Why I Joined the Great Resignation of 2021 & Left the American Workforce

I left the workforce with one minute notice at the start the Great Resignation of 2021.  

I left the American workforce with the intention to never return. I shut down my laptop, scheduled to meet the CFO to return all employer equipment the next day and scheduled a call with my CEO & CFO for the following week. I spoke my truth to them.  

I have an incredibly strong work ethic. I have always excelled at whatever my job was at the time, and, I have had my fair share.  

I spent a little over a decade in the American workforce.  

In early 2021, I joined the Great Resignation. I took a giant leap of faith.  

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine success, and along with it, the way we work and live. People are waking up to the value of living lives that allow them to connect with themselves and nurture their well-being and resilience. They’re waking up from the collective delusion that burnout is the price we have to pay for success. Companies that realize this will be less likely to be capsized by the great wave of resignations. Those that don’t may be in for a not-so-great awakening.”

The “Great Resignation” Is a Great Cultural Shift (thriveglobal.com)

Leaving the American workforce is by far one of the best leaps of faith I have made. That says a lot, because I follow my intuition & take many risky assessed pivots entirely too often. I find a way to land on my feet. Trust your gut. Follow your intuition. Let it steer you. Even when it is scary. Especially when it is scary.  

I also have a knack for having some more dramatic endings to employment.  

I interned in an all-male, minimum-security prison during my junior year of college. The justice system has always captivated me. I implemented a fairly innovative, family focused program for the inmates in my 4-month internship. It was an eye-opening, incredible experience.  

I knew the warden was involved in a scandal & learned later that there was another questionable circumstance involving a correctional officer and an inmate. The CO’s husband also worked at the prison.

It was 20-year-old-Laura that was escorted out of the prison I interned at by armed prison guards. They marched me across campus, through the barbed wire fencing & to my car. I was being let go. This horrific memory occurred on the very final day of my internship.  

I was told I was too attractive to be working at an all-male prison facility. I looked the same I had 4 months prior which is when they met me to interview me for the internship. It was also my final day of the internship. I had 2 hours left.  

Power play. 

When I worked at Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, I had just received my 2^nd promotion within 2 years and was a top performing Sales Manager that was ready to move into a larger role/market. Six months later I was fired. IL is an at-will state and no explanation is required to terminate employment. I know why I was fired. So do my coworkers & close friends at the time.  

Power play. 

Losing that job ultimately is a big piece of what cost me my mind | The Power of Storytelling & How to Own Your Truth.

I joined the movement of the Great Resignation at the very end of February 2021.  

I thought I had finally found my forever home in terms of ideal employers and positions. That was my one and only year of professional experience in fundraising. I loved every single thing about my job and employer when I started. Our chapter had their highest revenue year since inception, in 1985.

In January 2021 everything shifted with my direct leadership. My boss, who had become a mentor & friend soon after I started; began to treat me differently. After concepting the first virtual event for MAWI, rocking out end-of-year giving & and then being denied my first vacation request to take a couple of days off the first week of January | I sensed the tides were shifting. 

I was also in the midst of trying to treat my debilitating chronic pain with a new medical team | “You Are a Medical Quandary” | To Experience Chronic Pain as a Woman in America. In the middle of January, I was directed to start an oral steroid.  

That oral steroid rocked my mind. I could tell within an hour of ingestion. I told my boss. I told my CDO. I told my coworkers. We made some accommodations to my hours for the one week I was required to take the steroid tablets.  

A few afternoons later, the effects were significantly worse as the afternoon/evening wore on, I was asked by my boss if I was a safety risk to myself or others. This took me aback completely.  

I have been asked this question countless times in the years my mind was tormented by internal demons. The question was justly asked in those times. This felt unfounded & inappropriate.

The next weeks are a blur of realizing that my mental & physical illnesses, my invisible illnesses, were once again, being used against me.

The power play felt eerily familiar. 

My resignation to the American workforce is incredibly liberating. I now pour more of me into the causes that are at the fiber of my being. It is incredibly liberating. Empowering.

I trust my own worth. I know my work ethic. I have a vision & believe in my potential to achieve it. 

The Great Resignation of 2021 | I cannot wait to see where our dreams & visions for a better future take us.