Getting Laid Off Work & Landing Somewhere Better

A complete strategy from the moment it happens to
landing somewhere awesome.

You just got laid off. You’re overwhelmed. You can’t read this entire guide right now. I get it.

Here are the only three things you MUST do in Week One:

Calculate Your Runway. Sit down right now and do the math. How much money do you have? What are your monthly expenses? Your runway number determines your entire strategy. Don’t skip this. You’ll find the detailed breakdown in the First 48 Hours section.

Identify Your Three Territories. What do you actually want to be doing? Not the safe move. The thing you light up thinking about. Write down three areas. That’s your compass for the next few months. The Three Territory System section walks you through this.

Reach Out to Five People This Week. Use the scripts in this guide. Copy and paste them. Customize them. Send them. The job you want comes from conversations, not applications. You’ll find the exact language in the Search Strategy section.

Also this week: ask five people who’ve worked with you for LinkedIn recommendations. This helps you see how others see you, gives you language for talking about your work, and boosts your confidence when you’re feeling down. There’s a whole section on this later, but do it now.

The rest of this guide covers everything from the moment you get laid off through landing in a role that actually works for you. Whether that takes two months or six months or longer. Move through it at your own pace based on where you are and what you need.

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Listen, I know this is weird. Maybe you’ve never been laid off before and it’s this bizarre kind of shock. Or maybe this is your second or third time and you’re exhausted. Either way, you’re probably feeling some version of “what the fuck just happened” mixed with maybe a little bit of relief. That’s normal.

somewhere deep down, there’s probably a part of you that saw this coming. Maybe even wanted it a little bit, but wouldn’t have done it yourself. That part of you has been quietly preparing. All those things you’ve been thinking about doing, all those conversations you’ve been meaning to have, that wasn’t random. Your higher self knew.

Let me tell you about Sarah. Senior designer at a tech company. Eight years in product design. Got laid off in a company-wide restructuring. Spent the first few days in panic mode, applying to thirty product design roles. None of them felt right. When we talked, she admitted she’d always been interested in editorial work but never pursued it because product design pays better.

Three months later, she’s art directing for a cultural publication. Makes slightly less money. Happiest she’s been in her career. But it only happened because she was willing to admit what she actually wanted and build toward it instead of just replacing what she lost.

That’s what this guide is about. Not just finding another job. Landing somewhere better.

it’s so weird out there right now. The market is absolutely crazy. But that also means you’ve got nothing to lose. So let’s cook.

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Before we get into territories and personal projects and all of that, you need to handle some urgent logistics and get real with yourself about where you actually stand.

Calculate Your Runway (Do This Today)

Your runway number determines your entire strategy. Don’t skip this. Don’t lie to yourself about it. Just know the number.

Sit down with a spreadsheet or a piece of paper and do the math. Not the hopeful math, the real math. How much money do you have right now in checking, savings, anywhere you can actually access it? What are your actual monthly expenses, rent or mortgage, utilities, food, insurance, the minimum payments on any debt you’re carrying? Any severance or unemployment coming? When exactly will it hit your account and how much will it be? Any other income coming in, partner’s salary, side work that’s already contracted, freelance gigs in motion?

Your runway equals total accessible money divided by monthly burn rate. That’s your number.

If you have six months of runway, you can be more selective. If you have six weeks, different game. Think about where your energy goes based on that number:

If your runway is less than three months, put fifty percent of your energy toward parallel moves, similar roles at different companies. Thirty percent goes to building toward what you want. Twenty percent to immediate freelance or contract opportunities.

If your runway is three to six months, flip it. Thirty percent parallel moves, fifty percent building toward what you want, twenty percent exploring and networking.

If your runway is six months or more, twenty percent parallel moves just to stay sharp, sixty percent building toward what you want, twenty percent on experimental or risky bets.

Write this down. Put it somewhere you can see it. This is your north star for the next few weeks.

The Critical Logistics (Don’t Fuck These Up)

File for unemployment immediately. Even if you got severance. Even if you feel weird about it. You paid into it. File now. In most states you can do it online and it takes twenty minutes. Don’t wait.

Health insurance. You have sixty days to elect COBRA coverage. It’s expensive but it’s your bridge. Mark this deadline on your calendar right now. If you miss it, you’re screwed. Also look into marketplace plans if COBRA is too expensive, open enrollment special circumstances apply when you lose coverage.

If they gave you a severance agreement to sign, read it carefully. Look for non-compete clauses and whether they’re even enforceable in your state. Look at confidentiality agreements. See how the severance is paid out, lump sum or salary continuation makes a difference. Understand what they’re asking you to waive. You can negotiate severance, especially around extension of benefits, how they describe your departure, timeline for payout, and references. If the severance is substantial or the agreement is complicated, spend five hundred dollars on an employment lawyer to review it. It’s worth it.

Return company equipment on time. They’ll charge you if you don’t. But before you send it back, download anything you need from company systems right now. Portfolio work, contacts, documents. Save copies of your best work while you still have access. Export your email contacts. Screenshot anything you can’t download. You probably have one to two weeks max before they cut off your access. Don’t procrastinate this.

Your 401k: don’t cash it out. Roll it over to an IRA or leave it where it is. Cashing out early means taxes and penalties and you’re fucking your future self.

The Emotional Check-In

This is not about you. The market is broken right now. You got caught in that. It doesn’t mean you’re not talented. It doesn’t mean you’re not valuable.

Getting laid off fucks with your head. Even if part of you wanted it, even if you saw it coming, it still hits different when it actually happens. So before we jump into tactics, let’s just name what’s probably happening internally.

You might be feeling relief. Finally, you can do the thing you actually want. You might be feeling shame. Why me, what did I do wrong, am I not good enough? Maybe anger. How could they, after everything I did. Fear about how you’re going to pay bills, what if you can’t find something. Confusion about what you even want, who you are without this job. All of the above at the same time.

This is not about you. The market is broken right now. Companies are making decisions based on spreadsheets and quarterly earnings and investor pressure. You got caught in that. It doesn’t mean you’re not talented. It doesn’t mean you’re not valuable. It means the system is what it is.

But here’s the other thing: you might have also outgrown that place. You might have been playing small. You might have been in a Zone of Excellence that was comfortable but not actually where you belong. And somewhere deep down, you knew it was time to move. You just wouldn’t have done it yourself.

So give yourself twenty-four to forty-eight hours to feel whatever you’re feeling. Be pissed. Be sad. Be relieved. All of it. And then we get to work.

One more thing: if you’re spiraling or if this is bringing up bigger stuff about your identity or worth or mental health, talk to someone. A friend, a therapist, a coach, somebody. You don’t have to do this alone and you don’t have to pretend you’re fine if you’re not.

The Partner or Family Conversation

If you have a partner, kids, or family who are affected by this, you need to have the conversation. Not tomorrow. Today or tomorrow at the latest. The longer you wait, the weirder it gets and the more they fill in the blanks with their own anxiety.

If you have a partner, sit down together. Turn off phones. Make time for this to be an actual conversation, not something you squeeze in between other things.

Cover the facts first. What happened, what your severance and unemployment looks like, what your runway is. Then tell them how you’re actually feeling. Don’t perform strength if you’re scared. Don’t perform calm if you’re angry. Be real.

Tell them what you need from them. Do you need them to give you space? Do you need them to check in more? Do you need help with logistics? Do you need them to handle more of the household stuff while you focus on the search? Be specific.

And let them tell you what they need from you. They’re scared too. They’re worried about bills and health insurance and what this means for your family. Let them say it.

Walk them through the plan. Show them this guide if it helps. Give them visibility into your process so it doesn’t feel like you’re just aimlessly floating.

They’re probably thinking: Are we going to be okay financially? How long is this going to take? Are you going to be okay emotionally? What if you don’t find something? You don’t have to have all the answers. But you have to acknowledge the questions are real.

If you have kids, what you tell them depends on their age. Young kids under eight need simple and reassuring. “My job at this company ended, so I’m going to find a new job. Things might feel a little different for a while. I’ll be home more, we might not do this expensive thing right now, but we’re going to be okay.” Don’t overshare. Don’t make them your emotional support. Keep it factual and reassuring.

Older kids and teens can handle more context. “The company had to let some people go and I was one of them. It’s not because I did anything wrong, it’s just how businesses work sometimes. I’m going to be looking for a new job. We’re going to have to be mindful about spending for a little while, but we’ll figure it out.” Let them ask questions. Answer honestly but without dumping your anxiety on them.

The money conversation is the one nobody wants to have but you have to have it. With your partner, look at the actual runway together. Make a list of what expenses you can cut or delay. Talk through what the plan is if this takes three months, six months, longer. Figure out who else you can lean on if you need to. Don’t sugarcoat it. But don’t catastrophize either. Just be honest about where you are and what the plan is.

If you’re going through this alone without a partner, you still need to tell people. Call your parents. Tell your close friends. Not everyone, but the people who would want to know and who might be able to help. Say something like: “Hey, I wanted to let you know I got laid off from this company. I’m okay, I’m handling it, but I wanted you to know what’s going on. I’m going to be looking for this type of work, so if you hear of anything or know anyone I should talk to, let me know.”

Don’t suffer in silence. People want to help but they can’t if they don’t know.

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You made it through the first forty-eight hours. You’ve handled the logistics, calculated your runway, had the hard conversations. Now what?

Think about the rest of your first week. Not everything will go perfectly. That’s fine. This is a framework, not a mandate. The goal is to establish your structure and start building momentum.

Build Your Three Territories

The first thing we need to do is get clear on what you’re actually reaching for. Not the safe parallel move to another agency or studio that’s basically the same as where you just were, but the thing you actually want to be doing.

I’ve watched this happen over and over. People get laid off from an agency and their first instinct is to apply for the exact same role at a different agency. Or they leave a studio and just look for another studio. And I get it, that feels safe. But we’re not here for safe. We’re here to land in a more beautiful place.

