Turning Job Loss Into A New Business On LinkedIn

Getting laid off can shake your confidence, your finances, and your sense of who you are. I sit down with marketer and storyteller Heidi Tharp, who’s been laid off twice and somehow turned both moments into momentum, including one layoff that collided with a preventative double mastectomy and a job search that forced her to stop playing small.

We talk about the difference between real connection and transactional networking, including the “get energy” red flag that tells you someone is trying to extract instead of relate. Heidi shares how a single honest LinkedIn post changed everything, why responding to comments matters more than chasing follower counts, and how consistent storytelling becomes a career strategy. If you’re navigating a career transition, rebuilding after a layoff, or trying to strengthen your personal brand on LinkedIn, you’ll leave with a clearer plan and a calmer mindset.

Then we go beyond work. Heidi explains why bucket lists are not for retirement, they’re a tool for fighting inertia in your relationships, health, and self-belief. We break down simple categories to start with, how to choose items that actually fit your life, and why doing one small thing that scares you can rebuild confidence fast.

If Heidi’s story sparks something in you, share this with a friend who needs a push, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, and leave a review to help more women find these conversations. Connect with Heidi at linkedin.com/in/heiditharp or here linktr.ee/heiditharp 

Transcript

Welcome And Heidi’s Wild Path

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome back to the She Suite Society, the podcast where we celebrate the real, the raw, and the remarkable journeys of women who chose to bet on themselves. I'm your host and empowerment Sherpa Dahlia. And today I'm sitting down with someone who's been laid off twice and turned both moments into launch pads, not once, but twice. Heidi Tharp is a marketer, a storyteller, and now an entrepreneur, helping female founders and boutique brands find their voice. But her path here winds through refugee services, direct sales, express, spanks, a double mastectomy, and a LinkedIn post that completely changed the trajectory of her career. This is a conversation about agency, about what happens when you stop waiting for life to happen to you and start deciding what happens next. And trust me, Heidi has some things to say about bucket lists that just might change how you see your week. Let's get into it. Where did you grow up?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

I grew up in Dayton, Ohio, the metropolis of Ohio. Why do you call the metropolis of Ohio? Because it's not true. Um, my dad was a uh salesman, and so we traveled all over his territory, which was like Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kentucky, you know, all the major players in the United States. Yeah, yeah. Um, and it really stretched my bubble. And my dad was a people person. Literally, he will talk to a wall and it will talk back. And I inherited that skill um and just curiosity about people. And um in college, I went to work for Disney. I did the Disney internship. I moved to Orlando, stretched my bubble in a way that I never could have imagined, and I was not coming back to Dayton. So I transferred, finished college at Ohio State, and I've been in Columbus ever since.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Oh, oh, that's really fun. So you went to the internship, and that made you want to come to Columbus.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Yeah, oh, it made me want to go to a different city. Yeah. And obviously, it's cheaper to go in state. I knew other people going to Ohio State. So I followed the path. It's a great school. I went there. Um, that's awesome. So when did you do your internship? Uh, long time ago. I I cannot reveal that because it will reveal my age.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Yeah, yeah, no, it's great. There's no problem. I meant um more did you do it in college or did you do it right out of high school? It was in college.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Um, Disney recruits from some universities, but a lot of community college, which is, I think, perfect because community colleges often, you know, you're sort of stepping out on your own for the first time, or you're looking for something like an economical way to get an education. And the program was perfect to help me step into bigger things. And Ohio State is massive. So that was really great to be able to have a stepping stone in between, so it wasn't such a major shock.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Got it. Okay. I was like that that that adds up, and that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Because you're not special at Ohio State in case.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yeah. I thought you were being funny. Literally, it's so big that you can get lost. And so it's really good to have some other experience, I think, before you go to Ohio State, um, just so that you're prepared for that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

I would agree with that. Are you an only child?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

I have an older sister.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

I think you're the youngest. I'm the youngest. How old is your older or how was the age difference? 18 months. Okay, so you're are you guys close?

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Oh, we are. And I think, you know, I always followed in her shadow growing up and wanted to be her, and I was painfully shy, which no one would guess nowadays.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

No.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

And when she did the Disney internship too, she went to Sinclair too. So I followed her path. Um, and then I kind of came into my own once I went to Ohio State, and then my path took a different turn. Yeah. Um, and it wasn't until I was getting married that I really came to need her help because weddings are scary, they're big, it's a lot of pressure. And she had been through it before. So it was really great for her to be able to guide me and sort of mentor me through that experience. And then we became really close. And thank God for Marco Polo, because we talk all the time.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

What's Marco Polo?

