Fired On Your Day Off

One Friday call. Boss, boss’s boss, HR. “Effective immediately, you no longer work here.” After 11 years in corporate America, Lyssa expects the kind of moment that wrecks your stomach and scrambles your future. Instead, a smile creeps in and the truth lands fast: she wasn’t going to quit, so the universe pushed her off the ledge.

We unpack the real-time aftermath of becoming a full-time entrepreneur, including the part nobody warns you about: you can be “fine” and still not have processed it. Lyssa shares how she kept it together to record a podcast minutes after the firing, why privacy and professionalism mattered, and what it means to finally answer “Do you do this full time?” with a clear yes. We also talk about the limiting beliefs that keep smart, capable people stuck like the comfort of steady pay, the myth of “free money,” and the identity trap of being a high achiever who won’t let anyone down.

Then we get practical about the nervous system shift: sleep changes, weekends feel different, vacations aren’t haunted by a laptop, and work-life balance stops being a theory. We reflect on scaling a small business, “working ourselves out of our jobs,” and how being surrounded by women entrepreneurs turns fear into momentum, especially when your people cheer for you instead of grieving the job.

If you’re thinking about leaving your corporate job, starting a business, or stepping into a bigger season of abundance, this conversation will hit. Subscribe to the show, share it with a friend who needs a push, and leave a review. What would it take for you to finally choose yourself?

Music Track: Building Dreams by Aylex Source: https://freetouse.com/music Copyright Free Background Music

Music Track: Building Dreams by Aylex Source: https://freetouse.com/music Copyright Free Background Music

Transcript

Margarita Guessing And Catching Up

Lyssa 0:15

Episode 129. I'm excited to be out of the 20s.

Barb 0:22

We did it.

Lyssa 0:23

We did it.

Barb 0:24

We did it. What's in your cup?

Lyssa 0:26

Margarita.

Barb 0:28

This week is different. So the new game is can we tell? Tell what flavor it is, and then have Adrian tell us we're wrong. Basically.

Lyssa 0:38

So retracting last week. Last week we thought we had a mango. And it was so freaking good. Turns out it was not mango at all. It was actually passion fruit. But I heard that those get mixed up all the time. So I'm not going to blame me. Salute.

Barb 0:58

Oh, that's good. Delicious. So I'm gonna oh, I'm gonna say it's the blueberry.

Lyssa 1:04

Oh, again.

The Leap Into Full-Time Business

Barb 1:07

She tricked us with blueberry once, and our tongues had no idea. And so she told me. Um, so yeah, I'm locking in a blueberry margarita, even though it looks like a classic margarita. I think it's classic. We'll let you guys know if we're right or wrong. Probably wrong, but you know, that's what we do best. Uh okay, so this conversation is long overdue. It is.

Lyssa 1:31

It is long, long older for a little bit. Almost, not almost a month, almost like a week away. Yeah. That's crazy. Three weeks. Oh my gosh, I'm three weeks removed.

Barb 1:41

Well, the first full week. Yeah, yeah. Since life is vacationing, and all the things. Yeah. So let's get into it. We're gonna talk about it. Well, I don't want to say rip the band-aid off because that sounds like a painful thing. Right. Because it wasn't that.

The HR Call And Instant Change

Lyssa 1:55

So I was set free and it was beautiful and magical. And I have never felt better. I've never felt lighter. So I am a full-time entrepreneur now. It's nuts. It's nuts. Um, I actually got to like say that, like own it for the first time on Sunday. Um somebody asked, like, oh, you guys do this full time? And it's the first time in the last three weeks that we've been asked that question. So I didn't even hear it at first. Like you actually like acknowledged it. And I was just like, oh yeah, yeah. Like I get to say yes for the last almost five years. Well, I guess technically not five years. You've been three years almost. Yeah. So for almost three years now, you know, people have asked us that question, and we've always said, Well, Barb is, and like, and I'm almost there, you know. And I realized when I was let go that I don't know how almost there I really was. And so for you know, that to happen on Sunday, for this question to come around just completely unexpected and wasn't ready for it. I was literally texting on my phone. I was in another world, like I just wasn't ready to absorb it. It just kind of hit as like, oh shit, your life is different now, and it has been for the last three weeks. And I don't think I've I'm not gonna say I don't think. I know I haven't because we've just been so busy and things have been happening. Like I have not fully processed it. Um, but to process it in that moment, to be able to say yes to that question, it felt really freaking good. Yeah, I I couldn't believe it. It's been 11 years. I worked at that company for 11 years. I gave them so much of my adult career, and I would have given them more. I would have stayed until the end. And I and I kind of did because it was the end. They got me on a call and they said, Hey, by the way, you don't work here anymore. And it was truly in that moment that I knew that I was never gonna let them go. I wasn't gonna be the one to do it. We talked for years. It's something that I wanted. I know you wanted it for me, everyone's wanted it for me this whole time. And I don't want to say that I didn't want it for myself, because I know that I did. And sometimes things get comfortable and things get easy, and when you do something for a decade, it's easy to just keep doing it. And so I was building these limiting beliefs in my head that this wasn't a hard job, that it didn't take up too much time, that it was just easy, that it was quote unquote free money because I didn't work that hard to earn it. Uh and yet every two weeks it was just very easily deposited right into my bank account. And those are easy comforts in life. Those are the easy comforts that keep a lot of people in corporate America, keep them tied to their own jobs, keep them working for somebody else. But that wasn't my story anymore. It hasn't been my story for a long time. And I knew it, you knew it, the universe sure as hell knew it. And the universe also knew that I wasn't gonna take this leap. So it pushed me off the ledge.

