What Getting Pushed Out of a Job Taught Me: Heartbreak and Hope Can Co-Exist

Way back in spring of 2013 (shortly after this great photo of me was taken during a fun vacation in Antalya, Turkey), it dawned on me I was on the chopping block as a sales rep, a new role I’d just taken on.

The company was founded by a friend-slash-mentor.

For years I had looked up to this friend-slash-mentor with starry eyes of admiration, love, and respect. So when the writing on the wall clearly said she regretted the decision to hire me (how dare I take vacation and not work through it), I felt heartbroken.

I quit to save face. Packed my things, went home, and cried my eyes out.

Looking back now, thirteen years later, I’m grateful that happened.

I was spared.

Spared from months or years of suffering through a job that didn’t fit me.

It was also that same day when my heart was broken and I had nothing to lose that I had a glimmer of the work I really wanted to do in the future:

Working with smart people 1:1 and witnessing their growth without the pressure of institutional investors breathing down my neck.

Heartbreak co-existed with a thread of hope that led me to where I am now, working as a full time coach for brilliant women who are on their unique journeys of growth and evolution.

I see this in my clients all the time.

One felt devastated when she realized how much credit and how many commissions she’d been giving away to male colleagues because she didn’t believe in herself. Alongside the grief was a spark: I don’t have to keep doing this. Today, she’s a respected leader earning her bigger, fair share of her six-figure commissions, and she keeps every dollar of them.

Another felt lost after a mixed performance review left her second-guessing whether she belonged in her department. Alongside the doubt was a quiet question: what if I don’t have to keep forcing a round peg into a square hole? Today, she’s securely landed on a new team that fits her.

Another felt intense panic and anxiety in the high-pressure environment of a tech startup. Alongside the dread was the first glimmer that something different could be even better for her: what if I can create an art business that honors my gifts and fits my life priorities? Today, she’s an artist who sold out her prints at her very first art show.

Different stories. Same thread.

Each of them turned her “what if” into reality.

So if your heart is breaking today…

Allow the thread of hope, no matter how tenuous or tender, to lead you to a place even better, even if you can’t quite see it yet.

And if you’d like to be supported 1:1 to turn your thread of hope into a lived reality, you’re invited to book a free hour-long consultation for executive coaching with me today. 

[Photo credit to Melissa Maples, who’s multitalented with all things digital, from photography to podcasting to blogging and more.]