Her Fake LinkedIn Profile Exposed Hiring Bias, Now She’s Turning Her Viral Series Into A Documentary
Aliyah Jones went viral after going undercover on LinkedIn as a white woman named Emily to expose racial bias in corporate hiring. The digital storyteller documented the eight-month experiment in her Corporate Catfish docuseries, which resonated with hundreds of thousands online. Now, she’s expanding that work into a full-length documentary exploring what it truly means to be Black in corporate America.
A One-Time Experiment That Sparked a Movement
“I made that fake white LinkedIn profile out of frustration but also out of grief,” Jones wrote on Kickstarter. “Because no matter how qualified I was, how articulate, how buttoned up… being Black still meant being overlooked.”
A seasoned digital storyteller, she documented every step of the experiment on TikTok and YouTube. “When I shared my story online, it went viral, but it also cracked something open.” Soon, Jones was flooded with messages from people who had experienced the same thing. She created submission forms for others to share their own experiences, and within a week, more than 300 people signed up.
Despite growing pressure to recreate the project, she made the decision to honor her boundaries. “It was a one-time, lived experiment,” she explained on LinkedIn. It came from a very personal, real experience that I documented, and I would much rather not repeat trauma for clicks, views, or notoriety—that was never the case.”
“Corporate Catfish did exactly what it was meant to do: spark conversation, open eyes, and create community.” It is this community that is the driving force behind her feature-length documentary: Being Black in Corporate America.
Being Black in Corporate America
Being Black in Corporate America expands on Jones’s original investigation. The film dives deeper into the lived experiences of Black professionals across industries, highlighting the emotional toll, constant code-switching, and everyday resilience it takes to exist in these environments.
Jones has launched a new Kickstarter campaign to raise $10,000 for Phase 1 of production, which will cover high-end film equipment and a lean, experienced crew. This follows her original campaign for Corporate Catfish, which raised over $11,000 and was selected as a Kickstarter “Project We Love.” That first campaign ultimately fell short of its $50,000 goal and was delayed after a series of racially motivated attacks. Thankfully, Kickstarter stepped in to resolve the issue, and now Jones is back and moving full steam ahead.
Built By Us, For Us
Through intimate interviews, poetic visuals, and historical archival footage, Jones plans to show the full emotional landscape of Black professional life. Jones says she is working with mental health professionals and experienced interview coaches to make sure contributors are supported before, during, and after filming.
With plans to film in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and more, Being Black in Corporate America promises to be a nuanced, unfiltered portrait of Black professional life.
“This isn’t about chasing another viral moment,” she writes. “It’s about creating something that endures: a film that speaks for us, to us, and because of us.”
Image credit: Aliyah Jones/ Kickstarter