Maybe you’ve been at agencies your whole career and you’re curious about going in-house. Maybe you’ve been freelancing and want to join a studio. Maybe you’ve been at a big shop and want to go smaller. Maybe you want to stay in creative services but do it differently. Whatever it is, now’s the time to figure it out.

Your three territories are the things you want to geek out on in the best meaning of the word. The things you can’t help but think about. The work that gives you natural energy and curiosity. If you’re going to be participating in creative services, whether that’s at an agency, a studio, in-house at a brand, or freelancing, you have to be working on things that feel exciting. Things that are your superpower. When you have natural energy towards something, you don’t have to work as hard. It’s counterintuitive but true.

I could function as a strategist and I could get jobs doing strategy work, but it would be so hard because I wake up thinking about coaching. So if I’m going to find work, it should be related to that. You see what I’m saying? The same thing applies to you.

Think about your three territories:

Territory One is about craft or discipline. What’s the actual work you want to be doing? What do you want to get really good at? A designer might choose brand identity, motion design, and art direction. A strategist might choose brand positioning, product strategy, and organizational design. A writer might choose long-form content, brand voice, and campaign concepting. A producer might choose documentary, commercial production, and experiential work. A creative director might choose campaign development, team building, and creative systems. The point is: what’s the craft you want to develop?

Territory Two is about industry or sector. Where do you want to apply your craft? What spaces light you up? Arts and culture, museums, galleries, festivals, cultural institutions. Tech, software companies, startups, consumer tech brands. Social impact, nonprofits, advocacy organizations, mission-driven companies. Entertainment, film, music, gaming, streaming platforms. Lifestyle, fashion, beauty, food and beverage, wellness. Even finance or B2B if it’s the right angle and the right company. What industry makes you curious?

Territory Three is about mode or format. How do you want to work? What’s the container? Editorial, magazines, publications, long-form storytelling. Campaign work, integrated campaigns, multi-channel projects. Product work, building things that live and evolve. Experiential, events, installations, real-life experiences. Digital and social, platforms, content systems, always-on work. Consulting or advisory, strategy, transformation, helping organizations think differently. What format or approach feels right?

The point is these are your buckets. Not what you think you should want, not what would be the smart career move. What do you actually want to be doing? What do you research on your own time? What makes you stay up until two in the morning reading and looking at work?

Write down your three territories this week. Then each day, pick one territory and spend your best three hours working in it. For some people that’s nine in the morning to lunch. For others it’s eight at night to eleven. The time doesn’t matter. The consistency does.

If you pick your craft territory today, spend those three hours researching people doing the kind of work you admire, learning a new technique or approach, breaking down work you love to understand what makes it tick, or reaching out to someone whose work resonates just to have a conversation. What comes of this is you develop deeper expertise in the thing you want to be known for. You build a network of people doing that work. You start to develop your own point of view and taste. When someone asks what you’re into right now, you have real answers. This territory makes you sharper and more opinionated about your craft.

If you pick your sector territory, spend those three hours researching organizations in that space, mapping out who’s doing interesting work, starting conversations with people in that world, not asking for jobs, just learning, and understanding the landscape. What’s the culture? What do people value? How do things work? What comes of this is you build actual knowledge about an industry or sector that most creatives in your discipline don’t have. You start to understand the specific problems and opportunities in that space. You meet people who can open doors or make introductions. You position yourself as someone who gets it when you talk to companies in that sector. This territory makes you valuable in ways that generic creative services people aren’t.

If you pick your mode or format territory, spend those three hours exploring what kind of work you want to be making, experimenting with new formats, thinking about how you want to work differently than you have been, and looking at examples that inspire you in this mode. What comes of this is you figure out how you actually want to be working, not just what you want to be working on. Maybe you realize you want to be doing more editorial work and less campaign work. Maybe you realize you want to be making things that live longer than a three-month project cycle. Maybe you realize you want to be more hands-on or more strategic. This territory helps you understand the container you want to work in, which is just as important as the content.

You’re not scattered. You’re not doom-scrolling job postings. You’re waking up with intention and investing in one of three directions that all point towards where you actually want to go.

And yeah, some days you’re going to need to do the parallel move thing, applying for roles similar to what you just had because you need to pay bills. That’s fine. That’s real. But that’s maybe thirty percent of your energy. The other seventy percent is building towards the thing you actually want.

Build The Scroll: Your Master Resume

You need to apply for jobs and that means you need a resume. Most people have one sad Word document that they update once every three years and it’s full of corporate speak that makes them sound like a robot. We’re not doing that.

Instead, we’re building what I call The Scroll. It’s your master resume as a living document. Not something you update once and forget. This is the sacred text that has everything you’ve ever done, all the data you can gather, all the ways you can talk about your work. And then from that scroll, we’re going to create customized versions for every single job you apply to. But the scroll never changes. You always add to it, you never take away. It’s the source material.

How to build it. Open up your LinkedIn and look at your job history. Everything you’ve done. Then do the five voice memo exercise. Actually record these on your phone. Don’t write them out. Just talk. Each one should be five to ten minutes max.

Why voice memos instead of writing? Three reasons. One, you talk differently than you write. Speaking out loud captures your natural voice and energy. Two, this is interview prep. If you struggle to talk about yourself or your work, hearing yourself explain it out loud is how you get better at it. You’re literally practicing for conversations and interviews while building your resume content. Three, this prepares you to pivot in conversations if they go a different direction. Because you’ve rehearsed multiple angles, you’re ready for anything.

Record yourself talking about your work as if you’re speaking to five different people:

First, an executive creative director or VP at a dream company who wants you for a leadership role. How would you talk about your work to that person? What would you emphasize?

Second, a creative director or hiring manager who would be your direct boss. How does the story change? What are they looking for? What do you want them to know about how you work?

Third, a peer who would be on your team. You’re getting coffee with them and they ask about your background. What comes out? How do you talk about your journey?

Fourth, a junior creative asking for advice about their career path. How do you tell your story? What do you make sure they understand about the decisions you made?

Fifth, a recruiter who doesn’t know your field. How do you translate your work into language they’ll get? What do they need to understand about why you’re a strong candidate?

Here’s the critical part: add the interpersonal layers to each memo. As you’re talking through your work history, make sure you’re adding what was scary about that project or role, what was hard, what was fun, what you learned, what you want to do more of, what lessons you’re taking away. This is what makes The Scroll valuable. Not just the facts of what you did, but the emotional intelligence and self-awareness of how you experienced it and what it means for what you want next.

You’ll be more data-specific in one memo, storytelling-focused in another, collaborative in another, empathetic in another. All of that lives in your scroll. That’s the richness.

Transcribe all of those. Use Otter or Rev or whatever. Don’t type them yourself. Copy and paste them into one big document along with your current CV. Add any data you can get, numbers, metrics, results. If you can reach out to people at your last company to get specifics about how projects performed or what impact you had, do it now while people still remember and while you’re still fresh.

That’s your scroll. It’s messy and it’s long and it’s full of different ways of talking about the same work, and that’s perfect.

Now when a job description comes across your radar, you can take that job description and your scroll and ask AI to make you a resume. This is way more actionable and exploratory than opening a Google Doc and agonizing over bullet points. The Scroll method bypasses all of that because you have all the raw material. You’re just asking AI to organize it for the specific audience.

Here’s the prompt to use: “I’m applying for this role: [paste job description]. Here’s my complete work history and different ways I talk about my experience: [paste your scroll]. Create a resume that will get through ATS systems using keywords from the job description naturally, sounds human and conversational not robotic, is tailored specifically to this role, only includes experience that’s directly relevant, and doesn’t make anything up or embellish. Keep it to one page if the role is mid-level or below, two pages if it’s senior or director level.”

It’ll shrink the scroll down to what matters for that role. Then you stress test it. Read it out loud. Does it sound like you? Are there any claims that are exaggerated or not quite true? Fix them. Did it miss anything important from the job description? Add it. Would you hire this person based on this resume? If not, what’s missing?

You actually need two resumes for every application. The ugly one designed to get through Applicant Tracking Systems, can be a Google Doc or Word document, boring and functional is fine, heavy on keywords from the job description, standard format with nothing fancy. And the beautiful one for humans, polished and well-designed, send this directly to people when you’re doing outreach, use this at the interview stage, should reflect that you actually care about craft, can have personality and style.

This system means you can have multiple versions tailored to different types of roles or industries. The scroll stays the same but the resumes adapt. And it’s really easy because AI does most of the heavy lifting once you’ve got the source material.

Most people struggle with resumes because they’re trying to do three impossible things at once: remember everything they’ve done, figure out how to talk about it, and tailor it to a specific role. The Scroll method separates these into three distinct steps. First you download everything with voice memos. Then you organize it into The Scroll. Then you customize it using AI and the job description.

Plus, you’ve now prepared for every interview question about your work. Because you’ve already talked through it five different ways.

Ask for Recommendations

You need to ask for recommendations. Not just for LinkedIn clout, but because this is how you understand how other people actually see you and your work.

When you ask for recommendations. You see your strengths you can’t see yourself, we’re terrible at recognizing our own value and other people see things about how we work that we take for granted. You get language for how to talk about your work, the way someone else describes what you do is often way better than how you’d describe it yourself, so steal that language. You get gas when you’re feeling down, getting laid off fucks with your confidence and reading what people actually think about your work reminds you that you’re good at this. You build social proof, recommendations on LinkedIn matter and hiring managers and recruiters look at them. And you learn what’s actually valuable about you, sometimes people rave about things you didn’t think were a big deal and that’s information.

Make a list of five to ten people to ask. Mix it up. Former managers or creative directors who can speak to your skills, your growth, how you work in teams. Peers you worked closely with who can talk about what it’s like to collaborate with you, your process, your reliability. Clients whether internal or external who can speak to impact, results, how you solved their problems. People you’ve mentored or supported who can talk about your leadership, how you show up for others.

