Calling yourself a CEO AIBU?

[Namechange144]

Sorry I’ve name changed for this.

Went to a new local cafe yesterday with a friend I’d not seen since before Covid. She quit her corporate job at the start of lockdown and started a gym - think group classes and some personal training sessions. Not a gym you’d go to independently exercise.

We got speaking to the cafe owner about the cafe and other things and he asked us what we both did, friend said ‘I’m a CEO’, I looked slightly surprised and said ‘a CEO?’ in what I guess was a slightly questioning tone. She then responded ‘Yes it’s a chief executive officer’ , I obviously knew what it stood for but I didn’t say anything else and the convo moved on.

AIBU to think you shouldn’t really refer to yourself as a CEO unless you are one in the traditional sense? Am I behind the times here, can you be a CEO of exercise classes? Surely you’d just say I’m a PT and have my own gym.
Friend is really nice so I feel like a bit of a bitch but I can’t help but think it’s a bit of a weird thing to say and wondered if it was just me that found this a bit odd.

And catty is a really misogynistic word. Your point is?

Saying you’re a CEO isn’t a problem. It’s not saying what you’re a CEO OF. A significant chunk of information is missing. You haven’t told the questioner what you actually do, i.e. what field of work you’re in. Suggests that you’re fixated on the seniority of your status rather than your work.

It’s like saying ‘I’m a line manager’, when someone asks what you do. Sure, but of who, and why, and in what type of organisation??

But they ARE Dr Smith or whatever? So why would they not use it? I genuinely don't understand why you find someone using a title they've truly earned "hilarious"

@Lucidas spot on. And eloquently put.
when I was filling out my late father’s death certificate I was annoyed coz it was a tick box thing. He was a master baker, and a darn good one. But the job of baker wasn’t on the list so I had to put Managing Director which didn’t reflect what he was at all.

• using doctor if you have a phd is absolutely correct - that’s what they are
• using CEO if you have no other offices/directors on a board to report to or make decisions with - is incorrect. Plus no CEO actually uses that term to describe their role
• being a Vice President of a company is probably correct - most American companies (and British financiers etc) have that rank for people in middle management ie straight after analyst and associate. That’s not bragging

Absolutely! Online dating 'CEO/Director' for men online I personally think

• Looking to attract a more attractive partner who values them for their achievements/finances/power. Not looking for a real relationship.


• One man I did ask about such a title actually bought overstock makeup and sold it on e-bay - hardly a director with a stable income or fancy job benefits.


• Alot of them are unemployed but trying out a little new hustle.

On the other many CEO's etc would rather be low key online if they are 'serious about meeting the one' and attract a partner without having to be judged on power and money and do so by assuring the women sees they are stable but without boasting.