09/05/2026
Thereâs a reason people tell you not to make massive life decisions immediately after a breakup.
Youâre hurt. Youâre angry. Your confidence has taken a beating. Youâre questioning everything you thought you knew about the relationship and probably replaying every conversation looking for the signs you missed.
A layoff will do EXACTLY the same thing to you.
Especially when youâve spent years, or sometimes decades, giving a company your time, your ideas, your loyalty, your late nights, your missed dinners, your fu***ng LIFE⊠and then one day they decide they donât need you anymore.
That s**t feels personal even when they tell you it isnât. But youâll spend a lot of time trying to process and get over it, where your HR will move on emotionally as soon as the separation agreement has been signed.
And THAT is the version of yourself youâre expecting to suddenly figure out your entire future? Find another job in a market that is already becoming increasingly difficult for experienced Gen X workers?
Or to eventually decide youâre finally going to start that business youâve been thinking about? While youâre simultaneously trying to process what just happened and wondering how long your severance is going to last? Nope.
This is why Iâm so relentless about Gen X women building a backup BEFORE we need one. Because starting something new takes energy. It takes confidence. It takes learning. It takes showing up when you donât know what the f**k youâre doing yet. It potentially takes negotiating with impostor syndrome for the first few weeks.
And most importantly, it takes time.
Iâm giving myself that time NOW, while Iâm still employed, still getting paid and making the decision from a place of âthis is where I want my life to goâ rather than âholy s**t, what am I going to do now?â
You donât need to build the same backup Iâm building.
But you really should start building something before corporate decides when you need it.
And if you want to know what I chose, why I chose it and what Iâm building alongside my corporate career, just comment BACKUP and Iâll tell you.