I felt pure happiness when I was laid off from Microsoft after 14 years. It was the green light I needed to start my own business.

• Tatiana Teppoeva launched her own company after being laid off from Microsoft in January.
• Her son’s entrepreneurial success inspired her to pursue her long-held business dreams.
• Now she’s in control of her own schedule and enjoys the freedom that comes with being an entrepreneur.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tatiana Teppoeva, a 49-year-old entrepreneur in Redmond, Washington. It’s been edited for length and clarity.

I’m an entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in economics and two master’s degrees, and I’m currently pursuing an MBA. I’m also a US patent holder in predictive AI, a certified personality profiler, and certified in nonverbal communication, voice, and speech analysis.

At the start of my career, I worked at Boeing as a business analyst, where I led global customer satisfaction initiatives and internal employee engagement analytics.

In May 2011, I joined Microsoft as a senior research manager. From 2015 to 2025, I transitioned into a senior data and applied scientist role, where I developed and patented an AI model for predicting hardware failures.

When I was laid off from Microsoft after 14 years, I started a company, One Nonverbal Ecosystem, rather than seeking a new corporate job. Now I teach executives how to command the room and project the presence they want.

I got an email from Microsoft in January telling me I had been laid off

My first reaction was disbelief and pure happiness. I picked up the phone and called a friend to share the news.

For more than a year, I had been thinking about leaving to start my own company, but it was not an easy decision after a 17-year stable career at Boeing and Microsoft.

I even had a resignation letter saved in my drafts, waiting for the right moment. When the layoff happened, I felt it was a green light, and I was grateful.

Microsoft provided me with clarity and a financial cushion with severance and medical coverage, which allowed me to start building my business without the immediate pressure of financial concerns.

One of the biggest inspirations for me to start my own company was my son, who’s a successful businessman

I watched him start from nothing and build something impressive as a business owner in the construction space. He wasn’t interested in college, and I didn’t know how it would turn out, but I told him it was the perfect time to experiment. If it worked, wonderful. If not, he would still gain valuable experience. I’ve always believed we either win or we learn; there are no failures.

Watching his journey encouraged me to take the same leap. I had wanted to start my own business since I was 30, but life circumstances made me put that dream on hold.

But now, my kids are older, and I have my degrees and experience. I know I could always return to employment if I want to.

In Big Tech, I learned that fear, not ambition, became the dominant driver behind performance

One time while at Microsoft, we were in the middle of a high-stakes incident review, the kind where everyone is under pressure because millions of users could be affected.

On the surface, the team looked motivated and fully engaged, but when we talked privately afterward, many colleagues admitted they were working out of fear of being blamed if something went wrong.

That moment showed me how often performance in corporate settings is powered by fear rather than real drive. Fear can create short bursts of results, but it’s not sustainable in the long run. I learned that people do their best work when they feel trust and clarity, not when they’re trying to avoid punishment.

This is exactly how I envision entrepreneurship: being busy on my own terms

I officially launched my business in spring 2025. Some days I work 16 hours and I love it, and other days I might work zero. I decide when and what I do. I really enjoy learning new things, and this is a completely new world for me.

At times, it feels overwhelming because I have 100 ideas competing in my head, so I have to work on focusing.

I’ve been published in the media, spoken on podcasts, created my first online course, trained small business teams, and worked with high-level individuals — all things I had never done before. Recently, I hired my first employee part-time.

I wish I had known earlier that isolation is not the challenge I expected

For me, it’s actually the opposite. I’m part of many communities and groups, so I often have to step back to focus on my top priorities.

The real difference from corporate life is that now, even when I feel overwhelmed, it’s because of my own choices — and that feels like freedom.

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