All the Cool Girls Get Fired

So, you got fired—laid off, let go, reduced, restructured, canned, shit-canned. Or if you want to spin it (and we don’t suggest you do), you “left.” Well, welcome to the party, baby!

The thing is, these days, you probably didn’t get fired because you suck at your job. You likely got fired because your industry is changing, morphing, and mutating like one of those AI videos where people have weird hands. The changes are seismic: mindmelting tech advances, company buyouts, changing consumer demand—hey, maybe you just have a crappy boss who doesn’t see your value or potential. Tech is laying off tens of thousands of people almost weekly, media is losing its currency, and startups are hitting the wall. Every day there’s a different news alert: IBM, Disney, Shell, Apple, Tesla, Mastercard, UPS, geez, even Dyson . . .the list goes on and on. And, of course, this year thousands of federal employees faced the buzz saw of layoffs wielded by the Trump administration’s ostensible Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). There’s no sugarcoating it: it sucks out there right now.

So many people are getting fired, from so many places, there is a TikTok trend of people filming and sharing their layoffs by-Zoom. We live in a world where getting fired is part of the global discourse, yet few of us women can talk frankly about it,let alone own it. Why? Well, because for generations men have dominated the professional landscape. It has taken us ladies—culturally, politically, personally—so much longer to make our mark, to earn our position (while hard to believe, remember, in the United States, we only earned the right to vote in 1920!). So, when you lose that extremely hard-earned status, it cuts deeper, because it took so much longer to achieve it.

That said, though, why should that define you? Why should you let it? Remember, you earned a lot of equity during your years grinding it out for your overlords, and you have earned the right to spend it. Everything you’ve learned, built, and put into practice over your career doesn’t just go poof when your job goes away. Do not attach your value to where you work; your value lies within you. This transitionis, in fact, a gateway to a whole new world of opportunity—to leave behind your old obligations and explore what you really love. (Read this in a Brené Brown voice if it helps. It’s fine!)

Right this minute, though, you’re probably on the couch—by turns pounding out replies to friends’ and colleagues’ texts, staring at your bank balance permanently open in your browser, wondering what the eff COBRA is, and maybe popping a Xanax.

So, we’re here to help. Our goal in writing this book is to acknowledge the shock, confusion, and all the stages of grief that come with losing a job, and pair all of that rough stuff with a pragmatic step-by-step road map to get through this time and emerge stronger. From coping mechanisms and self-care practices to networking strategies and reinvention techniques, All the Cool Girls Get Fired is a comprehensive GPS to navigate the path of career recovery and bounce back with more professional mojo than ever.

And while we’ve both been through it—learning many lessons rapidly during an overwhelming time—we called in the experts. When you are numb from the shock of job loss, we want you to simply open up to any page and learn from the best: how to manage your money, health care, legal representation (should you need it), your mental health, networking, recruiting, leaving a bad job . . . hell, even how and when to take a big ol’ break from all of it. And because laws, regulations, and benefits are shifting all the time, we are sharing what you need to know now. Our experts run the gamut from financial columnists to workplace lawyers, healthcare consultants to corporate recruiters. All of them, by the way,are super cool and explain things in English, not abbreviations and acronyms (lady, you’re overwhelmed enough). This book contains so much of the information we wished we’d had when we got fired.

Now, of course, we got laid off in the United States. But that special “I lost my job” feeling is the same, wherever you are based, thanks to global consolidation, rampant technological change, the vacillations of the international economy, and a million other things you could never have imagined when you were first hired.You will likely find that your needs (and vulnerabilities) are different, depending on the infrastructure of the country where you live. For example, in the United States, we both immediately freaked out about access to health care, but if you live in a country with public health care (lucky you!), that might not even make your list. Take some time to seek out comparable support systems in your country to the ones we mention in this book. (Like lawyers, baby. They’re everywhere.)

And speaking of getting fired, you know how you think at thatmoment that it’s only happening to you? Well, it isn’t. We talked to hugely successful—sometimes, hugely famous—women who, guess what, once got canned, too. And while many of these great ladies seem to “have it all” (hello, Oprah), there were times when they decidedly didn’t. We were surprised by how emotional some became when discussing the subject with us, how clear and urgent their memories of losing their jobs were, even if the firing itself was decades ago. Like you, they were panicking about paying the rentor mortgage, had lost their confidence, and were deeply worried about their reputations. But they got up and got on with it, and sometimes fate intervened, helping them not just get back on their feet but to understand their value and want something better for themselves. Their stories are here to not just give you comfort, but to fire up your dreams.

But for now, focus on getting through the day, the week, the month, and onward. And while we know you can’t help it, try not to overthink all of it. A lot of the trauma of job loss comes from our own irrational decisions.

Once you’ve digested and owned your firing, you are better positioned to get your proverbial shit together. To put it simply: we don’t want working women to feel this vulnerable again.