Belle was spending more and more time huddled behind closed doors. Meanwhile, desks were suddenly emptying without advance notice. It seemed to those of us who remained that the fluorescent lights had dimmed and the temperature gone frigid. Thank God I had Jason’s email in my pocket, even though I had not yet been able to pin down the date for his trip to L.A. In addition, there was always the cracker client as backup. Word was we’d hear any moment now.
It was frankly a relief when I was called away from the office to moderate a panel at a marketing symposium, taking the place of an executive from a competing firm who had suddenly canceled. Rumors were circulating that she’d been let go by her corporation as part of a holding company-wide staff reduction, but nobody knew for sure.
Wandering the halls and meeting rooms of The Fifty-plus Symposium, I wondered at the brightness of the lights and the warmth of the corridors. In fact, I had suddenly begun feeling like myself again. I was at home in this environment, certain that I would rise to the occasion and that my panel would go well. The very fabric of my being carried the warp and weft of all the speeches I’d given over the years—the panels I’d moderated. My mood rose even higher as I bumped into my peers, friendships made during my travels on the thought leadership circuit. We hugged each other with genuinely enthusiastic hellos.
And then there was a whole series of “good news” emails that I checked on my BlackBerry at breaks. There were several new invitations to join in conference call brainstormings with executives from our offices around the country. I got a thank-you from one of our offices for research I’d provided. Finally, a press release I wrote to promote our practice had gone out on the wires and was being picked up by numerous media outlets. I was fully aware that the journalists were eager for my opinion not only because of my expertise, but because I was still working for one of the largest and most prestigious marketing firms in the world.
Chapter 16 from The Year I Saved My (downsized) Soul by Carol Orsborn
See all published chapters
