Since this is a long thread and I've not read it all, perhaps someone has told you that what you did was not in the category of "hard work" but getting someone else to work hard for you. There are unattractive names for what you have accomplished.
District Manager? Boss? CEO?
LOL! You all crack me up.
Since Eve there has not been a woman who does not, has not sought to get a man to work hard for her, except the disfunctional ones who work hard for him, while he freeloads, who get reamed for being stupid and getting used.