Rebound from Retrenchment

While a lot of people see the glory of my homebaking business – Guilt Free Food, there are a lot of untold rejections. I want to take this opportunity to share with you how I rebound from retrenchment and the steps I have taken to where I am now.

Rejected Once

When I received the news that I was being retrenched, my mind and body went numb. I saw it coming but to acknowledge and accept the fact was tough. The good thing that came out of the retrenchment was the swift decision to move back to Singapore, after 12 years in Hong Kong. 

Rejected Twice

I was determined to find a job in Singapore. A lot of friends and acquaintance were encouraging about securing a job quickly once I relocated back to Singapore. At 44, I was careful (read Not Picky) with the choice of jobs. I wanted my next job to come with a purpose that would also aligned with my life principles and beliefs. I received a lot of invitation to the final interviews. At las, it was always rejection.

Expand the horizon

I am very lucky to have a supportive network of family and friends. During this journey of picking myself up, my husband, Luigi, never fail to come up with ideas to expand my professional network. I met with a lot of inspiring people such as Patrick Furlong, Colts Polo and Riding, who gave up his highflying banking job and set up his own polo riding school, all fueled by his passion for polo. Through their work, I found inspirations for Guilt Free Food.

Upgrade and upgrade

I had always been in marketing all my corporate life, witnessed the evolution of traditional marketing being digitalized.  I was at a senior level in my last job but that didn’t guarantee that I would know-it-all especially during digital marketing era. I took this opportunity to upgrade my skillsets with NUS to stay competitive as well as network with other marketeers. I gained a lot of insights from these courses which led me to the success of Guilt Free Food.

Knowing thyself

I don’t know if anyone did any SWOT analysis on yourself. It’s a simple business tool for companies. I apply SWOT on myself to plot out and make the most of what I have got, to my own best advantage. At the same time, I use the Japanese concept - Ikigai, to find my purpose in life and the thing that keeps me going when I wake up in the morning. Ikigai means “a reason for being”.  I am not going into details here. However, I strongly encourage everyone to use this concept regardless where your mindset is. It is my guiding principle to finding my worth in my homebaking career and getting Guilt Free Food where it is now. 

Embrace compassion and kindness

Good energy can boost feelings of well-being and improve communication. Bad energy results in feelings of conflict and resentment. I always make it a point to act in good faith by treating everyone with compassion and graciousness, even if they are not doing the same. I realize by embracing compassion and kindness , it fuels happiness and sent heaps of positive energy my way. This positivity is much needed to get my day going.

Cast the net wide

I was involved in multiple projects at one point – job search, start-up a digital marketing company and homebaking. When I saw traction with homebaking, I dropped the rest of the projects and focused on Guilt Free Food. This tactic worked for me because all of these projects were part of my passion. Had they were random things, I would not be able to keep up with them.

Find your pillar of support

No man is an island. Find your pillar of support. I am very thankful to have my husband, Luigi, to be my support pillar throughout this journey of rebounding from retrenchment. He is my everything - aunt agony, delivery boy, business consultant, cleaner, coffee boy, etc. He helps to strengthen the areas that I am weak in, and empower me to be a better version of myself. 

There is still hope and opportunity in retrenchment situations. It is up to you as to how you want to handle it. I hope this sharing can give you more clarity as to how you handle your retrenchment.