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Oh, it's an app that allows you to send video messages. I have different Marco Polo, like with groups of friends and my sister, and it's better than like texting and calling, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Oh, that's really brilliant. How cool is that? Now you just shared an app with everybody. That's great. So is she an extrovert? Um, I would say she is more of an introvert, but when you say you followed her path and you were more like like, did you say in her shadow or you were the shadow?

SPEAKER_01 5:00

I was in her I I was her shadow. I mean pretty much anywhere she went, I went.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Got it. You just yeah, I know you now where I'm getting to know you now, and I can't vision it. And so I'm having a hard time envisioning this. So I'm like, maybe she was just a very loud person, but that wasn't the case either. So you both just sort of kind of flourished in your own times.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Yeah. I mean, she looked like Jennifer Love Hewitt, so all the boys liked her. I was, you know, not so gorgeous. Oh, stop it. And um just I don't know. She she was a runner, she ran cross-country and track, and she had all these friends. Um, although she wasn't, I mean, super, super social, um, like I think of others today, but she had a really great group of friends. And did you? I have always been a bit of, I don't want to say I've always considered myself an underdog. I've been a bit of an outsider, lots of different groups of friends.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Um, I do you have a core group of friends? I have multiple core groups of friends.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

I vibe with that very hard because I also have multiple core groups of friends where it's hard to, it's it's so you just don't. Do you have a best friend? Multiple best friends. Multiple, like do they do they talk to each other?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Okay.

Friend Connector And Get Energy

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Yeah. But not everyone. I've I have all these different circles. And as I'm getting older, I'm seeing more opportunities for all those people to connect. I recently wrote a LinkedIn article about how I'm a friend connector, not a follower collector. And I've kind of like lived my life like that now. And it used to be things were very separate, compartmentalized, and now it's like, how can we all support each other? How can everyone connect one another? And I think there's magic that happens.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

There is magic that happens. I have so many questions about that though, because um the way our society is built, people tend to feel like they need to get something from somebody. And it's really hard because I don't, I don't love that. I think that the it should be a more of a reciprocal, a reciprocal interaction where it's just you're being human together, not I need something from you or you need something from me. Can't it just exist like that? Do you find that ever to get in the way when you're you know, I feel like you have a story with that?

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Oh my god, this is so wild. So um God, I have so many stories I can tell, but at my first layoff, I had a coach who supported me through that. She didn't know all the challenges I was going through. And one of the her name's Jessica, one of the things that she taught me was this term get energy. Um and I didn't know what that was, but it's that gross ick feeling. So icky. Yeah. And it's, and we just talked about this how somebody who was in her network and mine reached out to me with get energy, trying to get me to pay to be part of something that was like a philanthropic give back, and it was all about connecting with other powerful people, but I saw no value. I can volunteer on my own. I don't need to pay to volunteer to be part of your thing. And I just felt this ick, and it was that get energy. So I love having a term for it. I do too. Thank you for sharing that term. Yeah, get energy. Get energy.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

What do you do with it? Avoid it. Right away. What if you um don't recognize it initially, but but they're in your circle now?

SPEAKER_01 8:34

You're you all feel it. You may not know what it is, but it's uh it's a feeling, it makes you feel um like there's just something you can't put your finger on. Um, I tend to gravitate towards people who are humble, who are curious. Get energy. Genuinely curious. I think that um get energy is the complete opposite. It's very much all about them. And I just have no, I don't, I just don't need that.

France Stories And Finding Marketing

SPEAKER_00 9:04

No, I don't either. So I I very much thank you for sharing that. So let's go back to OSU. So you go to OSU, you are you complete there. What did you get your degree in? International studies with a French minor. First of all, I love that. Do you still speak French?

