I Didn’t Get Cut. I Got Cleared.

I remember the silence more than anything.

The email from HR was short. The meeting was shorter. And the job? Gone, baby, gone.

There’s a specific kind of ego bruise that comes with a layoff – especially when you’re good at what you do. When you’ve stayed late, over-delivered, made the customers sing, yet still get treated like a budget line that couldn’t be justified.

I wasn’t just hurt. I was disoriented.

Here’s what no one tells you when you get cut loose:

• You’ll want to overcompensate.
• You’ll want to prove your worth—fast.
• You’ll scramble to “bounce back” so no one thinks you failed.

That’s the trap.

Because this isn’t just about a job.
It’s about being wired to over-function in systems that will always choose their bottom line over your well-being.

So when the system drops you, it hits deeper than money. It hits identity.

For a moment, I believed what that silence tried to say: that I wasn’t valuable. That I wasn’t… needed. That I should’ve seen it coming.

But here’s what I know now:

That layoff didn’t reduce me.
It ✨redirected✨ me.

What I lost in title, I reclaimed in clarity.

What I lost in paychecks, I gained in purpose.
What I lost in external validation, I rebuilt with strategy.

Because this time, I wasn’t trying to “bounce back.” I was trying to build forward.

Not with fake hustle.
Not with a performative rebrand.
Not with a LinkedIn post that said “grateful for the opportunity.”

I did it with a system that would let me lead my next chapter on my own terms.

That system is called The Rebuilding Kit.

Not as a motivational moment.
Not as “inspo” content.

As a survival system for women like me:

Creative.
Capable.
Tired of wondering if they were crazy or just caught in a broken system.

If that’s where you are right now:
Confused. Lowkey embarrassed. Uncertain how to explain it in your next job interview or your next Instagram caption – I made this for you.

Because you didn’t get cut. You got cleared.
Cleared to rest. To rethink. To rebuild.
And maybe… to finally put yourself first.

No one should have to perform their worth for systems that already failed them.