Newsletter: October 2026
Your Layoff Isn't a Verdict on Your Worth
If you've recently been laid off, I want to start here. I'm so sorry. After everything you've poured into that work, having it end like this can feel like the ground just gave way beneath you. This is grief. Grief for the work, the people, and the future you thought you had there.
So many women in our community are living this right now. Whole teams. Whole departments. Women who gave years, sometimes decades, to work they cared about deeply. Maybe you're one of them. Maybe you love someone who is.
When I left my dream role as Director of Patient Experience at Mayo Clinic, it was my choice. And it still shook me to my core.
This job had become part of my identity.For a while, I didn't know how to introduce myself without THAT title attached. So I can only imagine how much harder this feels when the decision was made for you.
That's why I'm writing this. Not to rush you toward a silver lining. But to sit beside you for a moment, and to offer a few things that can help you steady your mind in a season that feels anything but steady.
Why This Hurts So Much
Losing a job is one of the most stressful things a person can go through. On the well-known Holmes-Rahe stress scale, it ranks number eight out of 43 life events. So if you're shaken, that's not weakness. It's human.
For midlife women, a layoff often cuts deeper than the paycheck.
Many of us stayed. We built careers, relationships, and reputations in one place. According to AARP, 52 percent of employees 60 and older have been with their employer for 10 years or more. The longer you stay, the more that place becomes part of who you are.
Many of us also grew up with an unspoken promise. Give your time, your energy, and your excellence, and you'll be taken care of. When the job ends anyway, it can feel like that promise was broken.
Maybe you're angry. The kind of angry that shows up at 2 a.m. when you replay that meeting in your head. Anger often rises when something we deeply value has been crossed. Loyalty. Fairness. Respect. Your anger is telling you those things mattered. They still do.
Maybe you're scared. Of the mortgage. The health insurance. The kids or aging parents who still count on you. The quiet of a Monday morning with nowhere to be. That fear isn't weakness. It's what happens when something you built your life around is suddenly gone.
And maybe you're feeling undervalued, or a little down on yourself for how much you gave. I see you. That's not foolishness. That's what it looks like to care deeply about your work.
When you weren't the only one let go, when whole teams walked out the same door, you know this wasn't about your performance. A business decision was made, but it doesn't get to decide your value. Only you get to do that.
The Fears on Repeat
After a layoff, so many women tell me the same thoughts play on a loop:
Doubt. "At my age, who's going to hire me?"
Resentment. "After everything I gave them?"
Lost Identify. "Who am I without this job?"
Questioning your worth. "Does my experience still count for anything out there?"
Panic. "What if nothing else comes along? I'd better grab what I can."
These fears don't come from nowhere. The road ahead may have real challenges. But here's what I also know. Your experience, your wisdom, and the way you care for people didn't disappear when the job did.
That's why I'm not going to tell you to just think positive. What I will tell you is this. The challenge may be real, and the energy you bring to it is still yours to choose.
Five Mindset Shifts for This Season
These aren't rules. They're gentle practices I share with the women I work with. Take what fits and leave the rest.
1. Let yourself grieve before you try to fix it
Grief isn't a detour on the way to your next job. It's part of the path. You lost more than a paycheck. You lost a routine and a sense of belonging.
Try this: Each morning this week, finish one sentence on paper. "Today I feel ___, and that's allowed." Angry, scared, relieved, embarrassed. Name all of it. Feelings can lose some of their grip once you name them.
2. Separate the decision from your worth
A layoff measures a budget. It doesn't measure you. But after years of giving your best, it's easy to let the decision speak louder than the truth.
Try this: Write down three things you brought to your role that never showed up on a budget line. Maybe it's the team you kept steady through a hard season. The family of a patient who remembers your kindness on their worst day. The trust you built one conversation at a time. Then read them out loud. That's not bragging. That's reclaiming the truth about who you are.
3. Notice your energy instead of fighting it
Every thought carries energy. Some thoughts drain us and keep us stuck in fear, frustration, or settling. Others fuel us and open us up to possibility and choice. After a layoff, spending time in the draining kind is completely normal. The trouble comes when we stay there without realizing it.
Try this: When one of those fears shows up, don't fight it. Just notice it. Then ask, "Is there one thought that feels even a little lighter?" Just one. Some days, getting through is enough. That counts too.
