What if losing your job isn't the worst thing that happened to you, but the very moment that started to unlock your true next success? We've been taught to fear layoffs as if our identity lives inside our job title. But maybe that belief is what's keeping you stuck. Because here's what I've seen, some of the most fulfilled, successful professionals that I've ever worked with got there because of a layoff, not in spite of it. So before you spiral, panic, or settle for the first safe offer, take a deep breath. You are not broken, you are not behind, and you are certainly not alone. Today, we're having a real conversation about what to do after the rug gets pulled out from under you. How to begin rebuilding and why this just might be the turning point that changes your life. Have you ever wondered, is this it? That question is the beginning of Your Next Success. I am Dr. Caroline Sangal, and this podcast is your space to pause, reflect, and create the career and life you were made for. We explore real stories, intentional transitions, and practical insights to help you step into alignment, purpose and peace. in this episode, we are digging deep into why getting laid off can expose what wasn't working and open new possibilities, the identity crisis that often hits, and how to begin rising from it. Why your first step isn't to fix it, but to feel it, and how honoring what hurts is the start of something real. How to support someone you love through this kind of disruption and hold space for what comes next. And you'll hear some real stories of transformation that began with a layoff and why this one moment doesn't define you. This episode kicks off a powerful multi-part series on what to do after a layoff, because your next chapter deserves more than panic applications. So you've been laid off maybe recently. Maybe it's been a few months, or maybe it's been years and you still might be carrying the weight of it. Maybe you saw it coming. Budget cuts, market shifts, restructuring. Maybe it blindsided you like it did me. Maybe it's left you questioning your worth, your value, your choices, your whole career. Being part of a reduction in force. Now, that's the kinder way to say layoff. It's not just the loss of a paycheck, it's a hit to your identity, a shock to your nervous system. And if you're feeling like your footing has been ripped out from under you, you're not alone. What happens after a layoff is rarely talked about in a real honest way. It's often coated in shame, in silence, in assumptions. But today we are pulling back the curtain and let me say this as clearly as I can. This moment, the uncomfortable, uncertain, honestly painful moment is not the end of your story. It's an invitation to rise differently, stronger, clearer, more aligned. And if you let it, this can be an amazing turning point of your career. Let's talk about what really happens after a layoff and how this moment might be the very opening to finally creating a life and career that you love. This is Your Next Success, and today we are answering the question after a layoff, now what? We've all been told to believe that being laid off is one of the worst things that can happen in your career. That it means you failed, that you weren't valuable, That something was wrong with you. But what if that's not true? What if this didn't happen to you, but for you. To shake you awake? To show you what wasn't working and to unlock something better. Because when we start to realize that life is happening for us, we stop being victims of our circumstances and start being architects of our future. And maybe that's where you are right now. You're driving towards the next chapter and you've got a choice. Carry the pain like a burden. Or see it as part of the story that is shaping you into someone stronger, wiser, and more fulfilled. In my twenties, I was driven by ego and ambition, and when I heard about anyone getting laid off, I admit, I assumed it was because they had failed. Truthfully, I thought only people who didn't do things right were laid off. I was pregnant with our first child when my husband was laid off, and honestly, I was relieved because while the world tells you layoffs are devastating, and yes they are in many ways. For me, in that moment, it gave me peace of mind. Not that there's ever a good time for a layoff, but I remember how it didn't seem to make any sense. Just weeks before that, my husband celebrated his 10 year anniversary with that company. They had a reception. They gave him this beautiful globe on a stand, and then shortly after, news broke that the company was acquiring a European firm. His role? It was being moved overseas, but not him. Just like that, he was part of a reduction in force. So why did I feel at peace when I found out my husband got laid off? At the time I was pregnant with our first child. Now with all the extra emotions pregnant ladies have, you'd think I would've panicked. But if I'm being honest, I was relieved because his layoff gave me peace in an unexpected way. It gave us both a chance to reimagine what life could look like. I knew our baby wouldn't have to be in daycare with strangers. I knew he'd be home with someone who was gentle, patient, fun, and truly loved being with children. See, my husband has this incredible, genuine connection with kids. He has so much fun being in the presence of children. He