I Was Laid-off… Twice. Here’s How I Overcame That and Built a Six-Figure Business

November 10, 2020

Let me set the stage for you. Growing up, I’ve always been interested in art but didn’t know it was possible to make a career out of it. So I did what many others do – go to college for something entirely different. 

My choice? Journalism. I enjoyed writing and it seemed like a viable career path. But the classes I was in felt boring and stagnant – too fact-based and not enough creativity. I wish I would have known back then what I know now: art and design are too. 

It wasn’t until I saw one of my friends in college pursue his passion as an artist that I thought I could do it too. With his support and encouragement from one of my professors, it made me want to play around with my major. Damn, I’m so glad I did! I was accepted into my university’s graphic design program and I ended up graduating from Towson University with a degree in something I truly loved to do.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me bring you back to before I was accepted into Towson’s graphic design program.

Laid-off from Whole Foods

I was hired part-time at Whole Foods in 2012 as a store artist. The first thought that ran through my mind was “Holy shit, I can’t believe I got a real design job. Someone hired me (me!) to make art.” It was when I started to believe that art and design could make me money.

At this point, my big goal was to be an art director. I craved the freedom that creating and designing all day would give me. I wanted to make an impact in my own way somehow. It felt like I was on my way to making this a reality when, after graduating from Towson in 2014, I started an internship with a local Baltimore design agency. 

One year later in October of 2015, Whole Foods reduced the size of its marketing team… I was on the marketing team.

If I’m being honest, being laid-off wasn’t as big of a deal as I imagined. Since I was only working at Whole Foods one day each weekend and I already had a full-time job with the design agency, it felt more symbolic than anything. It was the closing of a chapter, which was sad but also exciting. 

Being laid off the second time? That’s a whole different story.

Laid-off from a local design agency

When I got the job at the design agency, it felt like a huge turning point in my life. I had a degree in graphic design but didn’t have a plan. I thought, “Hey, this design world is cool and I’m enjoying it. Let’s see where it goes.” 

After a few months, I realized I wasn’t happy at the design agency, but I was very scared to go out on my own. I felt like the advice I heard was that you need to have 6 months of savings, which never felt possible. And because I wasn’t networking with other creatives and freelancers while I was there, I didn’t have a lot of connections. 

Turns out, the fear of going out on my own would be actualized in June of 2017. I was laid-off from the design agency along with three other people with no side job, barely any severance pay, and no fucking clue what to do.

So what did I do? I took a break. Even though I didn’t have another job lined up and was unsure of my next step, that didn’t stop me from moving forward. I spent time figuring out what I liked to work on. I was grappling with feelings of rejection but also feelings of freedom. I felt happy for the first time in a long time because I was so unfulfilled working there. 

Overcoming the rejection (twice)

The year after I was laid-off a second time was full of growth. But not the flowery, rose-colored-glasses kind of growth. This was messy, full of uncertainty, ups and downs, inconsistency, a whole lot of stress, and plenty of fear of the unknown.

In March of 2018, I was looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. I invested in the Clueless to $100K webinar from Pandr Design Co., which changed how I looked at business forever. They empowered me to reach out to companies I wanted to have as my clients and showed me that $100K a year was possible (it’s only $8,333.33 per month by the way 😉). It boosted my confidence when I needed it most.

This isn’t a story about how I created this perfect business after being rejected by two jobs I put my heart and soul into. This is the story about how I discovered who I am. 

I am resilient. 

I am impactful. 

I am imperfect. 

And the freedom to be imperfect? It’s why I’m into murals. It's why I’m doing coaching. 

What I keep coming back to is that being laid-off (twice!) could have been devastating. Instead, I made the experiences neutral. Each time, it became a turning point for me. And added bonus? I went from bringing in a $41K salary to making $120K in only 2 ½ years on my own. That’s what I want for you too.

It’s up to you to change your situation. You get to face your feelings head-on. It’s on you to decide you want to go after something and not give up until it’s your reality.

If you’re ready to make your own unique impact on the world and want me to coach you, you learn more and book a free 15-minute coffee chat here. You can also follow my journey (it’s not over yet!) on Instagram.