This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Laura Zimmermaker, who is in her 40s and lives in California. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
I was a director at a Series A health tech SaaS platform, managing a team and the strategy for a global clinician network. I worked at the startup for just under two years, moving to a different role during one reorg, and then later getting laid off.
It was my first layoff, but I’d been out of work before, and I wasn’t new to the shame of not having a job and trying to figure out my identity.
Still, nothing prepared me for what I encountered after this layoff: Nearly two years of job searching has passed.
Now, I’m no longer actively looking for a new position. The idea of going out on my own was always in the back of my mind, but it was never something I had executed on — until now.
I was pretty disappointed to be laid off, and shame set in pretty quickly
I’d prided myself on my career success, so there was this extreme loss of identity and purpose. My son was nine months old, and I felt like I’d let my husband and son down. I felt stunned and defeated.
I’d already been feeling conflicted because becoming a mom is also a complete loss of identity, and I’d been struggling with trying to do it all.
What brought me some peace was that my job had been such a hard, stressful environment, and it was taking away from my time with my son. It was a relief not to carry that burden anymore.
I dove into job-searching a few months after my layoff
Coming off a fast-paced startup where the workload was intense, I was looking to go to big established companies in individual contributor to manager-level roles, and then grow my way back up to director-level.
It was hard to know how to position myself. In early interviews, I didn’t have confidence — you could read it, you could see it. I didn’t know how to level up my interviewing skills. I was in my 40s, up against people much younger than me.
I was focusing on all these barriers against me, whether people perceived them or not.
My first ‘aha’ moment happened when I overhauled my résumé
Part of building a strong résumé was understanding what my professional brand was.
I looked back on my career evolution, found the commonalities in it, and identified what excites me. I saw themes: I’m a doer, a strategist, a builder, and a healthcare relationship marketer.
I also found a great résumé template from a LinkedIn influencer who has free material and offers free videos on YouTube. I leveraged his template and built a robust, quantifiable résumé. Once I had my formal template, I just customized my summary and achievements instead of trying to rewrite with keywords each time I applied.
I started to feel more confident when I began to hear back from companies. I was getting interviews from big healthcare companies to smaller startups — and for marketing roles.
That’s when I realized that I’d been promoting myself the wrong way. I wasn’t using the right industry keywords to define my experience and skill set. I’d never felt like I was doing marketing because they weren’t formally called “marketing” roles, but I’d been building relationships with healthcare professionals to help with brand awareness and develop content.
I began to find my rhythm.
My second ‘aha’ moment was learning how to pitch myself and own my story in interviews
As I started getting more interviews, they’d come in clumps of two or three — I’d be consistently interviewing with two or three companies for a few months, and then I wouldn’t get any of the jobs.
I made it to the final round for a remote role I really wanted and had to do a presentation. I was well-prepared and excited, but again I didn’t get the job.
I even looked locally for jobs. I live in a small rural town, where everyone knows everyone. During one interview, it was apparent from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be the right fit; the company straight-up asked if I’d be bored after working with global clients.
At first, I didn’t know what to say, but then I gave them the true answer: I wanted to make a local impact in the healthcare landscape and with rural medicine, and expand access to healthcare.
I walked out of there thinking I had a new business plan for myself: I could consult, help companies with their program management, and build out plans they can execute.
I told the company I wasn’t interested.
I formed my LLC in October, Frontline Health Strategy & Consulting
This is the first time I have gone off to start an LLC. I’m doing things on my own, but that’s my style. I like wearing many hats.
I’m leveraging Coursera and my network. I have an experienced friend helping me with contracts and pricing. I also paid to watch an expert share how to launch a business, and then came up with my niche and my offerings.
So far, I’ve been doing some consulting with a pre-seed AI startup and have built a bunch of templates and roadmaps. A former boss has offered me consulting work.
I’ve never been happier. I’m now looking at the rejection and the failure as the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I got to lean into being a mom and changed my definition of success by meeting other moms and integrating myself into the community.
I spent so many days crying with shame and despair, wondering, what is the universe telling me? Why don’t companies want me? I’m doing everything right. I’m learning from my failures. I’m iterating. I’m leveling up and I’m not giving up. I’m resilient. Why is nothing happening for me?
It took going through two local interviews and applying for the remote position I really wanted to realize that I have a niche and skills that I can offer in many different ways, instead of a full-time job.
I’m confident now knowing my path is consulting, and I’m so excited to do the work that I’m going to offer.
What has your job search been like? Have you pivoted to freelancing or starting a business? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].
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