A laid off folk's humble brag

"Have you been laid off before?" It's odd to answer so quickly...yes. A friend of mine jokes that in our friend group we've all rotated being laid off for the past 10 years. It was only a few months ago that she laughed that we'd all been employed for a couple of years solid. I suppose it was my turn to continue the cycle. The first time I was laid off I was at a boutique start-up agency. We were small. And close. Transparency around what was happening didn't necessarily calm anxieties, but it helped. I felt prepared in some small way. And it was only a month or so before I had a start date in a new role. I look back on it somewhat fondly. I went to matinees with my coworker. I caught up on 4 seasons of Game of Thrones. I got lots of credit card points....nostalgia has a funny way of smoothing out the rough parts.

This time felt different. More shocking. More scary. More heartbreaking. For all the reasons you can imagine, and many perhaps you cannot. In the first few days post-layoff, it was a tornado of emotion, but the biggest one? Gratitude. I'm a broken record about it. Because it shocked me. Not gratitude for the layoff—it's never fun to not have it be on your own terms—but gratitude for the outreach. From my coworkers, former coworkers, current clients, former clients, college classmates, volunteer board members, coworkers of coworkers, and family. In the aftermath of what felt like my world turning upside down, I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I am to have such a strong network. Anytime I caught myself thinking "what was it all for? what did I work so hard for?" I remind myself it's for that. For the relationships that I'd been honored to build with talented, creative, and caring people from all walks of life.

I know I'll land on my feet. I know I'll find a new team that I can create magic with. A new organization where I can add value. And when I do? I'm sure there will be hard days. There always are. (They call it work, eh?) So when the nagging "what's it all for?" comes creeping back in I'll remember these moments. These moments of reassurance. Of love. Of support.

So if you're a potential employer who's stumbled across this blog, hey, you can hear from other people just how great I would be for your team. But more than anything? This is for me. This is the space to return to when doubt strikes or imposter syndrome flirts. This is the space to remind myself... it's really all so worth it.

My humble brag is that I left a mark. I made an impact. I added value. Together in collaboration with other brilliant minds, we made a difference.

The kind words that made it all worth it:

"If I could scoop up Kristin Balliet right now I would! There is nothing she cannot tackle - with savvy professionalism and awesome sense of humor. " - Former boss and agency business owner at B-Side

"To have a Kristin on your team is to have a… Leader. Mentor. Supporter. Trailblazer. Friend.… amongst many other ridiculously awesome traits. I was once lucky enough to work with someone like Kristin while I was still a newbie in the marketing world. She took me under her wing, never judged, and always pushed me (in the best ways possible)." - Former colleague at Born Collective

"Whoever hires you next will be striking gold." - Former freelance collaborator

"Any team would be lucky to have such a capable and awesome human working with them!" - Former client at CooperVision

"I am always happy to recommend you for the fabulous work you did for me!" - Former client at Woods Oviatt

"We've truly valued your partnership and the contributions you've made on our projects and it's been a pleasure working with you." - Former client at Deloitte

"THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your amazing work. You have been wonderful to work with and create all this amazing work together. You will be GREATLY missed." - Former client at Google X Moonshot

"It was a pleasure working with you for (re)naming. Will miss you dreadfully on our work, and hope we can work together again in the future." Former client at J.P. Morgan

"Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed working with you over the years. Working through the partner program was a crazy, big, and stressful project, with lots of personalities to navigate (to say the least). You always brought me a sense of calm to talk through some of these complexities and find solutions that worked well, which was very much appreciated." - Former client at Google

The most sincere to all those who have showed up for me over the past few weeks. My gratitude has filled me with so much joy this holiday season.