We were lucky to catch up with Breanna Powell recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Breanna, thank you so much for agreeing to open up about a sensitive and personal topic like being fired or laid-off. Unfortunately, there has been a rise in layoffs recently and so your insight and experience with overcoming being let go is relevant to so many in the community.
Most people know this, but I am a Social Worker by education! I love building connections with people, operating in and with community and serving others, so going into Social Work was an easy choice for me. Working with children was my first love, so when I got the job as a program manager at an amazing program that allowed me to do all of the above with a population near and dear to my heart, it was an immediate yes to accepting the position.
Fast forward to 2021. I’d been in the role for 2 years (3 academic terms) and had just assisted the organization in the transition to a new executive director. Everything is (seemingly) going well and then BOOM…she calls me into a meeting to discuss the upcoming school year and my plans are the program manager so that we could make sure the team was prepared…and she tells me that she’s demoting me. With no evaluation, no warning…nothing. This highkey had potential to be my villain origin story, but we PIVOT.
Now while I didn’t get fired, I did unexpectedly quit a job that offered me security and gave me the opportunity to serve in the field I cared so much about. I quit without a backup plan, without another job lined up and 3 months fresh off of buying a new car,,,I was devastated. I started applying to random jobs and literally nothing was coming through. So I did what I always do when I’m struggling to understand why certain things are happening and why things aren’t going the way I wanted them to…I prayed and then I tapped in with my community. I trusted them to be people I could lean on. There is so much value in trusting the people we surround ourselves with.
A month after I quit my job, someone from my community purchased my LLC for me and gave me the courage to take the leap and bet on myself. Here we are!
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?
I am the the Creator behind The Busy Bre, LLC and the Owner of The Social Hive! I help brands and businesses get busy on social media so that they can focus on building their businesses! I create lifestyle content that allows my audience to see the blessings in their imperfections while maintaining a busy lifestyle.
I love what I do! I’m currently working on adding new services and digital products to my business, so I’m super excited about that!
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?
Grace for self, time management and the willingness to be a beginner. Heavy on that last one! Many of us are perfectionists in every sense of the word and we don’t allow ourselves the space to be a beginner..someone who has to put in the time to learn how to do something new and develop those skills over time. So my advice to folks who are just beginning their journey is to allow the beginning to be just that. Be open to learning. Take what you already know and use that to learn even more. Show yourself an immense amount of grace when things don’t go well because that’s all a part of this journey we’re on. How will you persevere through it all?
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing that my parents did for me is allow me to travel and see parts of the world outside of what I was used to! This allowed me to connect with amazing people, gain new experiences, have memories to share and look back on…which has given me the space to be the creative that I am.
Contact Info:
- Website: thesocialhive.biz
- Instagram: thebusybre, bythesocialhive
Image Credits
1. CloudTenPhotography 2. Chris Divens
