Happily Ever After Or Whatever

It’s been a long time coming.

When I was laid off in November, I felt a familiar swirl of emotions. Blatant disbelief that this was happening to me (again). Instant relief that I didn’t have to finish what I was working on that day. But mostly, an existential ache accompanied by razor-sharp anxiety.

My industry is dying.

I’ve been laid off three times in five years. The sheer unpredictability and chaos that has been swirling around my life in addition to a global pandemic is mind-boggling. It wouldn’t be so destabilizing if access to medical care wasn’t directly tied to employment status, but alas. The lack of stability for anyone to pursue a career in journalism or communications is concerning, writ large, because we cannot rely on robots to give us our news, make us laugh, or connect us with different perspectives.

Previously, if you announced a media layoff on Twitter, you would be tormented by a slew of random people commenting “learn to code.” But even that’s gone now, because the tech industry is also laying off its workforce in droves. The advice trolls would be more useful if they commented “have you tried using your generational wealth to become a venture capitalist? just a thought”

Being laid off means losing access to income, health insurance, and professional contacts. Most people in my industry are locked out of their computers and work emails within minutes of receiving the news that they are being let go. That means projects stall, emails go unanswered, and a network of connections shatters. Trying to pick up the pieces is exhausting.

ANYWAY!!!!

When Victoria Edel and I were laid off in 2020, we started Gold-Plated Girls as a way to keep writing and keep ourselves sane. It worked (mostly) and helped us get into media jobs again. I loved that newsletter so much that I ended up pursing a job doing newsletters full-time, which was my most recent media job. So now I’m back at it again at Krispy Kreme, but this time on my own terms: I am joining the hoards of journalists and writers who are pivoting to Substack. Tina Brown says it’s the way of the future, and who am I to argue?

Right now, I am focusing energy on three things: finding full-time work, freelancing, and launching this Substack. At the end of the day, I am doing this for my own sanity: I need something that is mine. An editorial calendar that I set, a pace that I control, and work that I am truly proud of creating.

This new Substack is called Princess Influencers. It will combine fashion, history, pop culture, and social media with a unique framing device that is both familiar and expansive. It draws inspiration from other creators I admire, and the history niche that I love. This will be my most ambitious project yet. I’m excited to share it with all of you in the coming weeks when it’s ready. But for now, I’m simply dropping hints that I’m launching a Substack.

So please subscribe, share so others can subscribe, and stay tuned. Like everything else I write, it will be a fucking joy to read.