SPEAKER_01 9:19

I do, which is so wild when you you never know how your journey is gonna like take you. No. I studied in Lyon, France in college. Uh, it was cheaper and faster for me to do a study abroad. So I was there for a few months. I was an hour from Switzerland uh on the weekends. I would go to Paris or Nice, Monaco, Italy. I would go to Switzerland for the day to go shopping for chocolate because it was a quick train read away. Uh, it was so magical. And I did it on the cheap. I mean, I was a waitress and I literally sinked every penny. Did that, um, was able to finish school a little bit early because of doing it that way versus having to do the semesters. And then that led to um, I guess at my community college, I had done a trip. It was like two weeks, and we went all around the um Loire Valley, and that really was exciting to experience two weeks throughout Paris and everything. And then um, I did the study abroad, and then my husband took me to Paris that proposed at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Wait, and I got to be his guide, you know, um, because I was conversational, and so he doesn't speak any French. So it was really fun getting to show him all around. And then what's wild is a friend like two years ago reached out to me. She earned an incentive trip. Her husband couldn't go, and she took me to Paris. And she didn't even know that I had a passport, that I spoke the language. Oh my gosh. So it was so much fun. We went to Strasbourg. Um, we went to Rest Germany for a day. Um, I got to mark off something big on my bucket list, which is a whole nother yeah, we're gonna get to get to the lists in general, and then that. And then what's wild, my most recent um full-time position was with a huge brand, and I was a storyteller on their associate experience and engagement team, and I had to send copy to get translated to French. And what was cool is I could I could read it enough to know, like, oh no, this is off, or ooh, I could switch these words and not have to send it to translation again. So it's wild how everything kind of comes around.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Right. How the experiences you get in your life tie in together, and but you don't know when, you don't know how, and it just happens. Yes, because you're living your life. So you graduate, you go where? Where's where where do you go after you graduate?

SPEAKER_01 11:46

I had a um internship with the state of Ohio, the Higher Refugee Services program. Um, and I worked with Ohio Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council. It's a mouthful. Um, and so that was like a contract position. And at night I worked for Highlights for Children magazine, which obviously like I was at Disney and then going to Highlights. And then that ended up turning into a new career path for me.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

What was that?

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Um, marketing. I was there for a few years. I did, I was in a variety of different roles across the country, but marketing is where I really found my fit. Did you?

SPEAKER_00 12:21

That was that's quite a shift. What made you enjoy marketing?

SPEAKER_01 12:26

It's creative, right? How do you what's the hook? Like, what are the little things that are going to be the action devices that get somebody to do something, right? Whether it's a mailpiece or a phone call or, you know, um email. Um, it also was the start of I think writing um professionally, which is something I've always loved, is to write and express myself. And so that was really a fun challenge.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Is that what you used for you? Because you're really good at your LinkedIn posts.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

I also love storytelling. I'm a storyteller, and but I wasn't always. Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

When did that come into play?

SPEAKER_01 13:02

That came into um so after highlights, I had quite a journey. I was recruited into um the retail industry. I was in direct sales for quite a few years, which I loved because it was all about empowering women. I did a ton of different things from leadership development, training, onboarding, events, speaker pitches, like the whole game.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

It is the whole game.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

It was wild. Big brand, tiny team. We did everything.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

You have to.

Building Creator Programs In Big Brands

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Yeah. And then I was recruited into the retail industry um for fashion. I worked at Express Headquarters. Um, I was um one of three people. We built an entire incredible creator program for social media creators and built it up to 5,000 members. Um, and everything that I had done in the drug sales industry, I took that knowledge and our team applied so incentive trips and mentoring programs and all kinds of really cool things that the creator world had never seen before, but was very common in the dark sales world. So then that took me on this whole other path. I went to Sphinx and um was part of building their program, recruiting um and onboarding their first thousand. And then that led me to the last company that I was with, which uh was Storyteller, and I led an advocacy program for associates because our goal was to help people love working there. So very fun.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Did you ever have anything like imposter syndrome? Oh god, yes. Yeah, because to do the things that you're doing, um you're you're in that like leadership role. You shouldn't have it, you shouldn't have the imposter syndrome, but it always I find women in that type of field, myself included, chronically have imposter syndrome. How do you navigate that?

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Well, I have always felt not enough. I mean, it started as a kid, right? My sister was the runner, she was uh my parents bought her car for her. I had to buy it from her.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

No, for$1,500.

Layoff Panic Surgery And A LinkedIn Pivot

SPEAKER_01 15:15

And I did it. I had worked for five years at babysat every weekend, Friday and Saturday for the same little kid and who became a prima ballerina in Philadelphia. Yes, so cool, right? Um, but just that diligence, self-reliance, it taught me skills, money management. And so I knew I had like a certain level of just agency over my life. But when I got into these big brands, and you see all these big names, and it's it's intimidating. And also just the way some people carry themselves. I always felt not enough. And it really wasn't until my first layoff um express was um they went through four rounds of layoffs. I was in the last round and it was bankruptcy. So it was, you can imagine, like you're laid off. The top leaders get a big fat paycheck, but nobody else gets a dime. And so that was very terrifying. I had just put in my paperwork to take two weeks. Well, to take some time off. Um, I had to have a double mastectomy. Um, it was preventative. At the time, I just knew things were not right.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Did you did the test, the braca team test?

