The journalism industry is notoriously fickle, and I’ve watched many colleagues around me get laid off over the years. However, the same fate didn’t reach me until I was 15 years into my career.
In 2019, I was called into a corporate office I’d never been to so a human-resources employee I’d never met could slide a packet of information about my layoff across the desk.
I didn’t know it then, but this unfortunate situation would actually push me to create a far more fulfilling career for myself.
At first, I faced practical challenges and an even bigger identity crisis
Shortly after I was let go, I focused on logistics and practical concerns.
I was already over 40, and I feared I might never get another “real” job again. After all, younger talent can be desirable in many industries because they’re often much cheaper to employ.
Thankfully, my two toddlers and I were able to move on to my spouse’s insurance. Their group plan and stable income meant our short-term financials weren’t as big of a pressing concern as they could’ve been.
Soon, I realized the hardest part of being laid off would be overcoming my new feelings of professional (and, by extension, personal) valuelessness.
Rather than remembering my career triumphs, I wondered what I’d done along the way to find myself in this situation. I forgot what my marketable skills were and felt like an imposter as I overhauled my résumé and applied to job after job.
Freelancing helped me find a new path
While job hunting, I started freelance writing as a stopgap measure to bring in some income and stay tethered to a sense of relevance.
Although I worked on some interesting projects, I took many assignments that I considered beneath my career experience in terms of content or compensation (or both).
A few months later, the coronavirus pandemic turned the world upside down. I still had no viable full-time job offers on the table.
The job market felt uncertain like many other things at that time. I assumed the worst outcomes for my work prospects — but the opposite reality bore out.
With so many people home, isolated, and glued to their screens, the demand for digital content seemed to soar, lifting my writing business right with it.
Work picked up steam until I was so booked I could pass on gigs that paid less and didn’t feel very rewarding. I started really taking pleasure in full-time freelance writing.
From there, I began developing a brand identity, reading books for writing professionals, and enrolling in virtual conferences and classes for freelancers.
For the first time in a while, I felt enriched by my work and everything I was learning.
Eventually, I realized how much I loved my remade professional life
Within about a year, my business was booming, and I was even making more money than I’d made as a corporate employee.
I was thriving in a career I’d remade on my own terms. Eventually, I stopped applying for corporate jobs.
I like being independent and not stymied by a corporate setting, where shareholders can dictate policies that aren’t in line with my values and bosses can control creative and business decisions that affect my work.
It’s been over five years since I was laid off, and I’m still doing my thing. There are ebbs and flows and peaks of valleys, and the journalism industry is still far from stable.
However, I can still say with full sincerity that I love my job — and I feel gratitude when I remember the path that led me here.
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