Fired. Laid Off. Your Position has been Eliminated.
It was just last week that I was finally feeling confident in my furloughed status, only to have discovered I was standing in a sink hole the whole time!
Well my friends, I got "the call". After nearly 13 years, I am no longer a Disney Cast Member. 13 years! When I started at Disneyland in California, at 19, I had no clue where this job would take me. I just thought I had landed the best college job ever!! I got to fight Dragons, create Jedi, and travel to A Whole New World. Disneyland taught me foundations that I would use for the rest of my career. It matured me and taught me how to be an excellent Assistant Stage Manager and Trainer.
My time with Disney Cruise Line taught me how to be a servant leader and to take pride and ownership of my work. I loved calling shows. I loved mentoring and caring for my team and watching them flourish both onstage and off.
Lastly, Disney Parks Live Entertainment gave me my Dream Job. To be a part of the creative process from start to finish. To work and collaborate on the grandest scales I could imagine. I got to share my love of musical theater with my love of Mickey Mouse. It taught me to own my skills and harness them to be agile in countless situations. I am so grateful that my final project would be at Tokyo Disneyland, an experience I will never forget!
Now, here's some really amazing things that I'm super grateful for!
-They have kept my amazing health benefits going this entire time!
-I'm now getting 8 weeks of pay!
-In addition, I will receive a very generous severance that will arrive in a lump sum (Hello Taxes!!)
Most of all, I recognize that this is a business decision. A very difficult business decision. They are eliminating 28,000 jobs. (Seriously, if you looked at my Newsfeeds and Timelines, it looks as though Thanos has snapped his fingers.)
I hold no bitterness nor resentment, but I would be lying if I denied my sadness. I will certainly miss the amazing travel and moreover my incredible coworkers who I've been so lucky to have in my life.
I've decided a few things so far and I'm putting it out here publicly so that I hope you, dear reader, hold me accountable. I'm going to take a giant leap and just begin hustling and see where the cards fall. I'd love to end up back in the entertainment world at some point but until that comes back, I'm going to be working hard with my head down.
I'm going to being throwing myself into this blog. I really hope that you come along for the ride. I hope you share the recipes, and the financial wisdom that I learn along the way.
Thanks for letting me vent and share. See Ya Real Soon!