Not sure who needs to hear this right now, but I got laid-off from Salesforce in 2023 and it was the best thing to happen to my career (and my life).
After 10 years working for the company, I was laid off over email. This happened one week after I had just closed on my first house and 10 months after I made my husband move from Australia for a new role at the company. I really gave a shit about my work and felt like I was a part of a family. But the hardest part about being laid-off wasn’t the loss of the job itself, it was the message that it sent: my work didn’t matter, my career wasn’t safe, and I was just another number in a spreadsheet.
After I was laid-off, I was forced to think about what I wanted out of my career and, most importantly, what I wanted my life to look like now that I had a chance at a fresh start. Did I want more flexibility? More control? More money? Did I want to have a team? Work alone?
Initially, my fight or flight kicked in and I jumped straight into interviews. I was humbled very quickly - things were different from my last job hunt a decade ago. The market was flooded with laid-off top talent and spoiled companies of all sizes for choice. It made an already outdated interview process highly competitive and full of terrible manners. Recruiter ghosting, weeks-long reply wait times, no interview feedback, multiple presentation and project requirements, all packaged up in a three-month long process. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to cut through the noise.
The one thing I was sure of, was that a full time job did not guarantee job security.
Consulting had always been in the back of my mind. Early in my career, some of my most meaningful mentors were consultants for the VC firms that backed the startups I worked for. I was always impressed by the impact of their work, the flexibility consulting work offered them, and, frankly, how much money they made. It always seemed like a ‘one day’ dream of mine. Looking back on it now, I’m shocked it took me this long to make the leap.
If you’re curious about fractional and consulting work, consider this your sign
In a time where we are seeing large waves of lay-offs, it’s never been a better time to start a consulting business. Not because of lack of talent, because consultants are too enticing in the current job market.
Companies need more flexibility in how and when they leverage top talent to help reduce overhead costs. Think about it this way: if you were looking to hire a head of comms but weren’t sure about actual comms needs throughout the year, would you rather pay for a CCO by the hour and use them when you needed them, or would you rather hire a FTE CCO for +$200k/year PLUS medical, PLUS bonuses?
I guess my point is, none of this is new. Consulting has been around forever – but what makes now the perfect moment to enter the consulting world is that we’re in a time where both employees and the employers need it.
It’s pretty crazy how achievable building your own consulting business is. If you’re keen to learn more, I’ll be recording a consulting-focused episode of Smart In Public on Thursday (airing next week). Shoot me your questions and I’ll try to answer them on the show. I’m also going to be writing a lot more about the consulting process here on Big talk - if there’s something you want to learn about, let me know!