One of the most beautiful characteristics about America is the ability we have to fall, dust ourselves off and try again. Layoffs or firings may seem unsurmountable at first, but we’ve seen over and over again how getting laid off can often be the first step towards a significantly more fulfilling future. We’ve shared some incredible stories below.
Lisa Janay
Thanks for featuring me in this magazine! I overcame a layoff in 2020 by starting my very own online business. Cold Piece Boutique started in August, 3 years ago but it wasn’t unveiled to the public until October of 2020. Then, I came up with my men’s apparel company that was released to the public on Juneteenth of 2021. Read More>>
Stephanie Young
I was laid off during COVID-19 pandemic, like so many of us. It was very difficult to take in at first because I had worked for the company for ten years and really enjoyed the work and the people. I had to overcome the harsh reality of not having a job anymore by accepting it and then taking some time for reflection. I said to myself “What do I want to do now?” I had recently had my daughter and knew I would like to stay closer to home more and not travel as much. Read More>>
Peri Heft
Oh boy… getting laid off/fired is never fun. I’ve been laid off twice in my life, but one of them sticks out more than the other, and is actually how my business as a whole was created and developed (what people refer to as the silver lining). Read More>>
Brian Feretic
In 2010, I moved out to San Diego from NYC for a masters in Neuroscience, with the intention of enhancing my CV. I was focused on a tenure-track path, and aspired to pursue my doctorate at UCSD in a Neuroscience lab investigating neural plasticity holistically via optogenetics (Biological technique to control the activity of neurons or other cell types with light; super cool!) Read More>>
Dr. Joanna Hale-McGill
A job layoff in 2017 sent me into a state of depression. I’ll never forget, someone I viewed as a friend asked me to come work for her. I left my job in the private sector to come work for her at a state agency and boy was that a big mistake! It actually was the worst experience of my professional career. I’d heard stories about her, but didn’t believe it until I worked for her. Read More>>
Sabrina Grimaldi
In 2021, when I was fired from an online “magazine” with no notice and no warning, I took a few hours to mourn. I cried a little, called my husband, went out to get some ice cream. Then, there in the Cold Stone parking lot, it hit me. I could make my own. So… I made my own magazine. In August of 2021, I started “The Zillennial Zine” an online magazine for Zillennials, aka the micro generation between Millennials and Gen Z. Read More>>
Blair and Brandon Dottin-Haley
The irony is that we were both let go from jobs that we held on to because we were afraid of losing the security and comfort of a steady paycheck, not realizing the rewards were so much greater when you take the risk and bet on yourself to win. We were both let go from our last “9-5” jobs before we decided to jump into the world of entrepreneurship. We are very good at what we do and realized that we were spending our energy, our lives, using our talents to serve someone else’s dream, mission or bottom line. Read More>>
Taijuan Billingsley
I overcame my layoff buy building my own recording studio set up prior to being laid off because i felt the negative energy coming which ultimately transferred into positive energy because it allowed to remain creative and able to record all of my music moving forward for free. Composing music as well as engineering has allowed me to survive mentally through my lay off. Read More>>