doesn't just tolerate them. He sees them, talks to them, plays with them in a way that makes them feel understood and he loves it. It's just who he is. So my husband was excited to be a stay at home dad. I kept working and pushing to climb the invisible corporate ladder. I was leading breakthrough innovation development projects, developing new fatigue and fracture test methods. I supervised two technicians and I traveled for work. My husband and our baby would travel with me, and then we'd hang out in the hotel together after I was done with my meetings. I even commercialized a structural adhesive that brought in over a million dollars in the first six months. I won awards. I was contributing, and it was exciting. Then when I was pregnant with our second child... have you ever had a day that felt like it unfolded in slow motion? There are days where you barely remember what you ate for breakfast. And then there are days so vivid. It's like watching a movie you've seen before. You know the ending, but you still feel every single scene. That was January 9th, 2009 for me. I came in early that morning and as I walked around the corner towards my cubicle, there he was, my boss's boss. Can I see you for a minute? Sure. I said, and I went to my cubicle and I took my lunch and jacket off the guest chair. No, let's meet in the conference room. Do I need to bring anything? Nope. Well, I grabbed a steno notebook and a pen just in case and we walked outside the huge room, filled with cubicles and started walking down the long hallway. With gray, rubber, textured floors, white walls, fluorescent lights, and that hallway seemed extra long that morning. We went to the smallest conference room, far away from everyone else. As I approached the door, I saw the HR lady was there and she was sitting across the table, and my boss was there and he was seated on the left. There was a paper on the table, face down, like an exam. Don't touch it until you're told to flip it. And then it was a bit of a blur, but above the noise of the heat being forced out of the duct in the ceiling, I heard projected sales are down 40%. We are making a 10% reduction in force, and I was one of 300 getting this news. And in that moment, it didn't matter that I had just commercialized that adhesive that was doing exceptionally well. It didn't matter that I'd contributed meaningfully for nearly seven years, and it surely didn't matter I was pregnant. Then as I left the room with a manila envelope in hand. Sandy, the amazingly sweet executive assistant who was kind and viewed a little like she was everyone's mom. She was waiting there for me, and she gave me a box that had previously held printer paper, and I had five minutes to gather whatever I wanted and put it in that box. Now, Sandy looked heartbroken, and yet black runner style stopwatch in hand, she was doing her job. She told me she'd go through the rest of it and ship it to me, and then I had to give my badge back and she walked me right back down that super long hallway and someone else was now in that room. Sandy had to walk me all the way to the door and make sure it shut and locked as I left, I was out. Just like that. On my way out to the parking lot while carrying my box, a friend of mine was making her way in because she was a little later than normal, and she asked about the box and I felt this wave of embarrassment and shame surround me. So I said something quick and witty, and she carried on oblivious. And then I heard birds chirping their beautiful song. And I remember angrily thinking, how can you be singing? I just lost my job. My husband is a stay at home dad, and this isn't something to sing about. I put my lunch back on the front seat of the minivan, and I got in on the other side. I sat stunned for a moment, and then the tears fell. I called my husband and I told him what happened, and he was so compassionate. And he said, well, stop sitting there. Turn on the van and come on home. We love you. Apparently when our potty training toddler heard the news that mommy didn't have a job anymore, he had an accident in his pants. Even the tiniest member of our family felt the visceral ripple. It had been just days before that he didn't want me to go to work. And I had said I had to, so we could live in our house and have food. Imagine what your life would be like if your career aligned with who you are, what you do best, and actually fueled the life you want. At Next Success, we support all ages and stages through career transitions from students exploring majors or careers to job seekers actively searching or re-imagining their next move to professionals committed to self-awareness and leadership growth. Stay connected and explore what's possible at nextsuccesscareers.com and follow@nextsuccessmethod on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You are listening to Your Next Success with Dr. Caroline Sangal. Let's continue the journey to your authentic success. That layoff, humbled me, shook me, and then it opened a door. A few days later, I knew we had to be adults and figure things out. So one evening I looked at my husband and I said, okay, someone's gotta get a job. And I vote not it.'cause he'd been home for almost three years at that point. So now it was time for him to reimagine what came next and so I asked him if you could do anything, what would you do? He