I GOT FIRED AND HIRED WITHIN THE SAME DAY. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED

During the Spring of 2022, I was working at a college access non-profit in Wall street. I’d been there close to a year and I constantly found myself feeling anxious, miserable and invincible. I felt my manager and I were not compatible and that she exhibited a lot of toxic leadership traits like micromanaging, participated in cliquish behaviors and nothing I did ever seem to be good enough.

One day during a team meeting icebreaker she asked that we share the best piece of professional advice we’ve received thus far. When it was my turn, I shared the best advice I got on my early 20s is to “chase the money first.” Obviously a metaphor, I went on to explain that to me it meant ensuring I set myself financially above anything else, and in the career sphere that looks like not being afraid to negotiate for a higher salary, specially as a woman of color, and to avoid settling for positions where the pay is exploitative just because I want to help change the world - there are so many other ways to do that.

Apparently my advice rubbed her the wrong way because she immediately scheduled a 1 on 1 follow-up meeting just to let me know that she is “concerned” about the advice I shared as I “will never make money in this industry unless I have multiple degrees like her and the CEO and unless I sit at the “the top”. “

Huh? Ok …

While I can agree that Education may not be the most lucrative field out there, I immediately realized her old school and limiting beliefs around success and “making money”. First of all, who’s to say I can’t just pivot?!

I further realized in that moment, coupled with my previous experiences with her, that as a manager she didn’t seem to believe in me nor have an authentic desire to grow me. I would have preferred that approached me in a more constructive way like asking how I define success, what are my salary and career goals and perhaps even sharing her own career trajectory and the lessons she’s learned along the way.

I didn’t take her comment too personal but I admit I felt annoyed because I know what I am capable of, but more importantly— why did she feel so pressed to be all Negative Nancy anyway? It became clear to me that was not environment where I could thrive nor be supported in how I want to grow in my career, so I did what I know how to do best and booked a last minute vacation to clear my mind and let it go.

She obviously wasn’t happy about my request either but frankly at that point I didn’t care. I had reached my limit.

Bye, hoe. Hello, Spain.

I won’t lie, as you can imagine, the days after returning from my blissful vacation things got worst. I felt micromanaged to the point where I would have literal panic attacks before clocking in and I was REMOTE half the time.

So finally, on a desperate Sunday afternoon amidst another anxiety spiral I got on my knees and I prayed. I said “God, I know that I don’t come to you often, or ever if I am being honest, but I need you right now. I am miserable, I am desperate and I can’t take this misery and anxiety I am experiencing anymore. So please, whatever is causing me this turmoil remove it immediately. I surrender.”

Well friends, two days later God delivered because on Tuesday at 10 AM I got let go. The conversation was brief and her basis for terminating me was that I wasn’t enough of a “visionary”. I LOL’d internally because while the organization had been around for nearly 40 years years, in my few months there I literally designed their mentoring program from scratch which supported over 300 students across the nation, established innovative ways to engage new alumni and crafted a college support program to help their college students effectively navigate college beyond academics— If that doesn’t take vision then I don’t know.

Either way, I was more excited to leave early and run my errands at the nearby discount store than I was upset, because it was obvious to me God answered my prayers and removed me from a toxic situation like I asked.

What’s wild is that 15 minutes after I walked out of that building on Wall Street, I received an email from the hiring manager at Columbia University requesting to chat later that day. I didn’t think much of it because up until that point I had only interviewed for the position twice and a few months prior I went through 5 interview rounds with Columbia, only for them to decide to not move forward with me. I cautiously had zero expectations and I was a bit nervous of having to let them know I am now funemployed.

Well y’all at 2 PM that day Columbia University (which was my dream job) called me with an offer and didn’t care to know why I was no longer with my previous employer.

I love sharing this story because as I get closer to God each day I realize all the miracles he has worked in my life even when I wasn’t a believer.

Through that experience I learned a few important lessons:

1) God is always waiting for you to reach out, regardless of where you stand with Him.

2) Good things ALWAYS comes from “bad” or unpleasant situations. Be patient and trust the process.

3) Rejection is in fact redirection.

4) Some people will not see your potential and that’s more telling about their limitations than it is about your capacity. Know yourself enough to not be deterred or distracted.

5. “Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready” - continuously explore your options regardless of how long you’ve been at a job.

6. Find colleagues you can share your experience with. Turns out my 60-something year old coworker was experiencing a similar situation with my manager. Once I confided in her we relied on each other for support and she ended being my reference for my new job.

In sum, if you are currently navigating a challenging or toxic work environment you are not alone. I encourage you to ask God for direction, consistently journal all of your accomplishments so that you are reminded of how great and skilled you are, talk to others about your experiences— you don’t have to go through it alone and take your PTO— Spain is always a good idea ;)

XO- Maria

Previous
Previous

books that helped my spiritual, MENTAL and healing journey (Copy)

Next
Next

Blog Post Title One