Well,
shit.
Now what?

THE CLUB SAYS

Woof. We get this one.

One of us was there. One day, she walked into her husband’s office and said, “I want to quit. Take three months off. Figure out what the hell I’m doing next.” His response? “Do it.”

We recognize not everyone has that luxury. Money is real. Whoever claimed it can’t buy happiness clearly never lived paycheck to paycheck.

But you know what else is real? Energy.

If you wake up hating your job every day, eventually that starts bleeding into the rest of your life.

So no, you’re not ridiculous. You’re paying attention.

Our advice? Ask yourself a different question. Not just What do I want to do next? but What do I want my life to feel like?

For one of us, it was a calm nervous system. She wanted to stop feeling like she was humming all the time.

And listen to your body. Hers was trying to tell her something long before she listened. Hence, the bite guard.

You don’t have to quit tomorrow. But don’t ignore what you’re feeling just because the paycheck is good.

THE CLUB SAYS

Because selling your own work is really freaking personal.

Inside a company, you had a title, a team, established relationships, and a big-ass organization behind you. Now? It’s just you. No corporate credibility blanket. No boss vouching for you. Just you, asking someone to pay for what you know.

That’s vulnerable as hell. Also, weirdly liberating.

After countless hours and some truly spectacular elevator-pitch fumbling, here’s what we’ve learned: Stop trying to sell yourself. Start talking about the problem you solve.

Get crystal clear about who you’re helping and what’s keeping them up at night. Then get curious. Ask questions. Listen.

Suddenly, it’s less about proving how impressive you are and more about whether you can actually help.

There are selling techniques you can learn. Absolutely.

But the ego part? The rejection? The feeling that someone saying no to your proposal is somehow saying no to you?

Woof. That’s the real work.

And for the record, we’re still working on it.

THE CLUB SAYS

First, getting laid off can really screw with your head.

Even if you hated the job, losing it when it wasn’t your decision can bring up a whole mess of feelings. Anger, grief, relief, panic. Sometimes all before breakfast.

And when you’ve spent decades building a career, losing the job can feel a little like losing yourself.

So before you start plotting your glorious reinvention, give yourself some room to process what happened. As much as your finances allow.

Then we’re going to ask you a deeply annoying question.

What do you actually want?

Not what your résumé says you should do. Not what someone with your experience is supposed to want.

What kind of life? What kind of income? What kind of work?

Because the answer might exist in your old career. Or it might be something entirely different.

And with AI changing so much about work, there’s plenty of uncertainty. But there’s also a whole lot of new territory opening up.

And if the answer is “I have absolutely no freaking idea,” congratulations. That’s a perfectly legitimate place to start.

THE CLUB SAYS

First of all, awesome. We’re excited for you.

But here’s something we’ve learned: starting a business with a friend is a lot like getting married.

We actually call each other work wives. We share finances, an LLC, a brand, and a legally binding relationship. Romance!

So before you jump in, have the conversations. Where is this business going? Who does what? How much are you each investing? What’s ours versus yours? And what happens if one of you wants out?

Get it in writing.

But here’s the bigger thing: You will not always agree.

Someone will get their feelings hurt. Someone will carry more of the load. Life will happen. And occasionally, you’ll wonder what the hell your partner is thinking.

The trick isn’t avoiding those moments. It’s being able to talk about them before resentment moves in and starts paying rent.

For us, candid feedback, different strengths, and a lot of mutual respect make it work.

Choose someone you can disagree with and still want to call tomorrow.

THE CLUB SAYS

Then go get a job!

Seriously. Somewhere in our 20s, we learned to never say never. And thank God, because we’ve changed our minds about approximately a million things since then.

Starting a business was right for a season of your life. Amazing. Maybe now you miss a steady paycheck, colleagues, or having someone else deal with the damn invoices.

Great. Go find that.

Who decided entrepreneurship was a one-way street anyway?

Maybe you’ll love being back in a company. Maybe in two years you’ll get another idea and want to start something completely different.

Also great.

Life isn’t linear, and you’re not contractually obligated to stick with a decision just because you announced it on LinkedIn.

Don’t let the coulda-woulda-shouldas, or what other people might think, keep you somewhere you no longer want to be.

You want to go back? Fucking go! We love a good plot twist.