SPEAKER_01 16:28

I don't have braca, but they had to do a bunch of biopsies. I had already had a lumbectomy. Um, and that's like a whole nother journey. Yeah. And so it was terrifying. I was like most people throughout my career. LinkedIn was where I sort of parked my resume and, you know, casually connected with people, but it wasn't a real platform I leverage. Well, that layoff flipped everything for me. I went to, I went from, you know, having a great thriving career, making incredible money to not have done coming in, wondering, do I actually have cancer? I have to go through this server surgery. I'm spending thousands of dollars for Cobra, which is wild. And so the first couple of months of my job search, it was quiet. And I was trying to do it, you know, to save face. And I was embarrassed, and even though I was part of thousands of people laid off. And then I just decided, you know what, I've got to get loud. I did a big reveal post, and that completely changed my whole trajectory of my professional life.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

But I bet that was terrifying.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

It was, but I knew no one's saving me, no one's coming offering me jobs. I've applied to 30 jobs and I couldn't get an interview. And so that changed everything because then people started reaching out to me. I got connections. That's what led to someone saw my post who's in England, who I met once, saw my post, connected me with Phinx. I interviewed and then landed that contract gig. Wow. I mean, no one knew what I was going through health-wise. Even my coach Jessica, I mentioned, I didn't tell anyone because I wanted to compartmentalize and I wanted to go all in on the job search. And then I knew at some point, okay, this surgery was coming, and I'm gonna take a couple weeks off to focus on my health and sit that aside. Luckily, everything was in motion, the conversations, all the things that actually make a difference to help you find a job. And I even interviewed with Sphinx five days after my double mastectomy. I was so drunk up. Oh my goodness. But landed, landed that gig, went into um, you know, recovery, all of the things where, you know, they have to do reconstruction. And so it's like weeks and weeks of all the things. Um, and then with my last employer, I negotiated that job from my hospital bed. They didn't know, like it was beeping, and I was like, oh sorry. Um, and landed that and signed the paperwork from my hospital bed as I was recovering um after reconstruction. And so it was just wild.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

When you sit with that right now, like how does that make you feel?

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Really proud of everything that I went through and to be able to be so positive about it. So when I say you are very positive about it.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

And it's and it's a it's kind of a gift that you're able to compart compartmentalize so hard like that. Some people can't do that. They can't, they can't separate that. They just it just becomes overwhelming. How did you not let that happen?

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Well, I think number one, I'm naturally a really positive person. If you've ever done strengths finder, positivity is like in my top three. Okay. So I was just born like this.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Um, but I've also really trained my brain. I got really into personal development. I was a side hustler in direct sales, and one of the things that is really big in direct sales is minding your mind, personal development. And I'm so that was such a gift because I've gone to all the conferences. I listened to the tapes, right? I've listened to the podcasts. I um even through that health situation and my job search, I had some practices that made a big difference. Like I wrote in a journal every morning, I wrote 10 things I'm thankful for, 10 positive affirmations, a couple which were the universe has my back. Um, all things work out in my favor, right? Like I think just I was training my brain and I did that for years. So now if I'm feeling a little down, I'll return to that practice. But I think it just has made all the difference. I'm also somebody who's always looking for the good, where's the opportunity?

SPEAKER_00 20:54

The silver linings.

Bucket Lists As A Weekly Practice

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

When did you start making lists?

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Oh my god. My first list was when I went to Disney. Um, I did a bucket list of 10 things I went and your first list was a bucket list. My first list at age 20. I have no idea where I came up with. For no reason other than literally just want it. I think I was somebody who always felt like there's more for me. And I'm this is this is not all there is. I love that saying, you've come too far to only come this far. Right. And so when I went to Disney, it was a huge culture shock from Dayton, Ohio. Yeah, I would imagine so. So I made a list of 10 things that I wanted to do while I was there. One was skydiving, bungee jumping, take a cruise. I did all those things. Um, I don't recommend taking a$150 cruise. That is not good.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

There's a lot of documentaries out right now about the horror of cruises.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