Don’t just ask people who loved you. Ask people who actually worked with you and saw you do the thing.

Don’t just hit “ask for recommendation” on LinkedIn and hope they figure it out. Make it easy for them. Message them directly: “Hey, I’m putting together some materials as I’m exploring what’s next, and I’d really appreciate a LinkedIn recommendation from you if you’re open to it. We worked together on [specific project or time period], and I thought you’d have good perspective on [specific thing, how I approach strategy, my design process, how I work with teams, whatever]. No pressure at all if you’re swamped, but if you’re up for it, I’d be grateful. And of course, happy to return the favor.”

What makes this work is you’re specific about what you worked on together which helps them remember, you’re suggesting what angle they might take which makes it easier for them, you’re giving them an out if they’re too busy, and you’re offering reciprocity.

Once you start getting recommendations back, read them when you feel like shit. Screenshot them. Put them in a folder. When you’re having a bad day or feeling like you’re not good enough or wondering if you’ll ever work again, read them. Let other people remind you who you actually are.

Pull language for your scroll and applications. Notice how people describe your work. Notice the words they use. If three people mention that you’re incredibly organized or bring calm to chaos or see things others miss, that’s signal. Use that language when you talk about yourself.

Identify patterns. What do multiple people say about you? That’s your differentiator. That’s the thing that makes you valuable in ways other people in your discipline aren’t. If everyone talks about how you bridge strategy and execution or make complex things simple, lean into that.

Update your positioning. The recommendations might reveal that what you think you’re good at and what other people value about you are different things. Pay attention to that. The market cares about what they see, not what you think you’re selling.

A hack: those recommendations you just asked for aren’t just social proof, they’re your About section. After you get five to ten recommendations back, copy and paste them all into a document. Then ask an LLM: “Based on these recommendations from people I’ve worked with, write my LinkedIn About section. Use their language about my strengths and how I work. Make it sound like me, not corporate. Keep it to three or four paragraphs.”

What you get is an About section that’s a reflection of the words of people who actually worked with you. It’s not you trying to sell yourself. It’s you synthesizing what others genuinely value about working with you. This is a game-changer for people who struggle with talking about themselves. You’re not making it up. You’re just organizing what others already said.

Get Your Online Presence Ready

Before you start reaching out to people, before you post on LinkedIn, before you apply to anything, people are going to Google you. They’re going to look at your portfolio. They’re going to check your LinkedIn. Is what they find actually good or just okay?

This is Week One work. Don’t wait. Most people procrastinate on this because it’s not perfect yet. But every day you wait is a day someone might look you up and not be impressed.

Open your portfolio site or wherever you show your work and answer these honestly. Does it load fast? If your site takes five seconds or more to load, people will bounce. Optimize your images. Use a faster hosting platform. Fix it. Can someone understand what you do in ten seconds? Is it immediately clear what discipline you’re in and what kind of work you do? Or do they have to scroll and click and guess? Make it obvious. Are your best three to five projects visible immediately? Don’t make people hunt for your good work. Lead with your strongest stuff. Do your case studies tell a story? Not just pretty pictures. Context, problem, your approach, solution, impact. If you can’t tell the story of why the work matters, the work doesn’t matter. Is there a clear way to contact you? Email, LinkedIn, something. Don’t make people figure out how to reach you. Does it feel like you? Generic portfolio templates are fine. But does anything about this feel personal? Your point of view? Your taste? The way you talk about work? Generic is forgettable.

If you don’t have a portfolio site, you don’t need a custom website right now. Week One is not the time to learn web development or hire someone. You need something that works today. Look for public page builders or free tools that let you create clean, simple portfolio pages in an hour. Or use industry-specific portfolio platforms. Or upload PDFs of case studies right to your LinkedIn featured section. Not the sexiest option but it works. Or make a folder public with your case studies as PDFs and create a short link. It’s not sexy but it’s functional. The goal is functional, not perfect. You can build the dream portfolio later. Right now you need something to send when someone says can I see your work.

Your LinkedIn profile is more important than your portfolio site right now. Because that’s where the conversations are happening. That’s where people will look you up first.

Is your headline current? If it still says your old job title at your old company, update it. Try “[Discipline] exploring opportunities in [sector or territory]” or “[Discipline] available for [type of work]” or “[Discipline] with [brief value prop]”. Don’t say “Open to Work” or “Seeking Opportunities”—sounds desperate. Be specific about what you do and what you’re looking for.

Is your About section compelling? This is not your resume. This is your story. Who are you? What do you care about? What kind of work lights you up? What are you building toward? Write it like you’re talking to someone at a coffee shop, not filling out a form. Make it interesting. Make it you. Use that recommendations hack I just mentioned.

Does your experience section tell the story? Not just job titles and bullet points. Brief narratives about what you actually did, what you built, what changed because of your work. Use active language. Show impact.

Do you have recommendations? If you have zero recommendations, that’s a red flag. Get at least three to five before you start serious outreach.

Is your featured section populated? This is where you can pin your best work. Add case studies, articles you’ve written, projects you’re proud of. This section gets looked at more than people realize.

Make these updates this week. Don’t overthink this. Don’t get precious about it. You can always iterate later. But right now, today, someone might Google you. Someone might check your LinkedIn. Someone might click on your portfolio. What do you want them to see? Make sure the answer is: someone who’s good at what they do, who knows what they want, and who’s worth talking to.

Start Your Personal Project

You need to be investing in personal projects. Not someday. Not when you have time. Starting this week. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, but I don’t have experience in the thing I want to do next, that’s why I can’t get the job, that’s the whole chicken-and-egg problem. And I’m telling you that personal projects are how you short-circuit that entire problem.

The modern job search is storytelling and personal projects are how you tell the story.

When you invest in personal projects. You cultivate the actual experience, you’re literally doing the work, just not for a company. You build in the open, which builds community and visibility. You show up with a point of view, a body of work that goes beyond what you got paid to do. It might turn into something, you might end up freelancing, or that thing becomes the unexpected path. You stay sharp so your skills don’t atrophy while you’re searching. And you have something to talk about in interviews, networking calls, everywhere.

If you’re a designer, start the project you’ve been thinking about, a visual system, redesigning something you love, a daily practice. Create case studies of how you’d solve design problems you see in the world. Mock up the kind of work you wish you were making at your last agency or studio. Collaborate with a photographer, writer, or developer just because you want to.

If you’re a writer or copywriter, start the newsletter or essay series you’ve been thinking about. Write spec campaigns for brands you’re obsessed with, yes, spec work for yourself, not for free for a company. Create thought pieces about advertising, culture, or the work you care about. Pitch publications in your industry or start publishing on your own.

If you’re a strategist, do a deep dive into a brand you’re obsessed with and publish your findings. Deconstruct their positioning, analyze their cultural moment, map their opportunity space. Create frameworks or tools that you wish existed. Write point-of-view pieces about trends, cultural shifts, or strategic opportunities you’re seeing. Build case studies of how you’d approach problems differently.

If you’re a producer, produce something even if it’s just for yourself or a small audience. Document your process and what you’d do with more resources. Create spec treatments or project proposals for the kind of work you want to be doing. Build relationships with other creatives and make something together.

If you’re a creative director, creative direct something that’s all yours, a campaign that doesn’t exist, a project for a cause you care about, a new format or approach. Document your creative philosophy and what you believe about making great work. Build a portfolio of thinking, not just executions. Mentor someone or start conversations about craft in public.

If you’re in any creative services role, there’s no permission required to make the thing you want to make. The work doesn’t have to be for a real client to be valuable. Your taste, process, and point of view are what people are hiring.

Let me give you an example. There’s this designer I know who gave himself a challenge early in his career, three hundred sixty-five days of typographic exercises. Just committed to doing these type explorations every single day and posting them. The work evolved. Got better. Got really interesting. People started paying attention. Built a following. Led to freelance work. Led to full-time opportunities. He’s now a creative director at a major tech company.

I’m not saying you need to do a three-sixty-five day challenge. I’m saying that consistency and visibility and investing in your own growth compounds in ways you can’t predict.

Another example: I was recruiting for a creative studio and they said something that was so fascinating. They were like, we’re so sick of polish. They liked polished portfolios but their final ask was, can we see your process? They wanted to see how people thought. They wanted to see the mess and the iterations and the way someone’s brain worked.

So your personal project doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be real. It has to show how you think.

If your three territories are the things you care about most, what’s the personal project that hits at least one or two of those? What’s the thing you could start this week that would be both exciting and would demonstrate the kind of work you want to be doing?

Start a weekly analysis of work in your space, what’s working, what’s not, why you think so. Document a learning journey as you pick up a new skill and make it public, make it messy. Create a resource that doesn’t exist but that you wish did, a tool, a framework, a guide. Reach out to someone doing interesting work and propose a collaboration just to make something cool. Mock up the kind of work you wish you were making, even if it’s speculative. Build something small that solves a problem you see. Start a conversation about something you care about and see who shows up.

The point is that you’re not waiting for permission. You’re not waiting for someone to give you the job so you can do the work. You’re doing the work and the job finds you.

The Proof Principle (Make It Easy for People to Believe You)

Another reason to keep your work documented and visible, especially if you’re making a lateral move, exploring a new lane, or building a personal project alongside your job: a digital footprint isn’t just content. It’s evidence.

When you reach out to someone busy, you’re not only asking for their time. You’re asking them to imagine you as real. And nothing helps that happen faster than proof that you’ve already been doing the work.

Evidence changes the whole conversation. Without proof, your message reads like a wish: “I’m thinking about getting into this thing.” With proof, your message reads like momentum: “I’ve been building this thing and I’d love your perspective on the next step.”

That shift matters because busy people are constantly making micro-decisions about where to spend attention. They’re not just evaluating your friendliness. They’re evaluating your follow-through.

