Part 2: Alicia Thompson on self-reinvention after a job loss and bad PR.

In Part 2, Alicia Thompson discusses how to prepare for and bounce back from losing a job and why PR has such bad PR..

Transcript
Rudy:               Hey, this is Rudy Fernandez from Creative Outhouse. In part two of my conversation with Alicia Thompson we talk about the biggest professional upheaval any of us can experience, losing your job. How do you bounce back from that and how do you prepare for it? Alicia also shares her thoughts on why PR has such bad PR. And lastly, we talked about the qualities of people who are in marketing and why we like them. Check this out.

Earcon:             You're listening to Marketing Upheaval from Creative Outhouse.

Rudy:               So, I want to talk to you about sensitive subject. I know we've talked about this before in terms of upheaval and you've experienced an enormous upheaval by the worst upheaval that we all have nightmares about in that you lost your job.

Alicia:               Yup.

Rudy:               I travel around a lot, I've worked in a lot of different companies, and that is the single most unwritten fear everyone has. And of course it always is there. If you have a job, you're always worried about keeping the job. But the difference, and this is my opinion, the difference was always if I work hard, if I do my job, if I, unless we lose business, if I do what I'm supposed to do, I'm going to keep my job but ...

Alicia:               Not true anymore.

Rudy:               Now it's like, "Well guess what we just changed." Instead of, "We've had the strategic plan working for two years." Like, "No, we're going somewhere else." That's what I'm seeing and it sounds like you've experienced that very thing.

Alicia:               Yeah.

Rudy:               So, you want to talk a little bit about that?

Alicia:               Yeah. I mean it's become so commonplace and I can't tell you how many of my friends and colleagues were all in the same boat but yeah my job was eliminated in April and I think it's one of those situations where in the back of your head you always know it's a possibility but when you get called to the office in HR and say, "Your job's been eliminated." You have this moment of like, "Oh wait, wait, you're joking right? I wasn't expecting this." And then, you go to this moment of panic where like, "Okay." So then you start thinking about your, all these things go through your head within a ten second span and then you have one of two reactions and you either go, "Okay, I'm going to embrace this for what it is and let's talk about the financial part." Or, you have a meltdown.

Rudy:               Or you do both.

Alicia:               Or you do both, one first and then the other. And that's why one of the things I always tell young women, especially, when I speak is having your financial house in order. You can't predict the future. And I know kids graduate, kids, sound old, young people graduate from college and now they finally have income and they want to buy this. I'm like, "That old adage your parents tell you pay yourself first. It's really important." Because these days you don't know if you're going to have a job. You can be great at what do to your point and the next day you don't have a gig.

Alicia:               So, I think part of the o

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