From rock bottom to career high
As a result of the 2008 recession, these people lost their jobs. A decade later, they are thriving
TEN years ago Elly McGuire worked as a director of advertising and new business development on posh Park Avenue. Then the Great Recession hit, she was downsized and her employer declared bankruptcy.
“I felt scared, but also relieved,” says the Upper West Sider. “I was accustomed to a steady paycheck that no longer existed, but relieved because the writing on the wall and the stress of corporate pressure was over.”
Relying on support and inspiration from her long-term meteorologist fiancé, Ron Trotta (also downsized), parents and friends, she took it “a day or minute at a time when the going got rough, or ‘ruff ’ as my dog would say.”
McGuire penned a children’s book, “Schmitty the Weather Dog: Daydream” (New Yorkie Press) featuring their eponymous Yorkshire terrier and launched a singalong show alongside Trotta and Schmitty focusing on science and weather. The show aims to inspire schoolchildren — especially girls — to learn science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Having performed over 200 school shows, McGuire is now writing another book, developing merchandise and a kids’ TV show.
“I would use the word ‘resilient’ to describe us,” she says. “We could have given up, moved away. But we dug in and, using our talents and life skills, we created a whole new career path.”
Post-recession reboots aren’t anomalies, says Caroline Dowd-Higgins, author of “This Is Not the Career I Ordered” (Reinvention Press). “Change is now the norm. Be open to change, showcase your curiosity to try new things and learn new skills,” she says. “Career reinvention to a different field, entrepreneurial venture or side-hustle contract work is now mainstream.”
That’s exactly what Rafe Gomez did. Now the co-owner of VC Inc. Marketing, which provides executive positioning, content creation and competitive analysis for clients, he says that he’s “a survivor.”
The Montclair, NJ, resident hosted, DJ’ed and produced “The Groove Boutique,” a tri-state area radio show that was a Saturday night mix. But when the station morphed from smooth jazz to rock, syndicators dropped it.
Clubs stopped booking him to DJ and labels lost interest in having him mix and produce their releases. Gomez took double doses of sleep medication as his only escape from the “jobless nightmare” during this “confidence crushing, spirit smashing and (almost) insolvent” time. “With a family to support and income immediately ceasing, it was truly panic time,” he says. “My family’s checking account quickly melted, so my wife and I cashed out our retirement funds to pay bills. I searched for consulting work, but with no recent projects to show, my applications were understandably rejected.”
Unable to secure full-time work, he released a free audio book, “What’s in it for Me?” (VC Inc.), to help job seekers get back on their feet, gaining press coverage in the process. Serendipitously, Gomez discovered a talent that he now uses daily: crafting messages to support products or services. (Ironically, for a side hustle, he now produces and DJs a classic-rock radio mashup, Rockmixx.)
In hindsight, he believes in the mantra that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
“I managed to survive. It made me tougher, smarter and more determined to never be caught so off guard again,” Gomez says.
Sydney Masters felt the same way. In 2008, the Upper East Sider worked at a boutique public relations agency when she was laid off. Although, the timing actually worked in her favor: She was able to frequently visit her ailing mother, while moving forward with her career goals.
“Believe it or not, taking the leap into freelance was the best thing that could have happened,” she says. “I was able to go to New Hampshire to be with her while starting a full-time career as a freelancer. It was frightening, but also liberating. Being able to work with clients you truly believe in, that you choose and who choose you, is such a good feeling.”
Mentioning that there wasn’t really a rock bottom, she and her husband bought a stone farmhouse a few years later in France’s Loire Valley, staying there six months out of the year.
“The Internet allows you to work from anywhere; my New York phone works wherever I happened to be,” Masters says.
Now, as the co-founder of p.r. firm Masters-Mallory Communications, she’s able to do what she loves, including working with equestrian and martial arts clients, interests she personally enjoys.
“Life skills, being able to try new things, having a sense of adventure and not being afraid has served me well,” she says. Writer Dowd-Higgins affirms that sentiment. “Making lemons out of lemonade is truly a career badge of honor that you should wear proudly,” Dowd-Higgins says. “Showcase your resilience, grit and recovery and you will stand out.”