My own rule on this: I’m a coach, and I also make music. But I’m not going to reach out to a filmmaker or record label to pick their brain if my music isn’t packaged up somewhere. Not because I’m trying to impress them. Because I respect the exchange. If the conversation opens a door, I want to be ready to walk through it.

People don’t want to water invisible seeds. Most people aren’t stingy. They’re saturated. They’ll gladly support something they can see growing. But they’re less likely to invest in an idea that still lives only in your head, because they’ve watched too many people talk big and disappear.

So if you’re going to ask for time, guidance, introductions, or insight: Have an intention. Don’t “just want to connect.” Know why you’re reaching out. Respect their bandwidth. Make it easy to respond. Keep it clear. Bring evidence. A link. A short portfolio. A living doc. A project page. Anything that says I’m already in motion.

The point isn’t to perform. This isn’t about building a personal brand circus. It’s about being worth someone’s time when you reach out, because you’re not asking them to believe in a fantasy. You’re asking them to meet you where you already are.

Proof travels further than potential.

Start Your Outreach

This week, reach out to five people. Use these scripts. Copy and paste them. Customize them. Send them. The job you want comes from conversations, not applications.

If you’re reaching out to someone whose work you admire: “Hey [Name], I’ve been following your work for a while and [specific thing you admire about what they do]. I’m currently exploring what’s next for me after [time at last company or role] and I’m really interested in [territory, sector, thing they’re doing]. I’d love to hear about your path and how you got into [this space]. No agenda, just genuinely curious. Would you be open to a twenty-minute call sometime? Here’s my work: [link to portfolio].”

What makes this work is it’s specific, it’s short, it’s not asking for a job, and you’re showing your work without being pushy.

If you’re reaching out about a specific company or organization: “Hey [Name], I saw you’re at [Company] working on [specific thing they’re doing]. I’ve been following what you all are building and [something specific you noticed or appreciate]. I’m a [your discipline] with [X years] in [context] and I’m really interested in [the sector or type of work they’re doing]. I worked on [brief relevant context]. Here’s my portfolio: [link]. Not sure if you’re hiring or if there’s an opportunity, but I’d love to learn more about what you’re working on. Open to a quick call if you have fifteen to twenty minutes sometime?”

What makes this work is you’re showing you’ve done your homework, you’re being direct about what you do, and you’re not being presumptuous about whether there’s even a job.

If you’re following up after a LinkedIn connection: “Hey [Name], We connected on LinkedIn last [week or month] and I wanted to reach out more directly. I’m currently exploring what’s next after [brief context] and I’m particularly interested in [territory or sector]. I saw that you [something about their background or current work]. Would love to hear about [question related to their experience]. Are you open to a quick call? Here’s my work if you want context: [link].”

What makes this work is you’re reminding them of the connection, you’re being clear about what you want, and you’re making it easy to say yes or no.

Keep them short. Be specific. Show your work. Make it easy to say yes. Don’t be weird or desperate. Treat it like you’re a human reaching out to another human, not a transaction.

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You made it through Week One. Whether it felt long or short, productive or scattered, you did it. Before you jump into Week Two, take an hour to actually process what happened. This isn’t busy work. This is how you learn what works for you and what doesn’t. This is how you adjust your approach instead of just repeating the same patterns.

Write down three to five things that actually moved the needle or felt good. Did a territory resonate more than the others? Did a certain type of outreach get better responses? Did working at a specific time of day feel more productive? Did a personal project start to take shape? Did a conversation open up a new direction? Double down on what’s working. Do more of it next week.

Write down three to five things that sucked energy or didn’t work. Did you waste time on LinkedIn job applications that went nowhere? Did certain types of conversations feel pointless? Did you work too late and burn out? Did you say yes to things you should have said no to? Did you compare yourself to other people’s timelines? Stop doing the things that drain you and don’t produce results. This isn’t a character flaw. This is data.

What came up that you didn’t expect? A conversation that went in an interesting direction? A realization about what you actually want? A person who showed up to help? A feeling that caught you off guard? A territory that’s more interesting than you thought? Pay attention to surprises. They’re usually signal, not noise.

Based on what worked and what didn’t, what are you changing for Week Two? Different time structure for your days? Different mix of activities, more personal projects, less applications? Different types of outreach? More rest built in? Different expectations for yourself? This is a living process. You’re allowed to iterate.

Sit with these for a minute. How are you actually feeling? Not how you think you should feel. How you actually feel. What are you avoiding? Is there something you know you need to do but keep putting off? What do you need support with? Who could you ask for help? What’s one thing you’re proud of from this week? Even something small counts. You can’t address what you won’t acknowledge. Be honest with yourself.

Based on everything above, what are your top three priorities for Week Two? Not ten priorities. Not “keep doing everything.” Three things. The things that will actually move you forward. Write them down. That’s your focus for next week.

You did the hardest part a long time ago. You showed up to the work when you didn’t have to. You invested in yourself before you knew you needed to. You’ve been building this foundation, and now you get to use it. That’s a gift.

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You made it through Week One. You have your territories. You’ve started building The Scroll. You’ve reached out to people. You’ve started working on something personal. Good. Now the work gets more nuanced.

The next couple weeks are about clarity. It’s about being able to answer “what do you do?” and “what are you looking for?” in a way that makes people want to help you, not just nod politely.

Understanding Zone of Excellence Versus Zone of Genius

There’s a concept that’s going to help you understand why you might be stuck.

The Zone of Excellence is work you’re really good at. You’ve done it for years. You could do it in your sleep. People hire you for it. It pays well. But it doesn’t light you up anymore. You’re excellent at it, but it’s not your genius.

The Zone of Genius is work that energizes you. Time disappears when you’re doing it. You’d do it even if nobody paid you. When you do this work, you’re operating at a completely different level. This is where your unique gifts live.

Most mid-career creative professionals are stuck in their Zone of Excellence. You got good at something early in your career. You kept doing it because it worked. Companies kept hiring you for it. And now you’re trapped in work that’s fine but not fulfilling.

Getting laid off is your chance to move from Excellence to Genius. But you have to be willing to let go of what you’re excellent at to pursue what you’re actually meant to do.

How to identify your Zone of Genius: What work makes time disappear? What do people compliment you on that feels effortless to you? What would you do even if it paid less? When have you felt most alive in your work? What work have you been avoiding because it feels too risky or not practical?

Your three territories should be pointing you toward your Zone of Genius. If they’re not, revisit them.

Developing Your Narrative

Around the two to three week mark, you’re going to be having more conversations. Networking calls. Informational interviews. Maybe first-round interviews. You need to be able to tell your story in a way that makes sense and makes people want to hire you.

The narrative has three parts.

First, where you’ve been. This is not your resume. This is the sixty-second version of your journey. “I’ve spent the last X years in [discipline] at [types of companies]. I’ve worked on [types of projects] for [types of clients].” Keep it brief. Don’t list every job. Hit the highlights that are relevant to where you’re going.

Second, why you’re in transition. This is where you explain what happened and why you’re exploring something new. “My last role ended when [company] restructured. It was actually good timing because I’ve been wanting to move more toward [territory or direction]. I’m really drawn to [what lights you up] and I’m looking for opportunities where I can [what you want to do].”

Notice you’re not apologizing. You’re not making excuses. You’re framing this as intentional.

Third, where you’re going. This is where you get specific. “Right now I’m exploring work in [sector] doing [type of work]. I’m particularly interested in [specific thing]. I’m having conversations with people doing interesting work in this space to understand what opportunities might exist.”

This shows you have a direction. You’re not just desperately applying for anything. You know what you want.

Practice this until it’s smooth. Record yourself. Say it to friends. Refine it based on how people respond. By weeks three to six, this should feel natural.

Update Your Materials With Your Narrative

Now that you have more clarity, go back and update your resume, portfolio, and LinkedIn.

Your resume should tell the story of someone going where you’re going, not just listing where you’ve been. Reframe your bullets to emphasize the parts of your experience that connect to your territories.

Your portfolio should lead with the work that shows where you want to go, not just the work that got you the most likes. Be ruthless. Show the work that demonstrates your Zone of Genius.

Your LinkedIn About section should have your narrative. Where you’ve been, why you’re in transition, where you’re going. Make it clear. Make it compelling.

The Conversations Get Real

Around the two to three week mark, you’re hopefully starting to get responses to your outreach. Some of those conversations will be purely informational. Some might lead to opportunities.

For informational conversations, your goal is to learn, not to pitch yourself for a job. Ask questions. How did you get into this space? What’s the biggest challenge facing this sector or type of work right now? Who else should I be talking to? What advice would you have for someone trying to break into this area? Listen more than you talk. Take notes. Send a thank you. If they introduce you to someone, follow up within forty-eight hours.

For conversations that might lead to work, if someone says actually we might be hiring or would you be interested in freelance work, don’t panic. Ask clarifying questions. What does the role look like? What’s the team structure? What would success look like in the first ninety days? What’s the timeline for making a decision? Then say, “This sounds really interesting. Can I send you my portfolio and we can set up a proper conversation?” Don’t say yes to anything on the spot. Give yourself time to think about whether it’s actually aligned with where you’re going.

By the end of Week Two, you should have a clear narrative that you can say without stumbling, updated materials that tell that story, had at least five to seven real conversations with people in your territories, made progress on your personal project even if it’s messy, and applied to three to five roles that actually align with where you’re going.

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Someone’s going to ask. Probably multiple someones. Your friend. Your neighbor. The person you run into at the coffee shop. Your mom. The guy from your last agency who you haven’t talked to in two years but who somehow heard and wants to check in.

“So what happened with your job?”

You need an answer that’s honest but not desperate, confident but not defensive. Because how you talk about this matters. People can smell shame and panic. They can also smell when someone’s got their shit together even when things are hard.

