Navigating Job Loss: Staying Positive and Finding New Opportunities

Ever wondered how to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of an unexpected job loss? Join me, Brooke, as I take you through my personal journey following my recent firing from Starbucks. I'll share candidly about the emotional toll of the experience and the proactive steps I'm taking to secure a new job. You’ll hear why I turned down a hostess position despite needing work and how essential health and dental benefits are at my age. I'll also give you a glimpse into my upcoming job interviews, including a hopeful prospect at a pet store that comes with some heartwarming memories.

Maintaining a positive mindset is crucial during a job search, and I'm here to emphasize just that. I’ll speak from the heart about staying upbeat and grateful, even when things seem tough. It's all about not settling for less than what you deserve and keeping your options open for better opportunities. Wrapping up the episode, I sprinkle in a fun date night story to remind you that joy can be found even amidst chaos. Tune in for an episode filled with honest reflections, practical advice, and a bit of light-hearted fun.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

My name is Brooke, your fellow podcaster from the East Coast, and welcome to my podcast blogger with a twist. So basically, on my podcast, I'll primarily be talking about lifestyle, so that will include me ranting about my life, my job, anything I see on social media or anything I want to talk about. So if that sounds like something you would like to know more about and listen to, then subscribe to the podcast, share it with your friends, family, grandma, mama or whoever and, last but not least, sit back, relax, grab your favorite snacks and let's get this episode popping. Hey you guys, it's your girl, brooke, and welcome back to a brand new podcast episode, to a brand new podcast episode and hopefully you guys out there doing good. So I know in last week's episode I talked to you guys about my journey of getting fired from Starbucks about a week before I uploaded that episode back on. Well, I got fired back on back on Wednesday, july 10th. So this week will make it two weeks since I got fired, and so I figured that I would update you guys on my progress since last week as far as have I found a job, and just my emotions and how I have been feeling, because I know, like I said in last week's episode, the first couple of days after I got fired I felt sad and a little depressed and I started freaking out how was I going to pay my bills and everything like that. And also I do want to share with you all this really cool place that my boyfriend took us for a date night. So, that being said, grab your snacks and let's get this episode popping. So, as far as my luck has been since my last episode, I actually have had some. So I think it was either earlier this week or last Thursday or Friday.

Speaker 1: 2:34

I did get a job offer but I decided to turn it down, and I know what some of you guys may be thinking why would you turn down a job? Of? You guys may be thinking, why would you turn down a job knowing that you need a job? And at first I did feel bad about turning down a job, but at the same time, after talking to my boyfriend, it made me realize that it's nothing wrong with turning down a job if you feel like it is not a good fit for you. Now, the job position was for a hostess position at a restaurant bar and the pay was a little bit less than what I got paid at Starbucks, which really wasn't a big deal. For me, the deal breaker was the fact that they did not provide benefits such as health insurance or any type of dental insurance. Now, because I am in my 30s specifically, I will be 34 in November of this year I just feel like at my age it is important to have benefits. Now, if I was maybe in my 20s or late teens, I would not care about having a job that did include benefits, because I believe in United States I think, depending on different states you can be on your parents insurance up until the age of 26. Be on your parents insurance up until the age of 26. That is how it. That is how it is here in Philly. So, like I said, other cities and states may be different, but that for me, was one of my deal breakers.

Speaker 1: 4:14

I need insurance in case something happens to me Because, as we know in this country, if you do not have any type of insurance, if you have to go to the hospital, go see a dentist or specialist or whatever, it can really cost a lot of money. So having insurance definitely comes in handy. For example, a couple months ago I was having knee pain and it got to the point that I ended up having to get x-rays done on my knees and the bill for that, including my insurance, was $200. So imagine if I did not have any insurance, that bill would have been way more expensive. But also, it still boggles my brain because they only took x-rays of my knees. So I guess I think, why is it $200 just to take x-rays of my knees? It's not like y'all took a full body scan, y'all just took x-rays of my knees. And it's so funny because a few weeks after I had the x-rays done, my knee pain magically went away and I have not had it since, which makes me mad because I feel like I wasted my time getting the x-rays done. I mean, I'm happy I did, because of course they did not find anything in the x-ray, but still I feel like I wasted $200. So, yeah, that was my deal breaker with that job. It just did not have any benefits.

Speaker 1: 5:54

And then this week I have two interviews, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, and both of these jobs do include health insurance and dental insurance and other benefits and are both full time. So the fact that I landed these two interviews this week made me think that it wasn't a bad idea that I had turned down the other job, because what if I had turned down that job? What if I had of took that job? And then I had these two job interviews. I think I would have been a little mad because the two interviews that I have this week I feel like are better suited for me, me and the type of job that I want. So the first interview that I have on Wednesday is for a cashier slash barista and it is full time, monday through Friday, with benefits. And then the second interview that I have on Thursday, which is a Zoom call interview, is for a pet store as a sales associate, and that job does pay a little, does pay a little bit more than the cashier job, but it is also full-time and also include benefits. And I'm kind of hoping that I do get the sales associate position for the pet store because I do like animals.

Speaker 1: 7:29

I remember when I was working at Starbucks I had this one specific customer come in. Her name was Jill and she would bring her dog Gordy, and I actually follow him on Instagram, but every Friday I would give him a pup cup, which is basically a little cup that has whipped cream in it and I would always tell people that was my dog because every time he would see me he would wag his tail and he would wait for me to give him his pup cup. And he is just such a cute little dog. And, of course, when my boyfriend told Jill that I no longer worked at Starbucks, of course that kind of made her a little sad because I can't see Gordy. So the pet store that she does take him to is the same company that I applied for. It's a different location, but I'm hoping that I do get the pet store job in case I might see my dog again, because I do miss seeing my dog.

