The Importance of Getting Fired

The other day I was facilitating a workshop with some young professionals. These people were at the beginning of their careers, bright-eyed and ready for anything the world would throw at them. The workshop was dedicated to leadership and how we can all become better leaders. This workshop I have facilitated a few times in the past, but we started a little bit differently this time. To begin this workshop, I posed the question, "Who was the person that without them you wouldn’t be where you are today?" I was fully expecting answers like "my mom and dad" or "my high school English teacher," but the answers I received were far more in-depth than that. These folks went into detail about how some of the most impactful people were only in these people's lives for a short while.

I decided that I would pose this question to myself today, who is the person who lead me to where I am today? When I look at where my life is at this point in time and what I am doing, there is one moment that I can pinpoint as the exact moment my entire trajectory changed. That moment is the day that I got fired from my dream job at Spoke and Weal.

After I graduated from beauty school, I jumped around to a couple of salons until I discovered Aveda salons. Aveda had amazing products that not only worked but were good for you and good for the environment. The products were not the only draw to working with Aveda; Aveda had the best-in-class continuing education program that I took full advantage of. Working with Aveda gave me opportunities I would not have been awarded working for another company. I was able to take advanced haircutting and hair coloring classes all across the world simply because I worked for an Aveda salon.

These amazing education classes lead me to take "Runway Styling," a class that taught anybody how to be a stylist on the runway. After taking this class, I was fortunate enough to work at New York Fashion Week. The instructor for this class was a man whom I would look up to and learn so much from. This man was Jon Reyman, who is still the best hairstylist, mentor, educator, etc., that I have ever met. After being on the runway with Jon, I continued taking classes from him; I took advanced haircutting, advanced runway styling, session styling, and I even purchased his virtual training system. Needless to say, I was obsessed with him, and I wanted to be just like him.

After years of following Jon and absorbing as much information and knowledge as I could from him, he announced the opening of his newest salon in Chicago. I had recently moved to Chicago, and I saw this as my sign; I was going to work for my idol, I was going to become my idol. I got the job; to this day, it was the best job I have ever had. I learned more in my short time as an employee for him than I had in the previous five years of my career. I grew tremendously as not only a stylist but also as a person. I helped open the location, so there was much manual labor; my blood, sweat, and tears went into this salon. I was literally living my dream; it couldn't get better than it was.

One Friday morning, only 90 days since I had started at this location, the manager asked to speak with me outside. I had fully expected it to be good news, but she had an envelope in her hand. She told me that I was no longer employed at Spoke and Weal, I no longer worked for my idol, I no longer worked my dream job. She handed me a check for the next two weeks of pay, and she asked me to pack my things and leave. I was devastated; my world had been shattered, I would amount to nothing in the beauty industry. I was so caught off guard that I called my mom, and I said, "I think I just got fired."

The story I kept telling myself was that I wasn't good enough. I thought this was it. All of the money I spent on beauty school, wasted. All of the continuing education was not time well spent. I was lost. But as I look back on the years after that event and as I look at the people who are still with the company, I can now realize that they did me a favor. They saw something in me that I wouldn't see in myself for years to come; I was great at what I did I was just an awful employee.

If I never got fired, I would never have met my current mentor/great friend Dana Reese who took a chance on me. I would never have worked in Wheaton. If I never worked in Wheaton, I would never have met Nat. If I never met Nat, I would never have started OUTspoken Leaders. If I never started OUTspoken Leaders, Wheaton wouldn't have had a pride parade last year. If Wheaton hadn't had a pride parade this past year, hundreds of residents would go unnoticed in our community. If hundreds of residents went unnoticed in our community, 40% of them would've seriously considered suicide. If 40% of them seriously considered suicide, 50% of them would have followed through with it. If I had never been fired, these people could have killed themselves. Being fired literally saved somebody's life.

Don't be fooled; I don't actually take myself that seriously. However, what I do take seriously is learning from every single opportunity I can. The day that seemed like the worst day to me actually was the day my entire life changed for the better. So, reader, if you got this far, I want you to consider that anything you are going through right now may seem like the end of the world but who knows where it is leading you. I wholeheartedly believe that everything happens for a reason, and sometimes we just don't know what the reason is just yet. Don't give up; you are amazing, and you are definitely loved. Those of us who love you cannot wait to see how you make the best out of your current bad situation.