We were lucky to catch up with Julie Noonan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Julie, really appreciate you joining us to talk about a really relevant, albeit unfortunate topic – layoffs and getting fired. Can you talk to us about your experience and how you overcame being let go?
I’ve been laid off four times in my career of 35 years. It was tempting to look at those layoffs as judgments of my skills and worth, and maybe I should have in some cases. But something I learned early on in life when my father left our family when I was 13 was that it was always wisest to count on yourself and to believe that, if you wanted something badly enough, there was always a moral way to make it happen.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m NOT a polly-anna. As a matter of fact, many would say I’m a realist if not a bit negative. I tend to lead with poking holes and finding all of the possible risks in any new endeavor before I get too excited about it. I’m excellent at risk assessment and mitigation. Once that’s done, I blue-sky it all the way! I become the ultimate obstacle-remover and cheerleader for the project and won’t let up, no matter what.
That’s how I tackled each layoff as it happened. I was the primary breadwinner for my family of four. My husband at the time was a private school teacher whose salary was not enough to cover our bills. Therefore, when I was laid off there was extreme pressure for me to find another job very quickly. I was in the prime years of my career and it didn’t take long to secure an even better position. Same for the second layoff.
When the third layoff hit, I wasn’t surprised, but I also wasn’t prepared by what being 55 at the time truly meant. When I was laid off in my 30’s and 40’s, recruiters reached out to me or called me back to explain why my skillset wasn’t exactly what they were looking for. In my 50’s… crickets. After sending over 50 resumes (at least), spiffing up my LinkedIn profile and resume, including SEO search terms, ensuring that my certifications were front and center and my age was “disguised”, nothing was working. I networked as well, but being, at the time, geographically “grounded”, not from travelling, but from relocating because I still had kids at home and didn’t want to relocate them in their junior and high school years, the job search was even more difficult.
That was when, in financial desperation and not because I truly wanted to start my own company, I struck out on my own as an independent contractor and took some projects as a change management consultant. I formed my company at the time, did some projects and it paid the bills until I could land a position back in my comfort zone in a “safe” consulting firm.
Then COVID hit not two years later. Three months in to COVID, I got the dreaded “pink slip email” AGAIN, now at age 57! By this time, I had had it with “corporate America” and my husband and I had discussed what it would really take to live our dreams.
I realized that if it was to be, it was up to me (as it always had been). So, I resurrected my company, moving it to Florida, got serious about marketing my services, landed some substantial business and proceeded to make some serious money.
Determined to truly live our life dream – sell our material possessions and live in an RV, travelling the country to see the sites and visit friends while we are still young enough to enjoy it – continuing to work and grow our businesses remotely – we plotted and planned for the last three years and, in March, 2023, purchased our home on wheels. On September 7th we hit the road for our first adventure and haven’t looked back.
The elements within and outside of myself that I’ve leaned on to overcome those feelings of worthlessness or “less than” that inevitably follow a layoff or termination were:
1) I’m not a job, I’m a person and I’m whole and perfect as I am
2) Too bad for them, they just didn’t have the insight to know how to use the strengths in all of their talent
3) I am capable of doing anything I want to do within my moral boundaries
4) If it is meant to be, it is up to me
5) Many more people are behind you than you realize – let them help
6) Being humble is good, but so is celebrating your success in equal measure
7) No one can give you confidence but you – confidence is a decision, like happiness. Sometimes you can borrow someone else’s for a while, but eventually you’ve got to build your own.
8) Sometimes the best thing that can happen to you is the worst thing happens and you find out you lived through it anyway.
All that said, I hope my story will inspire others to keep in perspective that a layoff is a business decision and it happens all the time to people all over the world. You are not an anomaly nor an aberration. As a matter of fact, if you HAVEN’T been laid off, you might not be speaking out enough, or innovative enough, or contributing enough… just sayin’.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My passion has always been helping people through big changes, both personal and professional. My specific passion these days is focused on helping senior leaders, especially those in their 50’s and older, through career transitions, whether they’ve been laid off, lost their jobs due to merger/acquisition activity, decided to lose the “golden handcuffs” to go do something that their hearts have been urging them to do for years or they simply want to take some time out to relax while their health allows them to fully enjoy energetic sports activities, grandchildren, etc.
I coach individuals struggling with “what’s next”. I coach individuals who want to become better leaders. I coach individuals who want to avoid being left behind as technology and cultural norms move by so quickly it’s hard to keep up. I coach individuals who just simply want to be the best human beings they can be and recognize that having a confidant by their side along the way during critical moments of their journey can enrich the experience and shorten the mind-swirl inherent in the chaos that is change.
I’ve recently launched two new coaching programs that explicitly address senior leaders facing a couple of unique situations:
the “Transition” Package – a 3 month Self Leadership program that includes a values assessment and 12 sessions that lasts for three intense months with 12 1:1 hour long sessions via Zoom that addresses people who have been laid off, are facing “retirement”, want to leave their current situation and start something new, or are facing some large life change; and
the “Get Out Of Your Own Way” Package – a 6 month program that also includes a values and leadership assessment, but focuses on the one or two biases or performance “issues” that seem to follow you through your career and raise their ugly heads over and over again. These are those biases that, if you can’t get a handle on them, might keep you from realizing your long-term goals and dreams. In this program, we customize the client’s goals, the length and cadence of the sessions and determine the desired outcomes together. In addition, I am available via text in addition to regularly-scheduled 1:1 Zoom sessions.
These two coaching packages are in addition to my existing offerings which include change management projects via Julie Noonan Consulting and specific women-focused leadership coaching provided through Iconic Wise Women Coaching.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Qualities are more important, in my mind, than skills and knowledge. The qualities of curiosity, open-mindedness, and humor have been the planks of the raft that have seen me through the rapids of my life. Without these, no amount of skill or knowledge would have “saved” me. Ultimately these qualities allowed me to deal with myself and with other people in ways that moved me toward solutions and out of being stuck.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
When I began my business as a solopreneur at age 57, I had been in the business world for more than 30 years and thought I knew how business worked. I did, but not from the perspective of a small business owner. I had never had to do EVERYTHING, soup to nuts. Sure, I could do the work all day long. But accounting? Marketing? Sales? Taxes? egads!
BEING BY MYSELF!
Perhaps the toughest challenge I faced was the lack of colleagues at my fingertips to bounce ideas off of to make my product better. I always loved a good whiteboard session. Me alone in my office with my whiteboard felt all kinds of wrong. To fill this void initially, I began taking classes to educate myself on marketing specifically (I hired accountants and tax professionals).
Though I found excellent communities of entrepreneurs in these classes, I didn’t find MY tribe until I found the Sparkle and Rise community of women entrepreneurs, and, specifically, the mastermind facilitated by Carla Howard. In this group I found the brainstorming partners I needed along with the safety I needed to ask the “stupid” business questions, the acceptance of my humor and insecurity, and the true support necessary to confront my deepest, darkest worries. Sometimes all it takes is a group of caring, like-minded, supportive people.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jnoonanconsulting.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jnoonanconsulting
