How Getting Laid Off Was The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me
My first day in my new apartment in Florence. Photo by Christel Gellidon
Fresh out of college, I was lucky enough to land a corporate buying job with Macy's West. I was driven and eager to get my career off the ground. Like most new grads I was hungry for success and couldn't see any obstacles on my road to success.
So boy did I get a reality check when after almost 2 years of hard work, just a month shy of promotion, did I and over a thousand other Macy's employees get the shocking news that the entire Macy's West San Francisco Office was being laid off. It was 2009 and the economy was still struggling to recover from the recession. In one of the nation's largest layoffs in a single day Macy's laid off a total of 7000 employees nationwide, 1400 of which were from San Francisco.
Macy's Cutting 1400 Jobs in San Francisco - SFGATE
Working in the heart of downtown SF, we passed many homeless individuals on a day to day. That day, they herded us all into a hotel ballroom to tell us the news. As we all walked out with our heads down and our spirits even lower, news crews were already outside covering the story.
I'll never forget that very moment, when a homeless man I had walked past every morning shouted "Don't worry guys! We'll get through this!". Ain't that life for ya. One day you're rushing to your 9 to 5 the next you are unsure about tomorrow.
The in next months that passed, I saw all my colleagues scrambling to update resumes and tirelessly apply for jobs. Retail fashion opportunities were already scarce in the Bay Area and now an entire corporate headquarters full of people were all competing for whatever jobs were open. It was at this moment I decided to go against the grain.
Everyone is applying for every buying opening in San Francisco. I think I'll go the opposite direction.
Florence at Sunset. Photo by Christel Gellidon
The Arno. Photo by Christel Gellidon
I had long dreamed of living abroad. The adventure of travel had always been a deep passion and the thought of living in a foreign land was mesmerizing. After some research I found a Master's program in Fashion Merchandising offered at a prestigious fashion school in Florence, Italy. Without a thought in the world, I went ahead and applied and before I knew it a month later I had my bags packed with a one way ticket to Italy. I left my boyfriend, family, friends and whole life at home, on nothing but faith that this was the right path for me. Was I crazy?!
Firenze at Night. Photo by Christel Gellidon
YES. I sure was crazy. But I always considered that a compliment.
The next 7 months flew by in a whirlwind of adventure, learning and unforgettable memories. In those months I developed the most amazing friendships with my class of women from around the world. 15 women, studying fashion, each from a different corner of globe, all here together to exchange ideas. From visiting leather factories in Florence, to attending Milan Fashion Week, together we were bonded in this once in a lifetime experience. It would forever leave a mark on us all. And since then we have maintained our friendships, and further nurtured our shared love for travel and adventure by reuniting each year in a different country.
Polimoda Master in Fashion Merchandising & Management Class of 2009
From weddings in India, to New Year's Eve in Brazil to holidays in Dubai, the friendships I developed in Florence, keeps me exploring the true meaning of “The Fashion World”
All of which would have never happened if I had never been laid off from my corporate job. Taking a heartbreaking event, and refusing to surrender to the idea of defeat, I used that very same moment of "failure" to push me towards an ever greater path of success. A true testament to the idea of a "blessing in disguise" getting laid off was truly the best things that ever happened to me. It forever changed my life, and I couldn't be happier to have let it done so.