Hello from the other side...

So I guess this year’s story is just going to start to write itself. Not to bury the lede: I am presently funemployed.

It’s kind of funny, really. I feel like I spent the better part of the start of this year knowing there were layoffs coming at work and trying to make sure people who might not have been through this before in their career were prepared. Always be prepared to be laid off. In my last 1:1s, when RIF-gossip was at its peak, and folks were looking for reassurance that they were doing high-value (read: safe) work, I said over and over again: “Yes, you are. But remember: You could be the objectively best person ever at your job, but if the business decides it wants to move your job somewhere else, then it’s going to do that.”

At least I was taking my own medicine. Two weeks ago, when I was gearing up to lead my team through RIF day, an email appeared in my personal inbox: “Impact to your role.” I was out.

It wasn’t a complete surprise. I’d sensed something was up in the couple of weeks leading up to it. But it was still a surprise in that I’d been told I wasn’t impacted. So it goes. My whole hemming and hawing about what I want to do with this fork in the road? Well - the fork made the decision for me. And if I’m being honest: I’m kind of relieved.

I’m still struggling with the whole identity crisis of it all. My whole career has been tied up in tech. But the idea of going to another tech company just doesn’t feel at all right at the moment. Maybe that’ll change with time, but as it stands, I don’t think it’s my right next move. It feels weird to say out loud the thing that I’ve only said jokingly in the past: I don’t want to do tech as my full-time thing. I want a real, tangible small business. Like an ice cream shop. Or my farm. I want the people I work with, and for, to be real, normal everyday humans. Not to say tech people aren’t normal humans. But we exist in a whole distorted reality.

The plan for now: I’m open to some consulting, advising, teaching, or fractional work. I’ll revisit the whole “Do I go back into tech full time?” conversation toward the end of the summer. For now, while the kid is still little, owning my own schedule is important to me. Without being strapped to my chair in front of Zoom for 8-9 hours a day, I now have the freedom to do the more important things like take him to swim classes or go to the playground after school. I don’t want to trade that right now. I’m going to use my “working” hours to learn things, experiment with things, and, if I’m lucky, find an ice cream shop to buy. I’m also keeping up with A Tiny Workshop and might pick up some vendor events as we enter that season.

As it turns out, Scatterfocus might be the right name for this newsletter after all. Stay tuned for what’s next. Your guess is as good as mine.

Until next time…

Jenn

P.S. I am very open to ideas or suggestions for how to spend the coming months, including (kid-friendly) travel, ideas to explore, books to read, people to talk to, etc. Please send anything my way! 🙏