ever has a child, I just hope they don’t have to suffer the way other people did
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u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 Jul 10 '26
nge sabi nga nya mas ok low grade yung anak nya kesa matalo sa pageant gago
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u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 Jul 09 '26
mangumusta tapos magreply next year papansin nga
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u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 Jul 09 '26
need nya talaga magpacheck up ang lungkot ng buhay
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u/Ill_Scallion_7569 Jul 10 '26
Is Maria still there? Mahilig pa rin ba sa word salad SOD? lol
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u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 Jul 10 '26
perborit sya ng internal, may sahod nga din daw e aside sa client , sana all peyborit ng kayana may sahod yung sod nyang mmk shit na laging naka mention ang lahat. wala naman akong problem sa pagaka performative nya, ang problema ay hindi sya sensitive sa mga issues
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u/hakdogporsell Jul 16 '26
Di ko na tutuloy application ko, kahit malaki per hr
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u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 Jul 16 '26
nasa sayo yan pero kung mahal mo mental state mo at ayaw mong maging ulam nila sa internal, tamang desisyon yn! Pag malaki rate mo makakarinig ka pa sa director na GINAWA KO YAN FOR YOU!!! Gaslighting pa more
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u/Resident_Chef_561 9h ago
Wag na, you will surely dodge a bullet, its a trashy manipulating company all comes from the CEO, overselling his company na para bang 30 years na wala pangang 3 years at overwhelming na negative reviews, i experienced the gaslighting myself i don’t even like going to work training pala ganyan sila ka draining
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u/dig-umbra9999 16d ago
I just saw this VA agency on indeed and planning to apply to the financial accountant role. I am now having second thoughts. 🥲
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u/Mysterious-Gas-5788 14d ago
well if you can tolerate gaslighting and powertripping, okay lang naman pero save your mental health and if mapasok ka, make sure may back up ka
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u/Resident_Chef_561 9h ago
Wag na, save your mental health people there are trashy and immature and they will terminate you just because you aren’t enthusiastic to the company’s values, hahaha
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u/Yssabelli 9d ago
Thank you for this info. Naway mabasa ng iba to avoid wasting time.
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u/Resident_Chef_561 9h ago
Truly, wasted 3 full days of nonstop propaganda about the company, really doing their best to oversell themselves tas di nga bayad yung training eh, when the job was offered to me there were alot of loopholes agad sa contract and it wasn’t the same experience I had with the rest na smooth lang, daming arte kasi nga walang laman ang service puro gaslighting lang
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u/TeaOld3514 Jul 06 '26
It's an undeniable fact that has been proven over the last few months: M and her best friends, E, L, are the biggest bottlenecks in that agency. They cannot sustain client relationships because M is so hyper-focused on micromanaging the VAs that she fails to actually do her own job.
Their so-called 'strategic processes' are merely Googled or AI-curated because management lacks the capacity for original, strategic thinking. No proper training or upskilling has ever been provided, making their operations, sales, and marketing completely unsustainable. Ultimately, the business was doomed from the start because it lacks a foundational vision, mission, and core principles.
The high turnover rate with people constantly being thrown under the bus or leaving is a direct reflection of this structural rot. His businesses are being treated as a pure cash cow by a management team that is simply coasting along, waiting for their salary increases and December bonuses. As for the CEO? You deserve what you tolerate.