One's one's poop cruise, the other one's the COVID cruise. Uh I and I've watched both.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Thank God I didn't and it did not exist at the time. Um, but it really started this love affair for bucket lists. And so I've kept one throughout my life. And sometimes I lose them and I have to start over. I love a good list. That's actually a really great unlock if you're feeling stuck, depressed, uh, don't know what's next. You can easily Google, go to Pinterest, ask Chatty, right? Like any AI program. Like, what are some example ideas of things for a bucket list? And you can do different things. Like I've had some that are financial, some that are travel, some that are like uh impact related. Um, and you don't have to have money to accomplish any of those. Sometimes it's just learning a new skill. Like one of my big things, and it was right after COVID, was I really wanted to try acupuncture and cupping, which literally is a dream. It's the much better than a massage. Um, I want to do a sound bath. I like there's so many different things. Um, and I think it just makes life a little more exciting because we get into ruts. And I think one of the biggest challenges we have is fighting inertia, right? Especially as an employee um or in a relationship, a long relationship. I've been with my husband for years, like since we were in college. So um how did you meet? Uh, we met in the restaurant industry. He would chase me around while we were waiting tables and he was a bartender. And when I go to get my drinks, I couldn't figure out why my drinks were the last to be made. It was because he always wanted to talk to me. Oh, he would always switch seats. I know he would always switch sections so he could be next to me, and we would have one conversation that lasted hours because we would like keep it going as we were, you know, ringing in our meals and delivering food. We would just keep the conversation going. So work was fun.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Sorry, Andrew, I just got really excited about that. I was like, you've been together for years, it's amazing. Yeah. You were saying sometimes people get in ruts and sometimes they're in long relationships that um can just get stale. Is that what you mean?

SPEAKER_01 24:10

In friendships, your like really anything, your health, like every area of your life, I think people have to fight inertia because that's just like it's the the things whatever habit you've created, that's in motion.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

What happens though when you're somebody that like you you do a lot of work on yourself and you're constantly um, I'm gonna call it healing because healing never ends. You're just always healing and always growing. Sometimes other people that are in your life or have been there for a while, or even the jobs don't grow with you. And sometimes that can be the fight of inertia. Do you are you one of those that is like it's okay to cut those off and keep going? Or do you try to bring people along? What or what's your take on that exactly?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

That's a great question. I think I've seen that I've worked with a lot of uh women entrepreneurs, especially in the drug sales industry. And most often I saw that with our relationship with their partner. Um I think also I've experienced it personally at work where you just kind of feel like this itch or I just a rub, a friction, uh just like I'm capable of more, I want more. This is not satisfying. Maybe you even get the Sunday scaries. And once you leave and move on, which that's what I think you have to do, is you you grow. You can't stay contained. You have to grow and explore. And you can encourage people to come along with you, but you are probably wasting your breath. They will follow what you do, not what you tell them to do. So you'll inspire them. Um, so when I've moved on from roles professionally, what I realized is it almost felt like graduating from middle school to high school, high school to college, college to the real world. And then even when I've gone back, I'm like, I'm just not the same person. I have a totally different way of a different perspective, a different way of interacting with people, carrying myself. It's no better, do better. You just can't go back. It's the box is open. You can't let anyone, and you can't put yourself back in the box.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

No, no, you can't. And you find that after some time has passed, especially for those of us that are a little bit older, uh, and you meet people that haven't seen you in years, and they only remember the last version of you that existed back then. Sometimes it can be a mind death to have to have those conversations. Have you interacted with anybody like that?

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Oh God. I think that happens all the time, especially with family.

SPEAKER_00 26:49

Oh, yeah, that's a really good point.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

When you go back for holidays, and it's like you kind of get into those old patterns, like everybody had their role. So my husband's one of five kids. So they all have their different role.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

And had, do they still have those same roles?

SPEAKER_01 27:05

No, I mean they're so different. Like his brother was kind of lost in life, and now he is in the Navy. He graduated top one or two in his class. He is stationed in Hawaii. He's a doctor on submarines. No one could have imagined that he would be the person he is today. I'm so just inspired by him. But if you would have met him 20 years ago, he was not sure what he wanted. He was a little lost, right? I think everybody evolves. And you just can't worry what people think. No, you can't. Um, and back to your question about, you know, is it okay to leave those people behind? It's okay to take a pause. It's okay to let them catch up with you. It's okay to put distance between you. I've been really lucky, and this is why I say one of the most important decisions of your life is who you choose to spend your time with as a partner. Um, I've been really lucky that my partner is super motivated, if not more motivated than me. Is that possible? It is. He is a he runs, uh he has multiple businesses. He uh is a published author, he's real estate's license, is practicing. He um has this insurance license, he's a certified market technician. Um, he's coached 5,000 students how to trade in the stock market. Like I could go on and on with the list. He's YouTube certified in many home uh owning homeowner uh things. So if he doesn't know what to do, he can just check out YouTube and he'll figure it out. I'll figure it out. Yeah. So I think so.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

You married a partner that matches your energy.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

Yes. And I think I always saw that in him, and that's why I was so attracted to him. Um, and why we've just been such a great fit is because we're always supporting each other. I just can't imagine not having someone like that in my life.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

So, what would you say to people that didn't have somebody like that in their life that did the complete opposite?