Barb 5:43

Kicked your back almost and said, here you go, cut it out. Yeah, so you're done with this place. I want to talk about the day because it actually wasn't that long ago. And it was such a crazy day.

Lyssa 5:57

It's day. It still feels I think that's what it is. I'm I'm still living in that day. It still feels like that to me. And I don't know how to like describe it because it's it's not like a simulation, you know what I mean? But it's it's different. I feel like I'm a little autopiloting right now. Um getting my legs straight because I'm just like a transition, it's a change.

Barb 6:22

So it was a Friday. Yes. They in fact waited. How nice. Oh, I know, right? To wait till the Friday. Last day of the month. Um and they did. They were like, we need you on this call, ASAP. So you we had to move some things around. We had a guest here. The podcast that we were recording was with Aubrey. Um, that's gonna be released soon. Yes. And you had to go call. I was picked the call and I entertained, right? I hosted. I make the margaritas, doing the things, and me and her just shooting the shit. You're in the office, and you're just doing your thing. I'm like, there's she's gonna come out, she's gonna be pissed. It was a stupid meeting, she's gonna be mad that she had to miss it. Yeah. And you came out. Yeah, you came out of another dimension because you were in another dimension. You were in a meeting that had you somewhere else. Yeah, you came out, and like the boss you are. We sat down, we recorded an hour podcast where we kikied, ha ha'd, we talk about all of this growth and journey of her last year. Yeah. And you are on the same precipice that she founded herself on. Literally. And you drank your margarita, you flipped your hair, and it was great. She left and you sat me down and rocked my world. I had no, I had no idea that I was exploding on the inside.

Lyssa 7:48

Yeah, I know. It uh it isn't even feel it, right?

Barb 7:54

Normally I can feel, we can feel each other when we are off. Yeah. You were given no signals, boo. I had to shut it down.

Recording Through The Shock

Lyssa 8:02

I had to shut it down hard because it was such a transformative moment. It was, it was a moment that was so many years in the making at this point. And it sucked. And it was, and it didn't suck at the same time. But it did suck that like there was somebody else here because I was just like, fuck, if I go back there right now and drop this news, one, I was I was highly aware of the fact that Aubrey literally one year ago was in this same exact position. So it was like this holy shit, I'm gonna I need to go back there right now after I was just let go. Also, this has like literally never happened to me at a job ever. I've never been let go from any job ever. I've always been the one to walk away. So like that big flex. Um, and so like that also felt, you know, weird too. But um, so yeah, so I I did. We we were out on our way here, knowing that we had this interview, knowing that she was gonna be here when we arrived. And I was, I was getting the messages about the meeting. And I'm like, oh my god, this is why you guys drive me freaking insane. You don't fucking plan things. This was not on my calendar. I didn't know about it. And now, like, I have something scheduled. I have something at 10 o'clock. So no, I cannot get on your 10 o'clock call. Um, and they were just badgering and badgering. I mean, and I was just like, oh my god, I'll get there when I get there, you know? Classic Bar Lisa, I feel like, to show up to her own firing whenever the fuck she feels like it. Yeah. So it's a big flex. I'm just saying. So it was definitely an I'll get there when I get there moment. Um, so I got there, opened up the meeting. Um, and then as soon as I got on, I saw that it was my boss, my boss's boss, um, and HR. So the reading. Oh my god, that's what it's like in here. I've never been here before. No idea. Um, so they did the thing, and obviously it was very quick because I have I have nothing to say. I'm not going to, you know, argue or fight anything. Um so I was like, okay, well, we we know how this works. So I just said the okay's and we got through it uh fairly quickly. I think it was probably like 10, 15 minutes. You weren't in there long. Yeah. Um, and then I did. I was just like, okay, I have to go back in here now. And and I have to go back into that room and I have to record a podcast. And knowing that the one person who can fully relate to what I'm feeling right now is in that room. And yet, I also knew that if I said something in that moment, one, it was like the privacy aspect of it. Like, that's something I want to just talk about me and you, right? Like, we always talk about things and process things before we take it to the rest of the world. So it was just that moment where I was just like, well, no, I need to tell her like just her. I was like, and two, this is gonna taint the podcast. Like, this was supposed to be a podcast that talked about her full year in entrepreneurship. And we were excited for her to tell us all of these things that she's been doing. And I was just like, if I come in here, I'm gonna steal the show. It everything is gonna get twist and it's gonna get turned, and it's just gonna change it. And we can't have that. I had to be a boss in that moment, I had to be a podcaster, an interviewer, and like know that this was not my story to tell on this podcast, this is her story to tell. So, like, I gotta keep it quiet. Kudos to you, kid. That was amazing. Um, and it was not easy, it was not easy at all. And I I'm actually excited to hear the episode back because while I was definitely there and I participated, I didn't. I was I was in my head, yeah, like I I'm gonna be able to pick it up, you know, and and kind of hear where you were experiencing it as you were talking about right.