Speaker 1: 8:30

And that is one of the things I do miss about working at Starbucks is I miss the customers, the ones that were nice to me and always you know, always put a smile on my face, and, of course, my co workers. But you know, life goes on and hopefully, you know, you never know what's going to happen and you know it's so funny because before I got these two job interviews this week, I kind of started feeling a little sad again because I got a text message from T-Mobile, which is my phone service, and it was about a payment arrangement that I had scheduled to pay my phone bill about three weeks ago, you know, before I got fired from Starbucks. So when I got that text message it made me kind of feel sad again because I started stressing out mentally how am I going to pay my phone bill? But then a couple of days later I got these two interviews. So I don't know, maybe the universe is working its magic, but I am definitely blessed, you guys, and I am so happy and I'm really praying and hoping that I do find a job soon. My plan was to hopefully find a job in less than a month, so maybe I will, but I will keep on applying because for me, unless I get a job offer, I am not going to stop applying. And so, yeah, you guys, that is my update with the job search, the job hunt. I'm still applying, like I said, and with the way things are going, I do have hope that I will find a job soon. I just have to keep pushing forward.

Speaker 1: 10:23

And then the last thing I want to talk about is this cool place that my boyfriend took us for a date night. So I think it was last Saturday. My boyfriend surprised me and we went to Puttshack, which is basically a place that does mini golf and it is also a bar slash restaurant and they also have a DJ playing music on certain nights. So when we got there on Saturday it was about I think it was about nine o'clock in the evening and we didn't realize that you should probably book your time slot to do the mini golf because you know weekends are really busy, especially in the summertime. So we ended up having to wait about an hour before we could play, which wasn't a big deal, because the DJ that they had that night was pretty good, like the music was popping, like I felt like a lot of music they was playing was from like the 2000s, which I feel like that's when music was a little bit better, you know, but anyway.

Speaker 1: 11:36

So when it was our turn, we ended up going to the I think, the Amber side. So it's four different courses. You have Ruby, sapphire, emerald and Amber, which is kind of like a yellow color. So Emerald and Amber are like right next to each other, and then Sapphire and Ruby have their own sections. So I definitely want to go back and try out the other courses. So what's really cool about like each course is different. So the Amber course that we had, we had like different trivial questions to answer and if you get it right you get a certain amount of points and it was just really fun because I do like to go mini golf.

Speaker 1: 12:27

To go mini golfing Is that even a word? But anyway, I think the last time I went mini golfing was probably about like eight or nine years ago and I think I was in Wildwood, new Jersey, or something like that. So it's been a minute since I've been mini golfing. So it's nice that we have this place in Philly where you can go and it's a great atmosphere and it's perfect for a date night or if you want to make it a family fun trip or maybe just get a group of your friends together on a weekend or whatever and go mini golfing. And to be honest with you guys, the prices really weren't that bad. For adults it's $16. And I think for kids that are under 12, it's like $10. So it is a reasonable price and each course has nine holes so you can go around twice if you want to. I probably would do that next time, but I would probably go at an earlier time so I could do that because when we got there on Saturday it was packed. It was packed okay. I mean it wasn't well. I mean it was packed okay. It was a lot of people in there. But, like I said, overall I had a really fun experience and it really gave me an arcade vibe. So if you like mini golf or something with like an arcade vibe and pretty lights and I mean I don't know good music, then definitely check out Puttshack and no I'm not getting sponsored. If you live in Philly, definitely plan a trip to Puttshack. I believe they also have locations in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 1: 14:22

But yeah, that was our date night. It was totally unexpected and I really do appreciate my boyfriend taking us there. I think that was his way of trying to cheer me up, you know, with the whole thing about me losing my job and everything. So I'm just so happy. He is such a kind person and he really does care about me, because I was not expecting us to go there on Saturday, but I was really happy and it was the perfect date night.

Speaker 1: 14:55

And then, other than that, you guys, I have been doing good. Also, I have been uploading more content on the blog and I have been noticing I'm getting more traffic, which made me realize why was I not doing this sooner? So if you guys have not checked out my blog, the link is in the description and definitely be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to be updated when I drop a new blog post or come out with a new design for my merch on Redbubble. So if you go to my blog, there is a link that you can click if you would like to sign up for my newsletter.

Speaker 1: 15:37

And then, other than that, you guys, I just want to say thank you so much for tuning in to another episode and thank you for all of the positive vibes and stuff like that, because I really am trying my hardest to not get so down on myself, and the fact that I have these opportunities coming my way cannot make me more happy. So if you could take anything away from this episode, know that you're not obligated to take a job if you feel like it is not a good fit for you, and it's not something to feel bad about, because you never know what other opportunities may come your way. So it's better to not put all of your eggs in one basket. You know you just have to remain positive if you are on a journey of unemployment and you are looking for a job and I will definitely keep on with the positive vibes and I'm hoping soon your girl will land a job Talk to you guys in my next episode.

Speaker 1: 16:51

So you guys, that will conclude this week's episode. That will conclude this week's episode. If you enjoyed it, like I say in my intro, definitely subscribe, share the podcast and if you have any questions or inquiries, all of my information is located in the description box of every episode. So, that being said, you all have a great day and remember to stay blessed, be positive and live your best life. Peace.