SPEAKER_01 29:09

It's their journey is their journey, and you have to, at the end of the day, you're responsible for yourself. You may cut them loose, unfortunately. It may, your past may not be aligned. Um, I think that's harder done than said. I see some of my friends who are going through that challenge, and it gets more complicated with kids and medical issues and things like that. But I do feel like ultimately your life is your responsibility and you get to choose how you live. Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

What do you do now? Well, thank you for asking. Um, so I told you I was laid off the first time in 2024 during that health care. So I was part of a recent layoff from a household brand. Um, and I laugh because it's like everybody says, Oh my god, are you okay? It has been the most exciting time in my life. Um, my last day was February 14th. I had my first client February 15th to do my own thing. Um, I've built up an incredible community of people who've just come out of the woodwork and said, I would love to partner with you. I love what you're doing. And we've find ways, we've been able to find ways to help each other. So I've been working with multiple female founders with boutique brands. My whole career is spent building iconic brands. Now I'm really focusing on these boutique brands and have started my own thing. So I have um a client that I'm helping building their business, helping them better tell their story through LinkedIn. And I love the platform because it changed my life. I could go on and on about the positive impact. Um, I'm working with a brand to um help them onboard new brand partners so that they can get up to speed and have success quickly. So that's really exciting, which also will partner with some of the LinkedIn work I'm doing, some social media stuff, because I've spent my career building those creator programs and that those skill sets apply to everyone. You can learn something from creators to help you. Um, and I'm working with um, I've got a pipeline of people. It's a lot of like LinkedIn. Um, I'm working with another partner on journey mapping, really helping them build out their customer journey for a new business. Yeah. So that they create consistency in their experience and also so they can scale. Yeah. Um, and so that's really looking at all their touch points of like what does that look like? How does clientele look and feel? How do you how do you heart tug and really connect with clients so they refer other people to you and come back to you again and again and want to talk about you to others? So it's a lot of marketing stuff um and a lot of stuff in the LinkedIn space.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

You seem to love it.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

Oh my god, I love it. And this is so this is such an exciting time because I never, I always, to be honest, was envious of my husband as an entrepreneur. I'm like, God, if only I had those skill set. He was always telling me you can do it. Anyone can be an entrepreneur if you're self-motivated. I've always been somebody who you don't have to ask me twice for something. My goal is to exceed expectations, deliver ahead of schedule. Um, and through that journey, I'm always looking for what I can learn. How can I squeeze the most out of that experience?

SPEAKER_00 32:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

How can I leave things better than I found them? And I have such a passion for the work that I'm doing and helping people reach their full potential, helping brands, businesses reach their full potential to unlock all those things that are gonna make a difference for them. Um and it's just such an exciting time because I never thought I would be where I'm at. And it's I have all these fairy godmothers who literally dropped into my life at exactly the right time. And it's been wild.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

You said that you part of what you think attracted you to him is because you always saw that in him. Don't you think the same is in reverse? Yeah, he always saw that in you too. Um if you had to redo it all over again, would you do anything different? Or do you do you do you enjoy the experiences you've had? And that's the kind of a leading question. Or do you or would do you regret any experiences you had?

Spotting Layoff Signs And Going Public

SPEAKER_01 33:41

I mean, I I regret mostly things I didn't do because I was scared, worried what people would think of me, uh, thought I wasn't enough. Um now I realize that the only difference between me and maybe somebody who wants to be doing what I'm doing or something else is I've taken action. I'm doing it, I'm doing the thing. So I knew instinctively this second layoff felt different, right? I knew it was coming, which I was ignorant. I didn't know that stuff before. Now I know I've been around.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

Did you say you're gonna put something together to help people understand what the signs are?