What you say, and you can customize this however you need to: “I got laid off from [company] last week. Company decision, not a performance thing, they cut twenty percent of the team.” Then you pause for half a second and add: “Honestly, I’m feeling pretty good about it. I’ve been wanting to explore [your territory] and this is the push I needed. Right now I’m taking a beat to figure out what’s next, talking to people, working on some personal projects. If you know anyone doing interesting work in [your sector], I’d love to hear about it.”

That’s it. Clear. Factual. No victim energy. You’re not asking for pity. You’re simply stating what happened and what you’re doing about it. And you’re giving them a way to help if they want to.

For casual encounters, the grocery store, brief exchanges, people you don’t really know, you need an even shorter version. “Yeah, I’m no longer at [company]. They had layoffs. I’m exploring what’s next. Actually pretty excited about it.” Then change the subject. You don’t owe everyone the full story.

If you’re talking to someone in your industry, someone who might actually be able to help, add more context. “I was at [company] for three years working on brand strategy for enterprise clients. They restructured recently and my role was eliminated. I’m now exploring opportunities in the arts and culture space, specifically interested in working with museums and cultural institutions. I’m having conversations with people doing interesting work there. If you know anyone I should talk to, I’d appreciate the introduction.”

Notice what you’re not doing. You’re not badmouthing your former company, even if they deserve it. The world is small and you never know who knows who. You’re not making excuses or sounding defensive. You’re not being vague in a way that makes people uncomfortable. You’re specific about what you want, which makes it possible for people to actually help you.

And you’re definitely not oversharing the emotional stuff with people who aren’t close to you. Your best friend can hear about how scared you are. The person you run into at the coffee shop cannot.

Practice this out loud. Stand in front of a mirror or record yourself on your phone. Say it until it feels natural. Because the first time someone asks you, you don’t want to be fumbling for words. You want to sound like someone who knows what they want and is taking action. Because that’s who you are.

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You’re building personal projects and you’ve got your scroll and your three territories. Now we need to talk about the actual mechanics of finding work. Because you still need to pay bills and yes, you’re going to apply for jobs, but we’re going to be smart about how you do it.

Clean Out Your LinkedIn Feed

You need to clean out your feed. Unfollow people who can’t help you or whose content makes you feel like shit. When people try to connect with you, don’t just accept everyone. I’ve started asking people: “Hey, I’m trying to be intentional this year, what made you reach out? Can you grab some time on my calendar so I at least know what’s up?” This cuts out a lot of the bullshit.

you don’t need five thousand connections. You need one hundred fifty meaningful ones. That’s it. There’s this idea that one hundred fifty people who are your ride or die are enough to get you wherever you need to go. So focus on intentionality, not volume.

Use Boolean Searches to Find People

This is going to be your secret weapon. Boolean searches in Google to find people outside of LinkedIn’s feed.

The search structure looks like this: “[sector or industry]” + “[company name]” + “[location]” - “jobs” + “LinkedIn”

So if you wanted to work in arts and culture and you’re interested in a specific museum or gallery: “arts culture” + “[Organization Name]” + “[City]” - “jobs” + “LinkedIn”

Or if you want to find strategists at tech companies: “brand strategy” + “tech startup” + “San Francisco” - “jobs” + “LinkedIn”

Google will show you everyone on LinkedIn who’s worked there or fits that description. These people might not be posting job openings. But now you can find their LinkedIn, read articles about them, figure out threads and connections. You’re finding people outside the feed who might be able to help you.

Find Good Recruiters Through Your Network

I know recruiters are annoying and a lot of them are terrible. But finding good recruiters through your network is one of the most efficient ways to get in front of opportunities.

Hit up people you trust and ask: “Do you know any solid recruiters? Ones that don’t ghost you, ones that will give good feedback?” Look for specialized recruiters in your field. There are recruiters who focus specifically on creative roles at tech companies, agencies, studios. Ask your network who they’ve worked with and actually liked.

The good recruiters can get you into places and conversations you wouldn’t have access to otherwise. And a really good recruiter will tell you the truth about what’s realistic and what’s not.

Search by Sector, Not Just Job Title

Look at where your skills apply aligned with what you’re excited about. If you can identify a sector you’re interested in and imagine yourself working in that sector for the rest of your life, you’ve figured out something most people never figure out. And there are more ways than you can imagine to have a career in that space. It’s not just one job title or one path.

Reframe the search. Instead of “looking for creative director roles,” try “exploring creative leadership in the healthcare space” or “finding strategy work at mission-driven organizations” or “looking for production roles in documentary or editorial.”

When you get specific about the sector, you can find opportunities that aren’t posted on the big job boards. You can reach out to people directly. You can position yourself as someone who actually cares about that space, not just someone looking for any job.

Use Instagram Even If You’re Tired of It

Make a dummy account if you have to. Follow the people whose work you love. Follow the studios, the organizations, the practitioners. Because jobs get posted there too. Opportunities show up there. And honestly, there are creatives on Instagram making more than directors at agencies. Why? Because they have an identity, they have charisma, they have a point of view. They’re looking for work and they’re getting it. They’re building the thing that makes them them and people are paying for it.

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Depending on your runway, you might need money coming in while you’re searching for the right full-time thing. Or you might want to stay flexible and not commit to full-time right away. Either way, contract and freelance work can be the bridge. But you need to be strategic about it. Because freelance work can either support your search or completely derail it.

Where to Actually Find Contract Work

Your network first, always. Post on LinkedIn: “I’m taking on freelance or contract [design, strategy, writing, whatever] work starting immediately. Specializing in [your thing]. If you need help with [specific problems you solve], let’s talk.”

Direct message ten to twenty people: “Hey, I’m taking on some freelance work right now. Do you know anyone who might need [your discipline] help on a project basis?” Your network converts faster than anything else.

Look at specialized platforms for creatives. There are multiple platforms specifically for creative freelance work, some curated with higher-quality clients, some more open. Look for ones that serve your specific discipline. Many have free memberships to get started. Ask people in your network which platforms they’ve had success with.

Check industry-specific job boards. Many creative disciplines have their own job boards that include freelance opportunities. Search for “[your discipline] freelance work” and you’ll find them.

Join Slack communities in your sector. There are Slack groups for almost every niche in creative services. Find the ones in your sector, arts, tech, social impact, whatever, and watch the freelance channels. Jobs get posted there before they hit the big boards. Ask colleagues which communities are active.

Email five to ten people you used to work with: “Hey, I’m freelancing right now and taking on projects. If anything comes up where you need [your thing], I’m available.”

How to Price Yourself

This is where people fuck up. They either charge too little out of desperation or imposter syndrome, or too much trying to overcompensate.

The formula. Take your last full-time salary. Divide by two thousand, which is roughly fifty weeks times forty hours. That’s your baseline hourly rate. Now multiply by one point five to two times because you’re covering your own benefits, taxes, downtime, and business overhead.

Example: Last salary was a hundred thousand. A hundred thousand divided by two thousand equals fifty dollars per hour baseline. Fifty times one point seventy-five equals eighty-seven fifty per hour freelance rate. Round to eighty-five to ninety per hour depending on the project.

Or quote day rates. Eighty-five per hour times eight hours equals six hundred eighty per day. Round to seven hundred to seven fifty per day.

Or quote project rates. Estimate hours, multiply by your hourly, add twenty percent buffer for revisions.

Don’t undercharge. People equate price with value. If you’re cheap, they assume you’re not good.

Don’t Let Freelance Eat Your Search

The trap. You take on a freelance project. It pays well. You get busy. You stop networking. You stop working on your territories. You stop building toward what you actually want. Three months later, you’re just freelancing and you haven’t made any progress on finding the full-time thing you want.

The rule: Freelance can’t take more than fifty percent of your time if you’re serious about finding full-time work. Max twenty hours a week. That leaves fifteen hours for your three-hour daily territory blocks across five days.

Good freelance projects while searching are short-term, two to four weeks max. Clearly scoped so you know exactly what they need. In your zone of genius so you can do it efficiently. Pay decently and are worth your time. With cool people who might lead to full-time or intros.

Bad freelance projects while searching are open-ended or long-term, three months or more. Vague scope where they don’t really know what they need. Outside your sweet spot so it’ll take twice as long. Low pay that’s not worth the time cost. With nightmare clients who will drain your energy for everything else.

Be selective. Not every freelance opportunity is worth it. If it doesn’t support your search strategy, say no.

Sometimes you start freelancing as a bridge and realize: wait, I actually like this. The flexibility. The variety. The control. Different clients, different projects, no office politics. That’s fine. That’s actually great if it’s what you want. But be honest with yourself about whether you’re choosing freelance or just defaulting to it because finding full-time is hard.

If you want to be a full-time freelancer, commit to it. Build the systems. Set up the business properly. Raise your rates. Build the client base. That’s a different path and it’s a good one. But it’s a choice, not a fallback.

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Hiding doesn’t help. I know it feels vulnerable to post your work or talk about what you’re going through or put yourself out there when you just got laid off. But visibility is how you get found.

And I’m not talking about making some sad LinkedIn post that’s like, “I got laid off, here’s what I learned.” Fuck that. I’m talking about showing up as someone who makes things.

The Breadcrumb Principle

You know how when you look at someone successful, all the breadcrumbs were laid years ago? Early work, experiments, conversations, projects? There’s a fifty-year-old version of you that is hoping you’re leaving breadcrumbs in a meaningful way. A trail that makes sense for where you’re going.

So figure out a safe, fun way to do that. Don’t overthink it. Understand that these platforms are kind of cesspools and there are cultural shifts around them, but they’re still really useful. To meet people. To flex your muscle. To launch something. To get a job.

I’ll tell you my story. When I left my business partner, I had to do an inventory of my runway. I looked at what was happening with hiring and the world, and I was like, I could get a job as a strategist but that’s hard, I know I don’t want to be a recruiter anymore, coaching is what I love most, let’s give this a go.

