If Abagail Were Laid Off (Again) – Here's What She Would Do Differently 5 Years Later
Episode 504: Show Notes
We get a million DMs from people saying they are ready to strike out on their own and telling us they will listen and start with services. If you have been listening for some time now, you will know just how much we believe in service-based businesses. But before you do anything, as always, we recommend you listen to our second episode, back in 2017, the year we launched the show, where we had Abagail on as a guest.
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In that episode, Emylee interviewed her to find out how she replaced her corporate income after getting laid off. Since we reference that episode a billion times, we thought it would be fun to do a 2021 version, where we find out how Abagail would handle the same situation today. Some of the things might be similar, but what are the new strategies Abagail would leverage now? Technology and marketing have changed so much that there are sure to be a few new ways to bounce back quicker.
How Abagail Became Her Own Boss
Back in the day, Abagail went to school for graphic design and then landed in marketing. She worked in a number of different industries, including the non-profit world, traditional agencies, and education. Her last stop before becoming her own boss was at a tech startup – and that was a whole beast of its own! She was recruited from her in-house corporate position to work in this tech company, and to say it was awkward would be an understatement. Even though she started around Christmas time, by February she got the news that the entire marketing team was getting laid off in 30 days. Although she could have gone back to her previous job or another corporate role, she had a gut feeling that this was her chance to finally do her own thing. Abagail was a newly-wed and first-time homeowner, and her husband had only been working in his job for three or four months but, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (and maybe a little overconfident), Abagail gave herself a timeline of around 90 days to make something happen. Much to her surprise, after just 30 days she had enough clients to replace her corporate income! So, what did Abbie not do? She didn’t start a macrame business or sell coffee mugs on Instagram. While these ideas are great, there is a massive difference between creating something that pays your bills and allows you independence and simply following your dreams. We are not saying that you shouldn’t have a passion project, but if it’s going to put you in debt and shatter your confidence because you can’t get it off the ground, is it really worth it?
Using What You Have to Start Your Own Thing
Many people go from what they think is a secure income and steady paycheck to picking a dream job and wanting to build it from scratch. That just isn’t going to work. Instead, we would suggest a bridge. The best bridges are the ones you have already built. What do we mean by this? They are the skills you already have that people are willing to pay you for. So, either you have been paid for doing it, you've gone to school for it, or you've done related volunteer work. Whatever it is, it is something you already have that doesn't require a big time or financial commitment. We are not saying that product businesses aren't amazing. We love them, and while you should totally work on these skills, maybe this is not the best way to get your empire off the ground. Abagail followed this strategy, and started the blog and Instagram that ultimately turned into Boss Project! Yes, she didn’t know this would happen at the time, but it was meant to be. By choosing to follow her heart, Abagail was filling up her cup and, by meeting her own needs, she was finally in a position to meet everyone else's. Doing this wasn't easy because she had to change her mindset and find a new friend group. Until then, Abagail's social network was full of people working paycheck-to-paycheck, waiting for retirement to have fun. Now, her friends are entrepreneurs, big dreamers, and people chasing their dreams. She chose to surround herself with more successful people, and through this, she pushed herself too.
What to Do First If You Are Laid Off
If you have been laid off from your job, you have a special kind of fire under your booty, and it’s easy to get caught up chasing shiny objects. But it’s so important to stay focused. So, first things first, get some kind of website together. Although Abagail has been out of the design game for a while, she would totally offer this service again. Maybe now, she would build an agency rather than offering the services herself but, as we all know, Abagail is not afraid to roll her sleeves up and do the work! Even though social media is where it’s at now, she would still go with marketing and branding because of all the pressure that comes with social. Along with her marketing services, she would also offer more styling and photography services, because she absolutely loves this, and she and Emylee make the dream style team! Now that Abagail is in a more financially empowered position, it’s almost a sure thing that she would lean into an agency and make the best hires she could.
Getting Laid Off When You Are Financially Secure
Not everyone who gets laid off is at the same stage of life. For some of us – like Abagail five years ago – it is all about the grind and trying to make ends meet. On the other hand, not all of us have financial pressure and just want to build something that's our own. It is still important to consider what you want to be doing every day and what you actually need to do to make things happen. Emylee weighs in, talking about why she would start an agency with the intention of selling it within five years if she got let go. Of course, she would make sure that somehow Abagail was laid off, as well, because what would Boss Project be without her? Now that we are all grown up, we know that you don’t have to be committed to your business forever. It is okay to do something for a few years before you move on. So, yes, we would start with an agency and sell the heck out of it! We would still use a service model, but rather than providing the service ourselves, we would be running the show ourselves. We would focus on relationship-building and see how we can retain clients rather than only having one-off packages. Now that Abagail now has more connections and is in a better position to leverage them, she would definitely be less intimidated by cold-pitching. But what if Abagail were laid off but could not start up something of her own? Would she work locally or for a competitor elsewhere? She would find a remote job for a kickass company, probably Dubsado. Don't forget, Abagail also has a second business, outside of Boss Project that she could throw herself into as well.
Quote This
I want dollars quicker than I want this perfect, dreamy business.
Highlights
How Abagail Became Her Own Boss [0:03:44.1]
Using What You Have to Start Your Own Thing [0:11:32.1]
What to Do First If You Are Laid Off [0:19:27.1]
Getting Laid Off When You Are Financially Secure [0:32:23.1]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:43:16.6]
Identify a skill you already have that you could turn around tomorrow for a client and charge a premium price for, and be willing to do it for anyone.
Offer your services to everyone – yes, everyone – and accept working with less-than-ideal clients (for now).
Build up savings, ideally three to six months to live off of, and only then should you think about pivoting to what you would like to be doing.
Create relationships with people you would like to work with but not necessarily hire full-time.
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Transitions, Pivot, Skills, Social Network, Branding, Marketing, Agency, Financial Security, Entrepreneurship
