"Life tends to be cyclical and it's impossible to know where we are on those cycles. The best we can do is be resilient, and if we avail ourselves of our intelligence, and family and communities, we can make it through."
The decision wasn't made lightly. I can remember walking the sidewalks of our Colorado exurb, trying to decide if this was the right choice. In that sunny winter weather, our daughter bundled up in a stroller, the dog investigating lawns, our conversations would go: "Are you happy here?" "I feel like if we stay we're going to get old in front of the TV." "Can you imagine how much better the food will be?" "If we don't do it now, we'll probably never do it."
I'm never one to say no to travel, whether it's for work, to visit a friend, or just because. In the first half of last year alone, I flew from New York to Palm Springs with friends, planned a London trip around a play I wanted to see, and saw Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter tour in Los Angeles. One of my friends was trying to sell me on one more big vacation - Scotland, maybe, or Paris - that we could take together
After getting laid off in 2023, marketing veteran Julie Levin worked part time as a bartender for about six months as she considered her next steps. Levin is now the head of brand partnerships at Two Things, a New York City consultancy specializing in business transformations. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity. I moved across the country from LA to the New York area in 2022 for a really exciting job that I thought would mark the next phase of my career.
I didn't expect to feel relieved when I got laid off. I've found the work fulfilling, but around five years ago I began to reconsider my role.