The first version of this was that I hired writers to write my LinkedIn posts because I was embarrassed of my writing. It took me two weeks to write my first post, two hours to post it, and I had to leave the house because I couldn’t even look at it. I didn’t want to do outreach. I hired an outreach company and they fucked it up. So finally I just started doing it myself.

I started showing up once a week on LinkedIn, then twice a week. I figured out a style that breaks the feed and that felt like me. I just had a post hit eighty-eight thousand impressions and my calendar is completely booked right now.

But that was a two-year build around something I was focused on. And now I have three ways that I make money on my own terms, coaching, recruiting on the side, strategy projects. You don’t see all of that on my LinkedIn. I’m just showing you one slice. But it all works together.

What to Do This Week

The point is: it benefits you to just say fuck it and try. You’ve got nothing to lose.

This week, post your portfolio. Just post it, no long caption needed. Post a project you’re working on, in progress is fine, actually better. Post about something you’re learning. Post a take on work you saw that you have a point of view on. Reach out to publications or platforms in your field, there’s always someone looking for contributors or fresh voices. Make a press release for a personal project. Yes, I’m serious, just do it. Be weird with it. People remember weird.

You don’t need millions of followers. You need the right one hundred fifty people to see you. You need to be in front of the hiring managers and creative directors and people who might say, oh shit, this person speaks my language.

Because when you speak your personal language, the people who speak it hear you. You don’t want to contort to the market. The real job search is within. You’re just making that internal thing visible.

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Let’s talk about all the ways people fuck this up. Because you’re going to be tempted to do some of these things and I need you to resist.

Don’t apply to a hundred jobs on LinkedIn. I know it feels productive. It’s not. You’re playing a numbers game that you can’t win. The conversion rate on cold applications through LinkedIn’s job board is like one to two percent if you’re lucky. You’re spending hours tailoring cover letters and resumes for roles where five hundred other people applied in the first twenty-four hours. Instead, apply to ten carefully chosen roles where you have some kind of connection or angle. Spend the rest of your time building relationships and doing outreach.

Don’t isolate and disappear. Getting laid off makes you want to hide. You feel embarrassed or ashamed or like everyone’s judging you. So you go dark. You stop posting. You stop reaching out. You convince yourself you’ll re-emerge when you have something to announce. Instead, show up. Be visible. Talk about what you’re working on. Let people know you’re exploring. The people who care about you want to help, but they can’t if they don’t know what’s happening.

Don’t take the first thing that comes along out of panic. Look, I get it. Bills are real. Panic is real. But if you have any runway at all, don’t jump at the first thing just because it’s there. You just got a chance to reset. Don’t waste it by landing in another version of the place you just left. Instead, be strategic. Take contract or freelance work if you need cash flow, but keep building toward the thing you actually want. It’s okay to take a bridge job, just make sure you’re still building the bridge to where you’re actually going.

Don’t network without purpose. Going to every industry event, accepting every coffee chat, connecting with everyone on LinkedIn, this is busy work. You’re networking but you’re not actually getting anywhere because you don’t know what you’re trying to build or who you’re trying to meet. Instead, be intentional. Who are the twenty people who could actually help you? What do you want to learn from them? What do you want them to know about you? Quality over quantity.

Don’t wait until everything is perfect. Your portfolio isn’t done. Your resume isn’t perfect. Your personal project isn’t ready to show. So you wait. And wait. And wait. Meanwhile, opportunities are passing you by. Instead, ship it messy. Share it in progress. Good enough is good enough. You can always update it later.

Don’t forget to actually rest. You just got laid off. Your nervous system is probably shot. You’re running on adrenaline and fear and cortisol. If you don’t actually rest and take care of yourself, you’re going to burn out before you even get started. Instead, build in actual downtime. Sleep. Exercise. See friends. Do things that have nothing to do with job searching. You need to be sharp for interviews and conversations, and you can’t be sharp if you’re exhausted.

Don’t compare your timeline to anyone else’s. Your friend got a job in two weeks. Someone on LinkedIn is posting about how they had three offers to choose from. Everyone else seems to have it figured out. And here you are in Week One feeling lost. Instead, remember your timeline is your timeline. The market is weird. Your situation is specific to you. Focus on your own path and trust the process.

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We’ve talked about what to do. Now let’s talk about how to actually sustain this without losing your mind.

Most people in Week One start Monday fired up, making plans, feeling motivated. By Wednesday they’ve applied to forty-seven jobs, messaged twenty people, worked on their portfolio until two in the morning, and now they’re exhausted, anxious, and can barely get out of bed on Thursday.

You’re running a marathon, not a sprint. You need to manage your energy.

Structure Your Day

In the morning, ideally the first three hours after waking, do your three-hour territory block. This is when your brain is freshest. Use it for the most important work, personal projects, deep research, meaningful outreach. Don’t waste this time scrolling LinkedIn job postings or checking email. That’s filler work. Do it later.

In the midday or roughly afternoon, do admin time. Respond to messages. Apply to jobs if you’re doing that. Update your portfolio. Handle logistics. Process the easier stuff that doesn’t require deep focus.

In the evening, rest. Actually rest. Not “rest” where you’re still checking LinkedIn and feeling guilty. Real rest. See friends. Exercise. Cook. Watch TV. Read a book that has nothing to do with your job search. Your brain needs to turn off.

If you’re not a morning person, fine, flip it. Do your territory work eight at night to eleven if that’s when you’re sharp. Admin in the afternoon. The point is: protect your best thinking hours for the work that matters.

The Anxiety Spiral at Two in the Morning

You’re going to wake up at two or three in the morning in a panic. What if I never find a job? What if I run out of money? What if I’m not good enough? What if this was all a mistake?

This will happen. It’s not a sign that something’s wrong. It’s just how anxiety works when you’re in transition.

When it happens, don’t check your phone. You’re not going to solve anything at two in the morning. You’re just going to spiral harder. Write it down. Keep a notebook by your bed. Dump all the anxious thoughts onto paper. This gets them out of your head. Do box breathing. Four counts in, four counts hold, four counts out, four counts hold. Repeat for five minutes. It regulates your nervous system. Remind yourself: “This is anxiety, not truth. I’ll deal with this tomorrow when I can actually think clearly.”

Then try to go back to sleep. If you can’t, get up, go to another room, read something boring until you’re tired again.

Productive Rest Versus Numbing Out

There’s a difference between rest that restores you and “rest” that’s just avoidance.

Productive rest is exercise, even a walk counts. Seeing friends in person. Cooking a real meal. Reading fiction, not self-help. Creating something just for fun. Getting outside.

Numbing out is doomscrolling LinkedIn or Twitter or news. Binge-watching shows you don’t even like. Drinking too much. Compulsively checking job boards without applying. Obsessively refreshing email. Staying in bed all day.

You need rest. You don’t need numbing. One restores your energy. The other depletes it while pretending to help.

The Weekly Energy Check

Every Sunday, ask yourself: What gave me energy this week? What drained me? What do I need more of next week? What do I need less of?

Then adjust. If networking calls drain you, do fewer of them and make them shorter. If personal projects energize you, do more of them. If applying to jobs feels soul-crushing, do less of that and focus on direct outreach instead.

You get to design this. Nobody’s grading you. Do what works for your energy.

When You Need to Actually Stop

Sometimes you need a full day off. Not a day where you “should be working but you’re not.” A planned, guilt-free day where you do absolutely nothing related to the job search.

Take it. You’re not being lazy. You’re preventing burnout. If you’re forcing yourself to work when you’re running on empty, you’re not being productive. You’re just performing productivity theater for yourself. And it doesn’t count.

Rest is part of the strategy. Not a failure of discipline.

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By weeks three to six, if you’ve been doing the work, you’re probably in active interview processes with two or three companies. Maybe more if you move fast. Now the stakes feel higher because these are real opportunities and you don’t want to fuck them up.

The Internal Game of Interviewing

Most people think interviewing is about having the right answers. It’s not. It’s about showing up as the most confident, clear version of yourself. And that’s an internal game, not a tactical one.

Stop thinking of interviews as “will they pick me?” and start thinking of them as “is this the right fit for both of us?” You’re evaluating them as much as they’re evaluating you. This isn’t arrogance. It’s professional maturity.

When you show up with that energy, curious, confident, evaluating fit, everything changes. You’re less nervous. You ask better questions. You listen better. You make better decisions.

Imposter syndrome will show up. Right before an interview, you’re going to think “I’m not qualified for this. They’re going to figure out I don’t know what I’m doing. Why did I even apply?” This is normal. Everyone feels this. Even people with decades of experience.

How to handle it. Name it: “I’m feeling imposter syndrome right now.” Remind yourself of the facts: “I’ve done this work before. I’ve had these skills for X years. They asked me to interview, which means my work passed the first test.” Reframe it: “Nervousness means I care. That’s good. I’m going to use this energy to be present and engaged.” Then take three deep breaths and go into the conversation.

The STAR Method

STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. What it actually means and how to use it:

Situation is what was the context, what was the problem or opportunity. Task is what did you need to accomplish, what was your role. Action is what did you actually do, what decisions did you make, what was your process. Result is what happened, what changed, what was the impact.

Example: “Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult stakeholder.”

Situation: “I was leading the rebrand for a healthcare client and the CMO was very resistant to our direction. She had strong opinions but wasn’t articulating what she actually wanted.”

Task: “I needed to figure out what was behind the resistance and find a way forward that worked for both of us.”

Action: “I set up a one-on-one with her, just the two of us. I asked her to walk me through past branding she loved and hated, and to tell me the stories behind those reactions. Through that conversation, I realized she wasn’t resistant to our ideas, she was scared of making the wrong decision because her last rebrand had failed and she got blamed for it. Once I understood that, I adjusted how we presented work. Instead of one final direction, I showed her three approaches with clear rationale for each, so she could feel like she was making an informed choice rather than taking a leap of faith.”

