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When I read about the shutdown of Spirit Airlines, it honestly hit me harder than I expected.
I didn't just see another business headline.
I saw people.
Employees wondering what happens next.
Customers stranded in uncertainty.
Teams trying to hold operations together while the public slowly realizes something is wrong.
And honestly?
I saw pieces of my own story.
I started in the airline industry in 1996 with Virgin Atlantic. Back then, aviation felt exciting, global, and full of opportunity. But over the years, I also learned something else:
Entire industries can shift overnight.
Layoffs happen.
Economic downturns happen.
Fuel prices rise.
Wars happen.
Terrorist attacks happen.
Companies restructure.
And sometimes businesses that once looked stable suddenly aren't.
After 9/11, the airline industry changed dramatically. Many of us working within travel and aviation experienced instability that forced us to adapt whether we were emotionally prepared or not.
That experience taught me something I carry to this day:
You cannot build your identity solely around an industry, a title, or a company.
Because industries evolve.
Companies pivot.
And sometimes doors close without warning.
What matters most is whether you learn how to evolve too.
Ironically, just weeks before hearing the news about Spirit Airlines, I flew Spirit Airlines to Miami for the Millions Conference.
For many people, it would have been a routine trip.
For me, it wasn't.
As a plus-sized woman on her own weight loss journey who navigates mobility challenges, travel can feel intimidating, exhausting, and honestly humiliating at times. I traveled with a cane. I requested wheelchair assistance. I upgraded my seat because I needed to steward my body with dignity instead of pretending I was comfortable when I wasn't.
And surprisingly?
I was treated with kindness.
While I was away, I started noticing signs that the airline was struggling.
Flights were being canceled.
Operations felt strained.
Conversations felt tense.
Something in me became deeply unsettled, and I remember quietly praying:
"Lord, please let us get there safely and home safely."
At the time, I didn't fully realize how much trouble the airline was actually in.
Now here we are.
And while the internet will make jokes about budget airlines and no-frills travel, the truth is companies like Spirit Airlines served a lot of ordinary people:
working-class families,
single moms,
people stretching budgets,
people trying to see loved ones,
people simply trying to travel at all.
Sometimes "cheap flights" are the only reason people get to move around this country.
But this story also reminded me how quickly systems can collapse.
A company can look operational publicly while privately fighting for survival.
People can be smiling publicly while privately exhausted.
Industries can appear stable while internally unraveling.
That applies to business.
That applies to leadership.
That applies to people.
One thing people often misunderstand about layoffs and industry collapse is this:
The loss is rarely just financial.
It disrupts identity.
Especially when you've spent years becoming excellent at what you do.
People talk about "pivoting" like it's trendy language on LinkedIn, but real pivots are painful. Real pivots often come attached to fear, humiliation, uncertainty, reduced income, interrupted confidence, and the exhausting process of rebuilding yourself while trying to survive.
I know that firsthand.
Over the past 20 years, I've experienced five layoffs across three different industries.
And if I'm honest, every single one of them felt destabilizing at the time.
But what those experiences ultimately taught me is this:
I am far more resilient than I thought I was.
And strangely enough, this recent trip to Miami reminded me of that again.
I realized I can walk farther — physically and proverbially — than I thought I could.
For years, I viewed parts of my career journey as disconnected:
aviation, customer experience, operations, solar, strategy, ministry, sales, leadership, tax preparation, coaching.
But now I see something completely different.
None of it was wasted.
Every industry taught me something.
How to communicate.
How to lead.
How to adapt.
How to encourage people under pressure.
How to speak.
How to write.
How to pivot when circumstances change unexpectedly.
How to preach hope while navigating uncertainty.
How to teach complicated ideas in ways people can actually understand.
And perhaps most importantly:
how to translate all of those experiences into every room I walk into.
That's the thing about reinvention.
Sometimes what feels like fragmentation is actually preparation.
Sometimes the skill you learned in one season becomes the survival tool for the next one.
And sometimes the very experiences that made you feel unstable are the exact experiences that make you capable of surviving instability later.
That trip to Miami shifted something in me personally too.
I stopped pretending I was powerless in my own life.
I asked for help.
I advocated for myself.
I walked farther than I thought I could.
I joined a gym after I got back.
And I realized I am not stuck.
I'm beginning to realize that resilience is not the ability to avoid disruption.
It's the ability to keep building after disruption changes you.
So if you are feeling unsure, unsteady, or you simply don't understand what's next…
You are not alone.
You may not be failing.
You may be recalibrating.
And recalibration can feel uncomfortable when life, industries, companies, and careers are shifting faster than expected.
But sometimes disruption reveals strengths you didn't know you had.
Sometimes the layoff reveals the leader.
Sometimes the pivot reveals the purpose.
Sometimes the pressure reveals the capacity.
I know that firsthand.
So if you are navigating the "What do I do next?" phase of your career, feel free to send me a DM.
I may not have every answer, but I do understand what it feels like to rebuild, reinvent, recalibrate, and keep moving forward anyway.
And sometimes the next step becomes clearer when you don't have to walk through it alone.
This resonated with you? Let's connect.
Send me a DM — I'd love to hear where you are in your journey.