Ja(y)den D. Harper -Author Collective

Volume 1: Surviving Until There’s Nothing Left

by Jayden D. Harper

“They told me it was a dream job. It turned out to be a slow-motion collapse disguised as a career.”

Today, we’re announcing the start of a project we never thought we’d write — but maybe always needed to.

How to Ruin Your Professional Career is officially in the works.

It isn’t just a story. It’s a survival log written from inside the wreckage of burnout, betrayal, and a system designed to break the people who believe in it most.

Written under the pen name Jayden D. Harper, this work will pull no punches.
It will be brutal, uncomfortable, and for some — familiar.

Because at some point, you stop wondering when the late nights will end.
You stop questioning if screaming bosses, unpaid overtime, and being sent to dangerous countries without permits is normal.

You just survive it.

Including the part where you stand at a border checkpoint in a foreign country with AK-47s pointed at your chest, bribing your way through so you can keep working for people who would never come rescue you.

This isn’t just a bad job story.
It’s a study in how good people get systematically ground down until there’s nothing left.

Why Are We Writing This Now?

Because not enough people talk about it.

The real damage.
The real betrayals.
The real silent collapses happening behind polished LinkedIn posts and company “family” slogans.

There are plenty of books about how to build a career.
This one is about how to survive losing it — and yourself — in the process.

What to Expect

How to Ruin Your Professional Career: Volume 1 — Surviving Until There’s Nothing Left will cover:

• The recruitment traps you don’t spot until it’s too late
• Life under fake “family cultures” where loyalty is weaponized
• The moment you realize your hard work isn’t saving you — it’s sinking you
• Illegal overseas deployments, physical threats, and working through grief
• How even your victories get rewritten as failures when they need someone to blame

This is not a self-help guide.
It’s a field report from the trenches.

Why Jayden D. Harper?

The name Jayden D. Harper represents a collective of five individuals.
Different experiences.
Same system.

Using a shared name protects us — and frankly, it protects the people who think they got away with it too.

Legal Disclaimer (Because Apparently We Need One)

All names, locations, companies, and identifying details have been fictionalized or altered.
Any resemblance to real persons, places, or entities is purely coincidental and unintentional.
This is a dramatized account based on emotional truth.
No confidential or proprietary information has been disclosed.
This is not an exposé.
It is a survival story.

If you see yourself here, that’s on you.

Final Thoughts

This project is still in progress.
But if you’ve ever sat in a meeting and wondered if everyone else is pretending too,
if you’ve ever been praised in public and punished in private,
if you’ve ever had to smile while everything inside you was breaking —

This story was written for you.

Updates will be posted here as the project evolves.

For now, just know:
You’re not crazy.
You’re not alone.
And survival is a story worth telling.

– D. (On behalf of Jayden D. Harper)