Result: “She chose one of our directions and became one of our strongest advocates. The rebrand launched successfully and she sent us two referrals in the following year.”

See how that works? You’re not just listing what you did. You’re telling a story that shows how you think.

The Questions You Should Ask

At the end of most interviews, they’ll ask “do you have questions for us?” This is not a formality. This is your chance to learn whether you actually want to work there.

Ask: Can you walk me through what a typical project looks like from kickoff to delivery? What’s the biggest challenge facing the team right now? How does feedback work here? How do you give it and how do you receive it? What does growth look like for someone in this role? Why is this position open? And if it’s a backfill, can I ask what happened with the previous person? What do you love about working here? What’s hard about it?

Don’t ask anything you could have googled. Don’t ask about benefits or vacation in the first interview, save that for when you have an offer. Don’t ask “Do you have any concerns about my qualifications?” because it puts them on the spot in a weird way.

Negotiation Basics

You got an offer. Congrats. Now don’t immediately say yes.

Ask for time. “Thank you so much for the offer. I’m really excited about this. Can I have a couple days to review everything and get back to you?” They’ll say yes. You just bought yourself time to think clearly.

Evaluate the whole package. Base salary, bonus or equity, benefits like health insurance and 401k match and PTO, work arrangement whether remote or hybrid or in-office, the team and manager, growth potential, the actual work. Is this aligned with your territories? With your Zone of Genius? Or is this another Zone of Excellence trap?

If you want to negotiate, negotiate. Most offers have room. The script: “I’m really excited about this opportunity. Based on my experience and the market rate for this type of role, I was hoping we could discuss the salary. I was targeting [X amount] based on [brief rationale, your experience, market research, whatever]. Is there flexibility in the offer?”

They’ll either say yes, say no, or meet you somewhere in the middle. All of those are fine outcomes.

Don’t negotiate if the offer is already at the top of your range, you don’t have leverage like no other offers or low runway, or you already said you’d accept a specific number and they hit it.

Do negotiate if the offer is below market, you have another offer to compare to, or something in the package is non-standard like low benefits or weird equity.

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When you’re laid off and bills are real and your runway is ticking down, there’s a temptation to take anything that comes along. Any offer. Any conversation. Any company that shows interest. Don’t do that. You just got a chance to reset. Don’t waste it by landing somewhere that’s going to make you miserable.

Red Flags in the Interview Process

They can’t clearly explain the role. If after thirty minutes of conversation you still don’t understand what you’d actually be doing day-to-day, that’s a problem. Either they don’t know what they need, which is chaos, or they’re being vague on purpose, which is bait and switch.

They rush you. “We need to make a decision by Friday.” “Can you come in for a full day tomorrow?” “We need an answer immediately.” Real companies with healthy cultures don’t operate like this. They’re either disorganized or manipulative.

They don’t ask about you. If the whole interview is them talking about how great they are and they barely ask about your experience or what you’re looking for, they’re not actually interested in fit. They’re interested in filling a seat.

They badmouth former employees. “Our last designer just didn’t get it.” “We’ve had trouble finding good people.” If they’re willing to talk shit about people who used to work there, they’ll talk shit about you when you leave.

They’re vague about comp or avoid the money conversation. “We’ll figure that out later.” “We’re more about culture than comp.” “The experience is the real value here.” Run. Companies that pay well talk about money clearly.

Everyone seems exhausted or checked out. If you meet the team and they all look dead behind the eyes, believe what you’re seeing. That’s your future if you take the job.

Red Flags in Company Culture

“We’re like a family.” No you’re not. You’re a business. Families don’t lay people off when revenue dips. This phrase usually means “we’ll expect you to work weekends and feel guilty if you have boundaries.”

“We work hard and play hard.” Translation: “You’ll work sixty hours a week and we’ll have beer in the fridge to make you think it’s fun.” Hard pass.

“Everyone wears many hats.” Sometimes this means scrappy startup energy. Often it means “we’re understaffed and you’ll be doing three people’s jobs for one person’s salary.”

They don’t have clear processes. If you ask “what does a typical project look like?” and they can’t give you a coherent answer, that’s chaos. Chaos is exhausting.

High turnover. If multiple people in the role you’re interviewing for have left in the last year, ask why. If they won’t tell you or get defensive, that’s your answer.

No clear growth path. If you ask “what does growth look like here?” and they say “we’re too small to think about that” or “it depends,” they’re not investing in their people.

Questions That Expose Toxic Cultures

Ask these in interviews. Watch how they respond.

“Can you tell me about a project that didn’t go well and how the team handled it?” Healthy cultures talk openly about failures and what they learned. Toxic cultures either deny failures happen or blame individuals.

“What’s your approach to work-life balance?” If they stumble or say “we don’t really think about it that way,” that’s a problem. Healthy companies have clear policies.

“How does feedback work here?” If they don’t have a clear answer or it’s all top-down, that’s a culture where you won’t grow.

“What’s the biggest challenge facing the team right now?” This tells you what you’re walking into. If they won’t answer honestly, they’re hiding something.

“Why is this role open?” New role? Growth? Backfill? If it’s backfill: “Can I ask what happened with the previous person?” Their answer tells you everything.

If something feels off in the interview, it will be worse when you’re actually working there. The interview is when they’re on their best behavior. If they’re showing red flags now, imagine what it’s like when you’re three months in and the shine has worn off.

Don’t talk yourself out of your gut feeling. Don’t tell yourself “maybe I’m just being too picky” or “maybe it won’t be that bad.” Your gut knows things your brain is rationalizing away.

It’s okay to say no. It’s okay to pull out of a process. It’s okay to decline an offer even if you don’t have another one lined up yet. Better to keep searching than to take something that’s going to drain you, burn you out, or put you right back where you started.

You just got out. Don’t climb into another version of the thing you escaped.

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You’ve been reading frameworks and tactics for pages now. Let me show you what this actually looks like when real people do it. These are anonymized but real stories from people I’ve coached through this exact process.

The Designer Who Pivoted to Editorial

Sarah was a senior designer at a large tech company. Eight years in product design. Got laid off in a company-wide restructuring. Had always been interested in editorial and publishing but never pursued it because product design pays better.

She spent the first few days in panic mode, applying to thirty product design roles. None of them felt right. Finally sat down and did the Three Territories exercise. Realized all three of her territories pointed toward editorial work, magazines, publishing, long-form visual storytelling.

Instead of applying broadly, she made a list of fifteen publications and editorial studios she admired. Reached out to designers at each one with a simple message: “I’m transitioning from product to editorial. Would love to hear about your path. Twenty minutes?”

Ten people said yes. In those conversations, she learned that most editorial designers came from product backgrounds. It wasn’t a liability, it was an asset, she understood systems and workflows in ways pure editorial people didn’t.

She started redesigning album covers for albums she loved. Posted one every week on LinkedIn with a brief write-up about her design choices. It showed her taste, her craft, and her thinking. After six weeks, one of those posts got seen by a creative director at a music publication.

Three months from layoff to offer. Now she’s art directing for a cultural publication and makes slightly less money but is the happiest she’s been in her career.

What made it work: She was specific about what she wanted. She did the outreach. She built the work she wanted to be hired for instead of waiting for permission.

The Strategist Who Went Freelance Then In-House

David was a brand strategist at a mid-size agency. Twelve years experience. Got laid off when the agency lost their two biggest clients. Had four months of runway. Needed money fast.

He immediately posted on LinkedIn that he was taking freelance strategy work. Got three inquiries in the first week. Took two of them, both short-term projects, both paid decently.

The freelance work kept coming. He got busy. Made good money. Stopped looking for full-time roles because freelancing was working. Three months in, he realized he hated it. The inconsistency, the constant pitching, the administrative overhead. He wanted to be full-time somewhere.

He looked at his freelance clients. One of them was a healthcare startup. The work was interesting. The team was solid. He liked the founder. He sent a message: “I’ve really enjoyed working with you these past few months. Are you hiring for a full-time strategy role? If not, would you be open to a conversation about it?”

They weren’t hiring. But they created a role for him. Started as a three-month contract-to-hire. Became full-time after month two.

Five months from layoff to full-time offer, but he had freelance income the whole time so his runway never ran out.

What made it work: He was strategic about freelance, took work that aligned with his interests. When he realized what he actually wanted, he wasn’t afraid to ask for it directly.

The Creative Director Who Went Smaller

Jessica was an associate creative director at a big global agency. Fifteen years in advertising. Got laid off in a round of cuts. Felt burned out on big agency life but didn’t know what else to do. Has a family, needed stability.

She applied to other big agencies because it felt safe. Got to second rounds at two places. Both felt like more of the same, big teams, big egos, big hours. Realized she didn’t want to do this anymore.

In her Three Territories work, she kept coming back to “smaller, more focused, mission-driven.” She was tired of selling things she didn’t care about to people who didn’t need them.

She made a list of twenty small-to-mid-size agencies and studios working on social impact, culture, purpose-driven work. Not the big names. The ones with fifteen to fifty people doing interesting work with clients that actually mattered.

Reached out to founders and creative directors at half of them. No asks, just: “I’m exploring what’s next and I’m really drawn to the work you’re doing. Would love to hear about how you built this.”

Five conversations happened. In one of them, the founder said “We’re not hiring right now but we’ve been thinking about it. Can I see your work?”

Four months from layoff to offer. Took a twenty percent pay cut. Works at a twenty-five-person shop doing brand work for nonprofits and cultural organizations. Her team is five people. She gets home for dinner. Hasn’t worked a weekend in six months.

What made it work: She was honest about what wasn’t working before. She was willing to take less money for more alignment. She reached out without an agenda and let the conversations lead somewhere.

