On September 10, 2001, I lost my job.
I had been working as a recruiter and leadership development trainer at a telecom startup in Northern Virginia. The founder and I disagreed on how he was handling interviews and messaging with new hires. By the end of the day, he told me he was letting me go.
The next morning, I woke up to a beautiful, clear blue sky. My mind was still processing the reality of being unemployed, but I was mostly focused on meeting with my staff to break the news and talk about what was next.
Then, everything changed.
The door to my office flew open. A colleague burst in. “Planes have hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon!”
We ran downstairs to the bar/restaurant on the ground floor, where the TVs were broadcasting the unthinkable. Shock. Fear. Disbelief. The room was heavy with the same emotions that would soon engulf the entire country.
Being in Northern Virginia, just miles from Dulles Airport and the Pentagon, the news hit especially close. My thoughts immediately turned to my husband, a senior executive with the Department of Energy. He was onsite at the Los Alamos nuclear facility, which had gone into immediate lockdown. I couldn’t reach him.
I also knew we had a friend who worked in the Pentagon. I started making frantic calls, desperate for any word.
At that moment, my job loss was the farthest thing from my mind. Safety. Family. Friends. That was all that mattered.
Days later, I learned that our friend had been killed when the plane struck the Pentagon. Another friend’s wife was on that flight. The weight of Grief was immense.
It wasn’t until weeks later, when the world began to settle into a new reality, that I started thinking about my own future. I was 48. I had built a successful career, earned a comfortable salary, and now, suddenly, I felt like I was standing at the edge of a cliff.
The job market had changed overnight. People weren’t hiring. I was relatively new to Northern Virginia and lacked a strong local network. My confidence took hit after hit as my job search yielded nothing but silence and rejection.
Then came the breakdown.
I remember calling my son, gasping through tears, convinced I was unemployable. That I would run out of Money. That I had failed. That I would end up on welfare, ashamed of what my children and family would think of me.
My son, a recent Georgetown graduate and wise beyond his years, listened. Then he said, “Mom, why don’t you look into teaching? You’ve always loved working with kids.”
“No way,” I shot back. “I’d have to go back to school. Take a pay cut. I can’t do that.”
How often do we let our own beliefs about success and failure trap us?
Eventually, I took a job as a Center Director at a Sylvan Learning Center. I enjoyed it—helping students succeed was fulfilling—but something was still missing.
That’s when I reached out to a coach.
At first, it felt uncomfortable. Vulnerable. But as I trusted the process, Clarity emerged. Then one day, my coach said something that changed everything:
“I think you would be a great coach.”
Lightbulb moment.
For the first time, I saw the path I had been searching for. A way to combine my desire to help others navigate career and life transitions with my love for teaching and mentoring.
In 2012—11 years after losing my job—I finally took the leap. I enrolled in an intensive 9-month Coaching program. It was life-changing. By 2013, I became a certified Life Transition Coach.
I know what it feels like to lose a job and question everything. I know the fear, the uncertainty, the self-doubt.
That’s why my heart is with government employees who have suddenly lost their jobs.
I don’t want anyone to struggle alone the way I did.
If you—or someone you know—has been impacted, I would love to help. No obligation. Just a conversation with someone who has walked this path. Sometimes, having a listening ear from someone who truly understands can make all the difference.
Please feel free to share my contact information with anyone who could use support.
wendy@heyboomer.biz
The post If You Just Lost Your Job, Read This—You Are Not Alone first appeared on .
Originally Published on HeyBoomer.biz
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