Gloria Gaynor Said So: But Will I Survive?
Okay so here’s the thing:
In May 2020, I turned 54 and was enjoying my 33rd year as an editor for the Impressions Media Group, of which I was editor-in-chief for 20 years. I also played a big role in the group’s trade show — the Imprinted Sportswear Shows (now Impressions Expo) — as content developer for the award- winning conference program. In addition to making a career out of being a journalist, I know the decorated apparel industry like the back of my hand. I was comfy with my job, had a prominent standing in the industry, and worked with the best media and trade show team in the business. Life was good. Or so I thought.
A week after my birthday, I got the call no one ever wants. My position had been eliminated due to COVID and the financial strain on the company. Honestly, I had half expected it. Having been with the brand for so long, I had seen Impressions change ownership several times and had been on the chopping block more than once. I saw my managers have to do the laying off of middle management only to lose their own jobs a few months later when new management took over. So with everything going on in the world and Impressions being owned by a private equity group, I could understand the parent company’s position. They had to make cuts and it was my turn.
But that didn’t help the self-doubt that crept in almost immediately. Why me? What now? We’re in the middle of a horrific pandemic and I am middle aged. Am I washed up and ready to be put out to pasture? Did they choose me because I’m a woman? Because my salary was high (ish) due to my tenure? Was it because I was old?
So many negative thoughts could’ve taken over quickly had I not stopped them in their tracks. I essentially had just lost two-thirds of my life. I started with Impressions in 1988, right out of college. Armed with a journalism degree with a magazine concentration, I took the opportunity to work in the trades for a magazine and an industry I knew nothing about. But it soon became the thread with which I built my professional life. So for it to suddenly be gone left a big hole in my life and I wasn’t sure where to turn next.
Here I was on unemployment, using my savings and thinking how few publishing/trade show jobs there are in the Atlanta area with so many great journalists in my position — having been laid off. We’re all out there vying for the few jobs there might be. And did I really want to go back to corporate America again? I had played the game for more than three decades…climbing the corporate ladder, dealing with non-stop meetings, sometimes fighting that feeling of discrimination, handling necessary but tedious corporate policies like budgets, performance reviews and strategy planning...you get the idea. I loved it all when I was doing it, but was I done? Was it time to do my own thing?
I had worked at home for eight years before that devastating day. So I’d gotten accustomed to working on my own schedule — sometimes in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning. I also travel to Texas a lot to see my kids and my very beautiful and special granddaughter. I like the fact that I could take my work with me. But that wouldn’t be possible if I was going to an office again. And besides, did I really have the energy to learn a completely new industry to guide a publication through unfamiliar waters? T-shirts, after all, were in my blood. So I took a deep breath, took some time off, and really thought about my future. I decided it was time to control my destiny and work for myself. I could do it; I just had to spread the word. So I started my own media communications company to service not only the decorated apparel market but others as well that had copywriting, webcasting, blogging or other needs.
I know a pandemic is a tough time to start a business, but content is king and that is my passion. People are looking for education and conversation now more than ever, and that’s what I can offer. Also, many suppliers had to trim down their marketing departments with COVID and extra duties fell on the few staffers left. And apparel decorators and other small business owners are busy and may not have the savvy to do their own digital marketing and writing. It is vital now more than ever to have a social media presence and good content on your blogs and social sites. That’s where I come in to take it off your plates. There’s business to be had — I just had to make it work.
So will I survive? You know it! Gloria’s got nothing on me. Watch out world.
Here comes Marcia Derryberry Media Communications.