What These Stories Have in Common

They all did the territorial work. They all did personal projects or portfolio work to show what they wanted to do. They all reached out to people. They all were specific about what they wanted instead of just taking whatever came along.

And they all took three to five months. Not two weeks. Not six months. Somewhere in between. Which is normal. Which is okay.

Your story will be different. But the principles are the same. And they all landed somewhere better than where they were. Not just different. Better.

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What if you do all of this and you’re three months in, or four, or five, and you still haven’t found something?

First, this is not a reflection on you. The market is genuinely broken right now in ways that have nothing to do with your talent or your worth. Companies are taking forever to make decisions. Roles are getting canceled after third interviews. Budget freezes are happening mid-process. It’s chaos.

Second, you’re not alone. I’ve worked with incredibly talented people who took six to eight months to land the right thing. Not because they weren’t good enough, but because they were being selective and the right opportunity took time to surface.

Third, if you’re past the ninety-day mark, you need to do a serious assessment.

Reality Check Questions

Are you actually doing the work or just going through the motions? Be honest. Are you applying to roles but not doing outreach? Thinking about personal projects but not making them? Scrolling LinkedIn but not posting anything? “Networking” but not having real conversations? If you’re spinning your wheels without actually executing, that’s the problem. Not the market. Not your skills. Your execution.

Are you being too selective or not selective enough? Some people apply to a hundred roles that are all wrong and wonder why nothing works. Other people wait for the perfect role and never apply to anything. The sweet spot: three to five applications per week to roles that are seventy percent or more aligned with your territories. Plus ongoing outreach to people doing work you admire.

Is your runway actually okay or are you lying to yourself? If your runway has gotten shorter and you’re starting to panic, it might be time to take contract or freelance work to extend your runway, adjust your target salary range, look at parallel moves to get income flowing, or have an honest conversation with your partner or family about the timeline. There’s no shame in taking a bridge role if you need it. Just make sure you’re still building toward where you actually want to go.

The Adjustment

At month three, you should be doing a serious assessment.

What’s working? Which outreach attempts got responses? Which types of roles are you getting to second rounds on? What feedback are you getting in interviews? Who’s been most helpful in your network? Do more of what’s working.

What’s not working? What’s draining your time without producing results? What applications are you sending that go into black holes? What’s your conversion rate from outreach to conversation? Where are you getting stuck in interview processes? Stop doing what’s not working. Be ruthless about this.

What needs to change? Maybe your territories need refining. Maybe your portfolio isn’t as strong as you thought. Maybe your outreach messages aren’t resonating. Maybe you’re targeting the wrong companies or roles. Maybe your interview skills need work. Get external feedback. Ask people who know you and know the industry. Don’t just keep doing the same thing and hoping for different results.

The Mental Game at Month Three Plus

This is when it gets hard mentally. You’re tired. Your confidence is shaky. You’re comparing yourself to everyone who found something faster. You’re wondering if something is wrong with you.

What you need to remember.

Your timeline is not their timeline. Everyone’s situation is different. Someone who got a job in two weeks might have had a connection you didn’t have. Someone who got three offers might have been less selective about fit. Your path is yours.

The right opportunity is worth waiting for. If you take the wrong thing out of desperation, you’ll be back in this position in six to twelve months. Hold out for alignment if your runway allows it.

You’re not less valuable because this is taking longer. The market is what it is. Your worth is not determined by how fast you get hired.

But also, be willing to adjust. If absolutely nothing is working after four to five months, something needs to change. Get help. Talk to a coach, a mentor, a recruiter. Get fresh eyes on your approach.

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As you move into weeks four through eight and beyond, this phase is when the internal work becomes most important. Because this isn’t just about finding a job. It’s about building a career that doesn’t break you.

The Patterns That Keep You Stuck

Most of us have patterns that sabotage us even when we don’t mean to. Here are the most common ones I see in creative professionals.

The Overdelivery Pattern. You always do more than is asked. You stay late. You take on extra projects. You make yourself indispensable. And then you burn out and resent everyone for taking advantage of you, even though you’re the one who set those expectations.

The Permission-Waiting Pattern. You don’t start the thing until someone tells you it’s okay. You don’t apply for the stretch role until you’re one hundred percent qualified. You don’t pitch the big idea until you’re sure it’s perfect. You’re waiting for permission that’s never coming.

The Comparison Pattern. You measure your progress against everyone else’s highlight reel. Someone got a job in two weeks and you’re at two months. Someone got an offer at your dream company and you didn’t even get an interview. You feel behind, inadequate, not good enough.

The People-Pleasing Pattern. You say yes when you mean no. You take the job because they seem to want you so badly, even though your gut says it’s wrong. You don’t negotiate because you don’t want to seem difficult. You prioritize being liked over being respected.

Which one is yours? It might be more than one. The first step to changing a pattern is recognizing you have it. The second step is deciding you’re not going to keep repeating it in your next role.

Building Sustainable Practices

Whatever role you land in next, you need to set it up differently than you set up the last one.

Set boundaries from day one. Don’t work late in your first week just to show how committed you are. Don’t say yes to every project. Don’t make yourself available twenty-four seven. The patterns you establish in the first month become the expectations for your entire time there.

Clarify what success looks like. In your first week, sit down with your manager and ask: “What does success look like for me in the first thirty, sixty, ninety days?” Get specific. Write it down. Check in regularly. Don’t just work hard and hope they notice.

Build in rest. Block time on your calendar for thinking, for breaks, for deep work. Protect it. If you don’t build rest into your schedule, it won’t happen.

Find your people. Identify two or three people you can actually talk to. Not just friendly work chitchat but real conversations about the work, the culture, the challenges. You need allies. Find them early.

Check in with yourself monthly. Is this still aligned with your territories? Are you in your Zone of Genius or back in your Zone of Excellence? Are you building toward something or just maintaining? If it’s not working, course-correct before you’re three years in and miserable again.

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You have the complete playbook now. Days one through two, handle the logistics and emotions. Days three through seven, build your foundation with territories, scroll, portfolio, outreach. Week Two, refine your story and positioning. Week Three, interview and negotiate confidently. Week Four and beyond, do the internal work to build something sustainable.

You have the frameworks. The scripts. The day-by-day plan. The real examples of people who did this successfully. The mindset work. Everything.

What happens next is up to you.

You did the hardest part a long time ago. You showed up to the work when you didn’t have to. You invested in yourself before you knew you needed to. You’ve been building this foundation, and now you get to use it. That’s a gift.

You’re going to be okay. Better than okay. We’re going to land in a more beautiful place.

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Let’s assume you haven’t been laid off yet. Or you just landed somewhere new after working through this entire guide.

You’re employed. Things are fine. You’re doing good work. You’re trying not to be paranoid.

Good. Keep that energy.

Also, don’t pretend the ground can’t move under you.

It isn’t negative thinking to acknowledge what most people already know in their bones: jobs can be fragile. Companies say “family,” and then budgets change. Leaders change. Strategy changes. A quarter goes sideways. A merger happens. A new CFO shows up with a spreadsheet and a mandate.

You’re not crazy for feeling a little alert. You’re paying attention.

So from day one in a new role, start building your life raft. Not because you’re planning your escape. Because you respect yourself enough to stay ready.

What Life Raft Actually Means

A life raft is quiet preparation. Boring, practical, protective.

It’s the difference between scrambling in shock, trying to reconstruct your own story from memory, and already having receipts, artifacts, momentum, and people who will vouch for you.

The Day One Habits

Back up your work in a safe, ethical way. Start collecting what you’re allowed to keep. Public-facing work, screenshots of live pages, case study materials, drafts you created, decks that are shareable, before-and-after examples that don’t expose sensitive info. If you’re not sure what’s allowed, assume less, not more. The point is to preserve proof of your contributions, not to walk out with someone else’s IP.

Document your wins while they’re happening. Don’t wait until you’re updating your resume in a panic. Keep a running wins document from week one. What you shipped. The problem you solved. Your role. The impact, numbers if you have them, but clarity is enough. Who you collaborated with. Future you will not remember all of this cleanly. Write it down like you’re leaving notes for someone you care about.

Keep your portfolio warm. Not perfect. Warm. A portfolio doesn’t need to be a museum. It needs to be a living record. Add a project when it’s fresh. Capture the context while you still remember the constraints. Save the thinking, not just the glossy output.

Build a reputation inside the building, and relationships outside of it. Your job title is temporary. Your name is the thing that travels. Make deposits with coworkers who see how you operate, cross-functional partners who know what you made easier, vendors you treat like humans, clients or stakeholders who trust you. People remember competence. They remember calm. They remember who didn’t disappear when things got hard.

Pay attention to signals without spiraling. Sometimes you can feel it coming. Not because you’re anxious. Because you’re perceptive. Watch for patterns like hiring freezes, budget reforecasts, sudden travel cuts. Leaders leaving quietly, teams being merged, priorities shifting weekly. Weird secrecy, weird urgency, weird meetings. Your manager sounding scripted, or your work suddenly getting de-scoped. This isn’t a call to panic. It’s a call to notice. Intuition is often your nervous system doing math faster than your brain wants to admit.

Read This Now, Save It for Later

If you just landed a job and you’re thinking “I don’t need this chapter,” you might be exactly who should keep it. Not so you can live in fear. So you can lean into your work with more confidence, because you’re not leaving your future up to luck or corporate mood swings.

Build the raft while the water is calm. Then go do your job. Fully. Proudly. Without flinching.

And if the worst happens, you won’t be starting from zero. You’ll be stepping onto something you already built.

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If you want someone in your corner who’s done this with hundreds of creative professionals, I’m at poeticstate.com. Discovery calls are free. The work is sliding scale. But this guide? This is yours regardless.

—Bryan Collins
ICF Certified Professional Coach (PCC)
Poetic State

If this guide helped you, send it to someone else who just got laid off. Forward it. Share the link. Post about it. We’re all in this together. The more people who have the playbook, the better we all do.