This is Part 2. If you missed it, Part 1 covers how I got laid off twice and ended with "stay tuned." Here's what happened next.
After the second layoff, I did what everyone does. I went through the motions.
I updated my LinkedIn. I applied for roles. I had coffee with anyone who would take the meeting. And somewhere in there, I decided to try Upwork.
Thirty proposals and a $5-an-hour offer
Over the summer, I sent more than 30 proposals. Twenty years of HR and Total Rewards experience, written up as nicely as I knew how.
Most of them were never even opened.
One was. They offered me $5 an hour.
I wish I could make that up.
That was a low point. Not because of the money. Because it made me wonder whether anyone out there actually needed what I knew how to do.
Then my phone buzzed
A trusted advisor and longtime friend reached out with a simple question:
"You may not be interested, but would you consider covering a maternity leave for a friend of mine?"
I didn't even have to think about it. Yes.
Just like that, I had my first client. Not from a job board. Not from a proposal. From a relationship.
The day I stopped looking
That first project made me ask a bigger question. Was I really going to keep chasing the next Head of Total Rewards title? Or was this my chance to build something of my own?
Another big yes. And The People Edit was born.
I stopped looking for the right job and started building it instead.
What I want to be for you
Now I get to be the person companies call when they need help. Covering a leave. Running a project. Untangling an HR process that's gotten messy. Getting a renewal or a comp structure in shape.
You don't have to post a job, dig through resumes, or beg your network for an intro. You just reach out, and we get to work.
And if you're the one still searching right now: I know how lonely that feels. I've been there twice. Sometimes the best next step isn't finding a job.
It's building one.