admitted that although he had done well as a chemical engineer, he didn't really like it much. He said he had always found supply chain fascinating. He thought maybe it would be fun to get an MBA. And so I said, well, what do you need to do to get an MBA? And he said, first I have to take the GMAT. So as I was sitting there with my laptop, I searched and I found the next available testing date in our area. I signed him up and I paid, it was for the following Saturday. He protested, I can't do it Saturday, and I said, seriously, what else do you have going on? He was worried about the cost and I told him I already paid. It was like$250 and I reminded him since I had a few months of severance, it wasn't like anything was different yet, so I told him, think of it like a practice run, something to build momentum. He studied all week, took the test, did okay, and then he retook it a few weeks later and crushed it. He got his MBA. And he's worked in supply chain roles with a major construction equipment manufacturer ever since, and he's thriving. He enjoys what he does, and it all started with a layoff and a bold question of what would he want to do if he could do anything. This reminds me of a story Oprah once shared. Now to the outside observer who doesn't know her story. It appears as though she's wildly successful, put together, does great things for the world. She is powerful, influential, well connected. And if you didn't know, you may even assume that she'd always been successful and came from a good family. I went to a conference Oprah put on an early 2020 before the pandemic. It was called"2020 Vision Your Life in Focus". And she told more of her story and I had never heard it before. She talked about her childhood being marked with trauma, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and so many horrible things. And much of it happened when she lived with her mother. And so then she talked about how in late 2018 her mother was very ill and dying. Now while Oprah was traveling for hours to make it there, she kept thinking about all the pain she had experienced and all the things that happened to her because of her mother. Now, Oprah really wanted to let her have it and tell her once and for all how much pain and hurt she had caused. Then as she walked into the hospital room. And heard the beeping of the heart monitor and all the other hospital sounds, something came over her. Something shifted. A wave of peace and gratitude settled in, and she realized, had all of those things not happened, she wouldn't have become who she was. Oprah had spent decades with anger and rage about all the things that had happened to her. And in this final moment with her mother, she was able to genuinely forgive her, and she realized those things happened for her because it shaped who she became. It made her who she is. She said Everything that happened, happened for me. And when I heard that, it landed hard, and I felt something shift, because losing your job can feel like a betrayal, like something done to you. But what if you flip the script? What if this happened for you? To bring you back to yourself? To redirect your energy? To open the door you would've never chosen, but that leads to everything you actually want? My layoff, it shook me, humbled me, had me questioning everything. It made me question my worth, my identity, everything I thought I'd earned. I had been working so hard. I was leading innovation, I was contributing. I was doing everything right or so I thought. And then just like that, I was no longer needed. It was one of those moments where the walls around your confidence collapse, where everything gets quiet and your brain spins with thoughts like, am I not good enough? Was I wrong about everything? It felt so personal, even though I know it wasn't. But now, from this vantage point, years later. I can look back and say without hesitation, I'm so glad I experienced the trauma of that layoff because that moment cracked open a new path. One I couldn't have seen if I had stayed on the trajectory I was on. Now listen, maybe that word trauma made you bristle a little. Maybe you're thinking, come on, it is just a job people go through. Worse. Now, quick note, I am not a mental health professional. What I'm sharing here comes from personal experience, deep research, and supporting hundreds of people through career transitions. And I believe that talking about the things that most people want to hide or forget, talking about it openly, honestly, and without shame, it helps us all to heal, grow, and move forward. So if anything in this episode hits home for you, I invite you to explore it with curiosity, not judgment. You are not alone in this, because a lot of people, especially those of us in science, tech, and other high pressure fields, we minimize, we power through. We try to think our way past what we're actually feeling, but mental health is health and yes, trauma shows up in more ways than we think. Layoffs can trigger grief, identity confusion, shame, financial fear, relationship stress, even physical symptoms like fatigue or insomnia. But instead of acknowledging that, most people try to outrun it. Here's what trauma experts say to move through something hard, you have to first remember before it happened, who you were, what your life looked like. You don't freeze frame your identity in the worst