In 2001, I was a copywriter at The Martin Agency, when they announced they were “moving” the Interactive division (my group) to New York, which meant laying off everyone in Richmond. Little did I realize that that job loss would be just the first in a series over a 20+ year career as an advertising creative.
There was the time at Razorfish when the piece of business I worked on went away at precisely the wrong moment. There was the time at DRUM when the whole damn agency just shut down without notice. And yesterday was the time when 160/90 decided to restructure and cut about half of the Creative team in Atlanta.
It’s exhausting, y’all.
But what’re you gonna do?
Well, having done this a few times, I can tell you. On the first day, you drink and cry. The second day, you update LinkedIn and start reaching out to everyone you know. Days three through infinity, you check your email and LinkedIn 500 times a day, rethink your portfolio site 17 times, practice sounding breezy and confident when you’re actually feeling desperate, get your hopes up about a billion times only to have the wind kicked out of them by rejection emails, buy way more lottery tickets than anyone without a steady paycheck ever should and wonder if everything will ever be normal again.
It will. And you’ll prove to yourself that you’re stronger and more resilient than you ever imagined.
Until everything is normal again, I also plan on doing some writing, cleaning some closets, soaking up some beautiful spring weather on long walks with my doggos and enjoying some travel that’s already been booked without feeling stressed about whether everything will fall apart at the office without me.
And in that meantime, I’m open to full time roles, freelance, anything in between or even something totally new and different. Bonus for an opportunity that doesn’t lead to layoff number five. Hit me up and let’s make something awesome. ✌️
Portfolio available at kristinwoodward.me.
Peaches & Poppycock 