Laid off Google Director becomes Starbucks Barista
Meet Kyongsook Kim (Lois). Lois was a Google Director for 16 years before being laid off last year. She had moved from Korea to San Francisco for this job.
In a refreshing Business Insider interview, Lois thought to herself: โYou've worked for 30 years in the corporate world. Isn't that enough? What else do I want to do?โ
So Lois started her own list of jobs she always wanted to do: Bartender. Librarian. Barista. Driver. Cashier.
Writing this list gave Lois a burst of energy and 10 days after being laid off, Lois started working part time at Trader Joe's.
Lois shortly signed up to drive for Lyft and became a barista at Starbucks too.
3 coolest takeaways I had gotten from Loisโs story (full article in comment):
๐ญ) ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟย
I used to work at Google and I can tell you being a director there is a ๐๐๐ deal. Many of us dream and even low key obsess about joining this elusive โDirectors Clubโ there.
Lois acknowledged how painful it was to lose her Director role but saw this as an opportunity to take a gap year and pursue all the jobs and experiences she always wanted to.
๐ฎ) ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ
Lois shared that โI considered myself to be a high performer in the corporate world and thought I was good at everything โ but I wasn't a great barista. Learning how to do a job from scratch is a humbling experience.โ
I used to work in a cafe. I dare argue that a barista is just as tough as any job out there. You have to be good at customer relationships, upselling, operations and working under pressure (esp during the morning rush).
When I was fortunate to be hiring for my team in Google, I had requested my HR counterpart to find me CVs that included other non tech related skills (I once interviewed a firefighter, a teacher and eventually offered a role to a surfer)
๐ฏ) ๐ข๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ'๐ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐
Lois shared that on her first day at Trader's Joe, โI was worried about how people might perceive me because I was once a Googler Director and now worked at a grocery store. In Asian culture, it is quite common to take face-saving actionsโ
If Lois had conformed to social norms, she would have missed this opportunity to acquire these new skills and experiences.
Lastly, Loisโ gap year has also inspired her to become an author and she has published 3 books so far (see her LinkedIn for more info).
(Lois has kindly agreed for me to share her story)
UPDATE: Lois has shared that she is currently seeking a role in communications or PR, preferably within tech companies or other industries. Open to relocation.
Also, check out my latest YouTube video -
โ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ ๐'๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ก๐ผ๐โ https://t.ly/alZ5H
Meet Kyongsook Kim (Lois). Lois was a Google Director for 16 years before being laid off last year. She had moved from Korea to San Francisco for this job.
In a refreshing Business Insider interview, Lois thought to herself: โYou've worked for 30 years in the corporate world. Isn't that enough? What else do I want to do?โ
So Lois started her own list of jobs she always wanted to do: Bartender. Librarian. Barista. Driver. Cashier.
Writing this list gave Lois a burst of energy and 10 days after being laid off, Lois started working part time at Trader Joe's.
Lois shortly signed up to drive for Lyft and became a barista at Starbucks too.
3 coolest takeaways I had gotten from Loisโs story (full article in comment):
๐ญ) ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟย
I used to work at Google and I can tell you being a director there is a ๐๐๐ deal. Many of us dream and even low key obsess about joining this elusive โDirectors Clubโ there.
Lois acknowledged how painful it was to lose her Director role but saw this as an opportunity to take a gap year and pursue all the jobs and experiences she always wanted to.
๐ฎ) ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ
Lois shared that โI considered myself to be a high performer in the corporate world and thought I was good at everything โ but I wasn't a great barista. Learning how to do a job from scratch is a humbling experience.โ
I used to work in a cafe. I dare argue that a barista is just as tough as any job out there. You have to be good at customer relationships, upselling, operations and working under pressure (esp during the morning rush).
When I was fortunate to be hiring for my team in Google, I had requested my HR counterpart to find me CVs that included other non tech related skills (I once interviewed a firefighter, a teacher and eventually offered a role to a surfer)
๐ฏ) ๐ข๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ'๐ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐
Lois shared that on her first day at Trader's Joe, โI was worried about how people might perceive me because I was once a Googler Director and now worked at a grocery store. In Asian culture, it is quite common to take face-saving actionsโ
If Lois had conformed to social norms, she would have missed this opportunity to acquire these new skills and experiences.
Lastly, Loisโ gap year has also inspired her to become an author and she has published 3 books so far (see her LinkedIn for more info).
(Lois has kindly agreed for me to share her story)
UPDATE: Lois has shared that she is currently seeking a role in communications or PR, preferably within tech companies or other industries. Open to relocation.
Also, check out my latest YouTube video -
โ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ ๐'๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ก๐ผ๐โ https://t.ly/alZ5H
