How Losing My Job Helped Me Find My Way Back

My Transition from Public Relations Manager to Software Engineer at Artsy

Staying agile and adaptable has never been more critical to surviving — and especially thriving — in the chaos that has been 2020.

I spent the last year in a career pivot: transforming from a public relations manager to an entry-level software engineer. The journey was a roller coaster of challenges, failures, fatigue, and successes. Before we had even heard the word “coronavirus” and shaking hands with strangers was a normal thing we did, I was laid off from my dream job at Artsy — my first job out of college, the place where I built my community and my career. Starting 2020 unemployed felt like a giant boulder had been tossed into the river I had been cruising down, waves splintering my neatly assembled raft into a thousand pieces. Everything was in disarray.

We all have our COVID stories, and I know I am immensely privileged to be safe and secure when so many people have lost everything. My 2020 started with flying on an empty airplane from New York City to California to say final words to my grandfather in March, to the love of my life staging an epic surprise marriage proposal in May, to spontaneously moving across the country in August, to accepting my first full-time job as a software engineer at Artsy in November. The same Artsy where I started my career five years ago.

How did we get here?

As so many have experienced this year, getting laid off is deeply challenging. We tie so much of our identities in our work. When my job was suddenly gone one day, it felt like a part of me was taken along with it.

After a few months of feeling lost, I ultimately realized that, in reality, it was time.

Throughout that year, I started thinking about my long-term career goals…

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