4. Pause before the panic yes
Chances are you're already sending out applications, maybe a lot of them. That's a natural, responsible first move. But somewhere between hitting "apply" and saying "yes," give yourself a moment to check in with you. Does this role fit the woman you are now?
A bridge job is also an option, and it can be a solid move. It can steady your finances and give you breathing room while you figure out what's next. Whichever path you take, make it a choice, not a reaction to fear.
Try this: Draw two columns. On one side, list what you're relieved to leave behind. On the other, list what you already miss. Both are information. Together, they'll show you what to look for next. Before you say yes to anything, ask yourself, "Am I choosing this, or is fear choosing for me?"
5. Don't do this alone
Isolation feeds the inner critic. The women who move through this season with the most steadiness are rarely the ones who white-knuckle it by themselves.
Try this: This week, reach out to two people who see you clearly. A former colleague. A friend who knew you before this job. Tell them how you're really doing, and let them remind you who you are.
Small steps. Gentle ones. They add up.
Where You Go From Here
Maybe you loved that job, and losing it feels like losing a piece of yourself. Maybe it had quietly stopped fitting, and you'd been telling yourself it was fine. Or maybe it's somewhere in between.
For some of us, "fine" is a familiar word. I said it for years about a career that looked great on paper. Fine is what we say when something isn't terrible enough to change yet. If that's you, this season may be inviting an honest look.
Either way, you deserve a next step that you choose on purpose.
I won't pretend there's a silver lining you should be seeing right now. This is hard, and some days it may feel like too much. But when you're ready, and only then, you may find something real waiting on the other side of it.
When the job ends, suddenly there's space. Space is scary. It's also where you can finally hear your own voice again.
So when you're ready, sit with that space for a moment. Ask what you want your work to feel like. Ask what matters most to you now. Ask who you want to be when you walk into that next room.
I've walked alongside women through seasons like this. What I've seen again and again is that the path forward gets clearer when you stop carrying it alone.
Your wisdom, your gifts, and your decades of experience are still yours. She's still here. She's been there all along.
If you'd like support, I'm here. I use the Energy Leadership® Index assessment to help women see, without judgment, where their energy goes under stress and how to shift it. And my free discovery calls are a safe place to say out loud what you're feeling and explore what's next, whether that's a new field or the same one, done your way.
Your journey home begins with one conversation. Book your free discovery call here: https://calendly.com/coachdawn-wze/discovery-call
With love,
Dawn
P.S. Something in you is ready for a deeper look. That quiet knowing? Trust it.
Sources
The Fierce 5: Life After a Layoff
Last month I launched a new video series called The Fierce 5. Five minutes. One fierce idea.
A practical shift you can actually use. This isn’t about adding another thing to your already-full day. It’s about giving you a few minutes to come back to YOU — the woman, leader, and human you’ve become.
For the next two weeks I am talking candidly about layoffs. It is something relevant and affecting my community of midlife women and I want to be real about it. Thursdays at 8am, watch a Fierce 5 on any of my social platforms - Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.
What I’m Listening To
The Mel Robbins Podcast: "World Leading Psychologist: How to Manifest Anything & Create the Life You Want" with Dr. Cassandra Vieten (August 10, 2026 · about 78 minutes)
I pressed play on my drive home from Pilates and wasn't ready to turn it off when I got home.
I’d been thinking about a client who wants to feel genuinely confident showing up as herself in her career—not just say the words, but believe them.
This episode offered a new way to understand what might be holding her back.
One foot on the gas, one on the brake.
Dr. Vieten, a clinical psychologist at UC San Diego, explains how we can work toward something while old stories quietly hold us back: Who are you to speak up? Don’t be too much. Your worth comes from what you achieve.
Our brains rehearse what we imagine. After years of repeating those stories, simply saying “I’m confident” may not be enough. Instead of fighting the fear, Dr. Vieten suggests acknowledging it with compassion—and beginning to rehearse a new story.
Try this: Meet your future self.
Imagine yourself five or ten years from now, showing up confidently and fully as yourself. Ask her: What do you know that I’ve forgotten?
You don’t have to picture her if that just doesn’t work for you. Instead, notice how she feels, or write her story. The goal isn't to press harder on the gas. It's to gently release the brake.
She’s been there all along. You’re simply giving her permission to come forward.
You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast app but it is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2WhnTeC0Ql0?si=awwPohiENgzA0jGj
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