moment. You widen the lens and then you move forward because this layoff is part of your story, but it is not your whole story. In hindsight, it happened for me. Before the layoff, I had been wondering how I could be the kind of mom that I wanted to be because I would leave shortly after my child got up and I would return when he was winding down and getting ready for bed. Then I'd wake up, get ready, kiss him, work, come home, dinner, bath, bedtime, hang out with my husband, go to bed, repeat. I read to him when I could. On weekends I was exhausted, and on Monday it started all over again. And as I looked around and I saw women in higher positions, like I thought I wanted, I remember being concerned because they were at work all the time. And I had this disconnect. How could I be all the things that I wanted to be? How could I be a present mom, a loving wife, and a successful corporate ladder climber? The layoff gave me space. I got to be with my kids. When they went to school, I volunteered so often, many people thought I worked there. I got to be present for more of my kids' waking hours. And it gave me time to reflect upon what I truly enjoyed. Now, if you're the one listening today, and your partner or someone you care about is the one who's been laid off, here's something important. This is your moment to remind them that they are not their job. They are still the brilliant, capable, thoughtful human you chose before the job title, before the paycheck. Look'em in the eyes and say, you are amazing. I believe in you, and this is just one chapter, not your whole story. Give them space to feel, to grieve, to breathe. Don't jump into fix it mode. Just be there. Reassure them that this doesn't change how you see them. That kindness can mean more than you'll ever realize. And if it was you that was laid off and you're starting to doubt, remember you have a 100% success rate at surviving hard things and challenging days, and you will survive this too. Have you ever read a book so gripping that you couldn't put it down even though you already knew how it ended? Like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they sneak past Fluffy, that three-headed growling, devilish, big sharp teeth drooling dog guarding the trap door that led to the underground protection of the sorcerer stone. That whole sequence with trials like Devil's snare, the flying keys, the life-size chess game. And more. It's one of the first time Harry faces, real danger, and chooses to keep going. The stakes are massive, the fear is real, and when you read it, it feels like your heart is about to beat out of your chest. And it's a powerful metaphor. As you're reading, you think the terrifying dog is the thing to fear, but it's just the first test on your way to something greater. If you got laid off, you might feel like you are staring down a three-headed dog right now. Something huge and terrifying, but just like Harry, what's on the other side isn't just danger, it's discovery. And as you're reading, somewhere in your mind, you remember, wait, this can't be how it ends. There's still chapters left. He's the main character. His story isn't over. And friend. Neither is yours. Courage isn't the absence of fear. It is the decision to keep going. Fearless isn't no fear, it's fear less. Losing a job might feel like the end of everything, but it's not. It's a chapter, maybe a dark one, maybe one that you'll reread years from now with tears in your eyes, but you're still here. Still breathing, still holding the pen. Before you go, if this episode resonated with you,

I want to invite you to take one small, meaningful step, especially if you've experienced an unexpected job loss. I created a free resource just for this moment. It's called The Pause. A gentle reflection guide for unexpected job loss. Inside you'll find thoughtful prompts, quiet reframes, and simple ways to reconnect with who you are, even beyond your job title. Because clarity doesn't come from panic, it comes from presence. You can download it now using the link in the show notes.

So give yourself that gift. It's free, and it's waiting for you And if you already know this moment is calling you to something deeper. Don't miss the full job search roadmap experience. We go much further inside that program. But today, just start here. Download the guide, sit with the questions, and reclaim your story. Okay, friends, keep going forward. Turn the page because the best part of your story is still ahead. There are days that pass without a trace. You don't even remember what you had for breakfast. And then there are the days that mark you. Days that feel like they happen in slow motion. When I think back to that long hallway, the birds outside, the stunned drive home. I remember everything, the smell of the paper box, the look on the admin's face, the way I couldn't even form many words when I saw my friend. That day is still etched in my mind, but it doesn't define me. It became part of a bigger story, one that's still being written. And if today is your layoff day, know this. This is not the end. It's not even close. It's a moment. And what you do next can change everything. Keep going. You're not done yet. Thanks for listening to Your Next Success with Dr. Caroline Sangal. Remember, authentic success is yours to define and includes aligning your career to support the life you want.