In November 2024, I was navigating a big decision: stay on the safe, comfortable path, or leave it behind to work for myself.

At the time, the unemployment rate was 4.3%. The dinner topic with friends who worked in tech was a mix of fear, worry, hopefulness, and ambivalence.

Some colleagues were working harder than ever, trying to keep up with leadership requests, looking “good” in front of their manager, and playing the political game to survive the next round of layoffs.

Personally, and perhaps selfishly, I was secretly hoping I would be part of a layoff. It would be the big push I needed to get my life in order, plus the severance I wanted to have a buffer while I figured out what to do.

But as I waited and waited, it never happened. Months went by, and I finally decided it was time to take matters into my own hands.

Fast forward to today, the unemployment rate is similar to November 2024, at 4.4%. While the anxiety feels fresh with each new headline, it’s been there all along. 2024 was unstable. 2026 is unstable. And if history is any guide, 2028 will find its own flavor of unstable too.

Which means the question was never "when will things settle down enough to make a move?" because the right moment isn't coming. Just like in 2024, it’s time to take matters into your own hands.

When I finally took the leap, the first month was both freeing and confusing. I was proud to tell people that I quit my corporate job, but I didn’t know how to structure my days and found myself feeling guilty, like I was “wasting” time.

For seven years, it was easy to talk about my work—I worked in tech as a product marketer. But now? I was “figuring it out”.

While it felt OK to share this at first, I wondered when I would finally find the thing. Would I fall in love with event and experience design? Would I become a community builder? Would I go all in on content creation?

The truth is that I wasn’t ever meant to choose one thing. Growing up, I tried every sport—from ice hockey to volleyball. I jumped from hobby to hobby—from crochet to rubik’s cube. I chose consulting as my first career path, so I could jump from project to project.

But rather than embrace my jack-of-all-trades asset, I was ashamed of it. I compared myself to peers in the corporate path who got promoted faster than me, wondering why I couldn’t be more like them.

It wasn’t until I heard terms like “generalist” and “portfolio career” that I learned to lean into what made me unique. Instead of shying away from my multiple skillsets, I talked about them openly.

The portfolio career wasn’t something I actively had a name for while I was in the corporate world but something I’d been doing all along. And if you’re subscribed to my newsletter, I’m betting you’re on a similar path.

The people who will thrive in this continued era of uncertainty aren't the ones who let a company decide who they are. They're not the ones who kept waiting for stability, for certainty, or for the right time to feel safe enough to try something new.

The ones who succeed will be the people who lean into their authenticity, despite what other people say. They’re the ones who follow the voice that tells them to start building something before they feel ready. They know they can make money doing something they love, and they know there isn’t a golden ticket. They’re determined because they know they’re capable of big things.

They’re creative, multi-passionate go-getters who want to live a fulfilling, freeing life on their own terms, even if it means leaving behind the version of who they used to be.

Since the day I signed the separation papers to today, I’ve been figuring it out this entire time. I don’t have the answer, but what I know is that even when uncertainty feels like it’s at an all-time high, the feeling is temporary.

So might as well go for it, right?

What would you do if you stopped waiting for certainty first?

P.S. If you're a portfolio careerist, solopreneur, or service-based business owner who keeps asking "how do I actually reach the right people?", I'm running a live workshop where you’ll learn how to build a marketing rhythm that generates consistent inbound interest without cold outreach, so you can stop guessing and start showing up with intention. Sign up here →

My time in London is ending (for now), and this evening I’m flying to Mexico City and will be living and working from there for the next few weeks.

This week I’ll be settling into Mexico City life, building my marketing workshop next week, and continuing with fractional marketing work for a startup.

It feels like a contrast in last year where I was working on 4 or 5 clients at once and feeling overwhelmed. While I made good money last year, I’m trying to ease the pressure off a bit this year by taking a simpler approach, building in time for the things I enjoy in places that bring me energy.

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