Dear Kaira,
I was recently fired from my job of 10 years. I loved my job. I loved the field. But clearly, something just wasn’t right. And after this huge failure, I’m wondering if I should start all over, in a new field entirely. What’s your advice?

ANSWER...
Lots of people thought I’d struggle to pick myself up after being fired from my first ad agency job. They couldn’t have been more wrong. I knew I wasn’t a hopeless failure, and I wasn’t ruined in advertising. In fact, being fired actually made me stronger. I had left my previous job in radio to pursue my dream of working at an advertising agency. I wasn’t wrong to follow that dream. I just hadn’t found the right place. I knew this in my gut. If I hadn’t been fired, I might never have moved on to launch Hobson Communications, to become a marketing executive for a national franchisor, or to create the Real Living brand.

The point is: it’s OK to get fired. Your personal brand can handle it. Your passion and talent for your work do not automatically become null and void because you get fired. You’re simply faced with a chance to channel your passion and talent in a new way. And finding exactly what that will be is a challenge I’m confident you’re fully prepared to handle.

<-- back to questions