SPEAKER_01 34:24

I'm going to. Well, so that's so I saw the signs to the point where I and I so I launched my own podcast. That's right. Yeah. So um uh we can talk about that, but I saw the signs. And so when I was driving in to have the conversation, which I knew was them laying me off, I was listening to a podcast about being laid off. So I could mentally prepare for what was about to happen because I knew it was happening. Yeah, and I knew it was not just me. And when I walked into the office and there's all these water bottles lined up, I'm like, well, they wouldn't do that just for me. And it was across the organization. And I and I thought it was gonna happen sooner, to be honest. It was happened months later, but I could just feel it. I knew. And so that day I went home, I was a little bummed. And then the next day I woke up so excited because I knew I've got a story to share. I know what to do. I've been here before. And anytime you do something for the second time, it's easier. Like having my second kid was easier. Um, like anything I've ever done the second time around is easier because you have a map.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

Yeah, that experience. Yeah, you kind of know what to expect. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

So that second time around, I hit the ground running, literally uh created my post, my big, I'm gonna call it a launch post that I'm, you know, looking for a job, um, sharing my story. It took me five hours to respond to all of the comments, which is one of the best things I did because that still has traction. People are still texting me and DMing me today to say, hey, I saw your post. Let's I want to introduce you to somebody. That was a huge launch, like for this new chapter, which led to people introducing me to people, just friendly conversations, being curious, which has opened the door to do project work and um for a company to create a role for me to do some fractional work with them. So you just never know where things might land.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

You don't. And you're very open. I love that you had that plan coming up. And I can't wait for people to hear your podcast so they can learn how to overcome these things pretty quickly or how to see the positive. I think it's a it's a nice thing that you are by nature just a positive person, especially in this day and age and in this climate. And I don't even want to say right now, it's been this way since uh since the beginning of the pandemic. It hasn't really let up. Just pick your pick your poison as to what what horrible thing is happening in the world now and follow it. Uh it's, I think, a lot harder. And it takes a lot more strength to see the silver lining and to be positive and to then bring that into the world. So for me to you, thank you for continuing to bring that positivity and light into the world. It's part of what this podcast is for, is to help people see the better, the better parts and that you can just choose your reality as your life is your story to tell.

Micro Podcast Lessons And Personal Agency

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Well, you even uh asked about it earlier with imposter syndrome. And I had been listening to podcasts for, you know, probably five years, and I have a huge list. Um, my recommendations um I will pin as a featured post on LinkedIn because I just am so passionate about it. But I always felt like, oh, well, I don't have what it takes to do that. They have some of the magical skill, the right connections. And honestly, a fairy godmother came into my life. I had lunch with her. Then I was like, or well, we had a chat. I met her through LinkedIn, had a chat. I was like, when can I see you next? We had lunch the next day, and I just have been in her shadow ever since, wanting to learn everything I can from her. Um, she's in the podcast industry, and I took her course and it gave me a great head start. So my podcast is a micro podcast. So no episode is longer than five minutes. Most are two to three minutes. I think most of the time, if um you can just take an apply one little bite, one little thing, it can change everything. And um, my sister is my one of my loyal listeners. And it's so funny because she has access to all these questions. She just didn't know what to ask. So as I'm telling these stories and it's like I'm talking to a friend, I know that it's helping family, it's helping friends. And my goal was just to share what's worked for me. I'm not, I'm not an expert job hunter. I just know my results have been incredible. And I always thought, oh, well, you need to have a huge following, tens of thousands of followers. I only have 3,000 followers, which has taken time to get to this point. That's not an easy feat, but I don't have a lot. I know other people who have 10,000 or 7,000.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

7,000 is a pretty healthy number.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

But it's really about engagement. Do people comment? Like, are you building relationships? There's so much more to it than just a follower account. Absolutely. And what I realized, and I I learned this from others who've gone before me is you don't have like there's always gonna be somebody who knows more, who has a bigger connect more connections, who, etc. All you need to be is a few steps ahead of someone else. So the content I'm creating is really gonna help somebody who is a few steps behind me. So I will talk about like that post, what to do, how do I follow up? What are the things that have made the biggest difference? Um, I know that there are a lot of great career coaches out there, but you know, some are experts in interviewing, some are resume experts. So I'm talking a little about everything. Um, and it's just the stuff that has made the biggest difference for me, what's working and what doesn't Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

Pay it forward. So, in true fashion for us, um, I end every episode the same. And it is what piece of advice could you give, even though the whole episode's advice? What piece of advice could you give to somebody listening today that you feel that they they need to hear? Aside from listening to your podcast, which they should.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

