People are often surprised when they learn that I write both children’s picture books and contemporary romance. To me, they’re not opposites at all — they’re two ways of asking the same question: what does it mean to be human?

The first time I heard my marketing director say “low-hanging fruit,” I froze. My mind went blank, and while I was still wondering why fruit was suddenly part of the conversation, someone chimed in with “let’s circle back.” Welcome to the corporate world — where jargon is a second language, slides are the new glossy spreads, and meetings multiply like rabbits.

For magazine editors making the leap into corporate, the good news is that your storytelling instincts and deadline discipline transfer beautifully. The tricky part? Learning the new playbook — when to embrace the jargon, when to let go of old habits, and when to keep the superpowers that made you an editor in the first place.

I thought I was prepared for my layoff. I’d had more than a year’s notice, even helped train my replacements. But when the day finally came, the tears still surprised me — first in the office restroom, and later in a near-empty cinema. Because a layoff isn’t just about losing a job. It’s about losing rhythm, identity, and community. And busyness doesn’t erase that grief. This is my story of why feeling the loss matters, and the questions I’m now asking myself — questions that may help others going through the same.

I've been writing professionally for 20 years, but creating my own website felt impossibly daunting. Turns out, helping others find their voice is easier than finding your own. Here's why it took me two decades to stop hiding behind other people's brands.