It's called uh laid off the diary of a job hunter. How appropriate. That's great. And now I'm like, oh gosh, that doesn't even capture because now I'm more in, I should be the diary of an entrepreneur, but I'm trying, I'll get there. I have so many tips. I want to get those out there. Um, I would say the number one thing that has really helped me pivot my mindset, my trajectory professionally is recognition that I have agency over my life, that there are a lot of things that are gonna things that are going to happen for me. And I can only control the mindset, how I look at things, and then the action I take. So I think it's really important to lean into the stuff that you can control. For me, that is conversations, genuine connections, following through with what I say I'm going to do. Good one. Um yeah, a lot of people don't do that. Um, and just making those, making a positive impact, leaving things better than I found them. Um, because I do think my friend Tiffany and I were having a conversation this morning, how a lot of us, like like my kids, I see as girls, you just believe anything is possible. And then at some point you get beat down, put in a box, you believe you're only, you know, there's no more skies the limit. You're measuring yourself by other people. And at some point, you have to decide you're no longer going to be in that box. And I think that's where the agency piece, um, and like working on your mindset and taking action that is going to build your confidence and your belief in yourself. And then those results create your reality.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

Couldn't agree more. Is there a story that you wanted to share with us just for funsies?

Bucket List Categories Theme Nights Closing

unknown 42:12

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

Just seriously, just for fun. I mean you have so many. Okay, my less like eight million lives. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 42:19

I have, I have. Oh my gosh. I just, you just never know who might come into your life. No, you don't. And I do think that if you every day can think about like what are the things you're most excited for in that day? What are you excited for that week, that month? I think you look at life a little bit different. So I would encourage everyone to create that bucket list. Start with just 10 things. Okay, 10 things. And you can break it up. Like maybe your things have um are relationship oriented, or maybe it's confidence building. Maybe it's just you need I do love that. I think you have this idea.

SPEAKER_00 42:57

Yeah. Because everybody thinks a bucket list means you have to do skydiving, or which I did, and I know you did too, or you have to do you swim with sharks or some like crazy things, or you know, eat eat bugs that's covered in chocolate, whatever it is. People think that has to be a bucket list, but you never think of it in terms of go on a date or um block some me time off or meditate. Like you can have it, doesn't need to be huge, um, monumentous things. They might be small things that are monumentous to you. So I love that you break that up. What are what are the categories again? I think I'm making these, I know, but I love them. What what do you think some some good examples of these categories would be? And how many would you put in each? Or do you think would you recommend? I think it really depends what you would resonate with you.

SPEAKER_01 43:44

Like what just feels like an inclination that ooh, that sounds gentle. I think you might consider something as like health related, um, something maybe for like your mental or your or physical health. Um, I would Say something that's adventurous, maybe something that is real like for your relationship. Um I would also say something that would scare you.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

Yeah, right. Which who said this? I don't remember the quote because I'm terrible with quotes, but it's something like you should do something every day that scares you. Who said that? I don't know, but I have the book. You have the book, okay? There's a book. It is a book, okay.

SPEAKER_01 44:25

Yeah. And it has literally ideas. And I I picked it up and put it down. It's literally my stack of books. I have so many books, so many great reads. Um, I love just this idea of learning from other people. Um yeah, so hopefully someone takes on that bucket list challenge. It literally can change your life. I mean, one of the things that my friends and I did, we do theme nights, and I'm the one who keeps the list and brainstorms probably and shares the ideas the most. Next up is um we're mob, we're like mob, um, yeah, the aesthetic, and we're bowling. We've done like Jean's night, we did like 70s night. Um, we've done all kinds of things and dress up is the most fun. That's but like novelty. I think your list should include something that's novelty. Um, because your life is what you create of it, right? You create it to be. And your identity has to be so much more than just your career. You build your identity, you create the person that you want to be.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

Heidi, thank you. Honestly, this conversation gave me so much to think about. And I know our listeners feel the same way. If Heidi's story resonated with you, and I really hope it did, reach out to her. Her contact information is in the show notes. Whether you're a founder trying to find your voice, or you're just someone who needed to hear today's message, don't let that connection sit on the table. And here's your homework from this episode. Write down 10 things for your bucket list, not someday, this week. Heidi gave you full permission, and so do I. If you loved this episode, share it. Send it to a friend who's feeling stuck, who's navigating a transition, or just needs a reminder that they have more agency over their life than they think. Leave us a review, spread the word. This community is built one share at a time, and I'm so grateful you're a part of it. Remember, your life is your story to tell. Own it. Until next time, I'm Dahlia, your host. Thanks for being here.