Barb 11:50

Like that is that beautiful diamond perspective thing. There's so many things happening in one situation, in one moment, one moment, in one encounter. And you did a great job. Yeah, thanks. Right. So much so that afterwards, you know, we said goodbyes, we hugged, we kissed, and I know I was like, I was like, um, so I'm gonna need you to grab your margarita and come sit down.

Lyssa 12:14

And you were like, what? I was like, we just have to talk. Just gotta talk. We gotta talk.

Barb 12:17

You had your mark in your hand. You blew my world, you rocked it in like the best gift that I could have ever asked for because we were, we were building it so that you could stay there and that you could manage and we would just move things around and do the and it's it's not that hard. Right. And the universe said enough was enough. And like I'm forever grateful to the universe. Thank you, you're not verse for giving us exactly what we need when we need it. We are as a business, as a company, I like that word company. We're in the precipice. Yeah, we are about to turn five years old. Yeah, we're about to kick another statistic right in the jaw. You know it. And what better way to bring on this new year in business than to have two full-time entrepreneurs at the helm? Yeah. What? What? I remember when we started this business. I remember having the conversation with you and saying, you know, by the time I'm 40, that would be the nice 32. We started this, we were 32 years old. And I get cute, 40, by 40, I'd like to leave teaching and I want to, you know, full-time, but I didn't know. I didn't know. I had no idea. And that I went back to that because I just turned 37. You're knocking on 37's door. I know it. Three years ahead of schedule, six almost five or six ahead of my own schedule. Yeah. And we're doing the damn thing. Yeah. We're good at this. We're supposed to be doing, we have a gift. Yeah. We were told we have a gift and we have to share our gift, and it's working. And it's working. What?

Identity Shift And Real Relief

Lyssa 14:25

I think it it for me it really is the the service. It's, you know, this happened right at the end of February, and we were ingesting all of our fire horse energy and taking it all in, and that's exactly what it felt like in that moment of hearing effective immediately, you no longer work here. I think I don't think I know that is a sad moment for a high percentage of the people who have to hear that. And I don't want to take for granted that that was not a sad moment for me. Like a smile that came over my face because I was set free. I finally shed the last identity that no longer served me. Elisa does not work in corporate America, she does not work for somebody else. That's not who she is. That's not what she does. And because I am a people pleaser, because I am a high achiever, because I know that I can do all the things, I was gonna stay and do all the things because I was so invested in that company and those people and my small team. You know, I was never gonna let them down. I was never gonna be the one to be like deuces, even though I thought about it a lot every day. I wrote the speech. I had that resignation letter written four years, and in that moment of hearing you don't work here anymore, I knew that I was never gonna send that letter, and that this was a gift that I was being given, and I was so happy to receive it, and that's a blessing. Again, a lot of people that rocks their whole world and it turns it upside down, and things can happen, but that wasn't my story, so I wasn't going to live in those feelings. There was there was nothing to fear. I did everything I was supposed to do. Everything that I've been doing this whole time has been setting myself up to be a full-time entrepreneur, to sustain myself financially, personally, professionally, all of these things on my own two feet. That's what we've been doing this whole damn time. So it was like when it happened, I had this feeling of being grounded. It was like for the first time, like my feet touched the ground, and I was like, this is where I belong. Right here in my venue, making my dreams come true for my company, not someone else's, no one else's rules, just ours. And I have the best rules.

Barb 17:11

Oh, yeah.

Lyssa 17:11

And then I like very limited them. And it is, it's just it's nuts to be here, and and I don't wanna I don't wanna like diminish myself by like continuing to say like that I I wasn't gonna do this myself, but I think it's just important to know thyself, you know what I mean, and to just be true and honest and know that all of this was working for me the whole time. This is fire horse energy. Everything is being lined up because I am in my period of abundance, that's where we're at. So I don't have to be scared that I lost a job because I didn't lose a job. I actually gained more time and availability into my own business, into my own life. That is just it's unmatched. And I for the last three weeks have just been like sleep is different.

Barb 18:18

Yeah.

Lyssa 18:19

Sleep is different because there's not this. I used to still sleep for the weekends. I realized that there was still like this, oh, today's Saturday, so like I don't have to open that laptop and like I can just focus on other things, and like, or if we had parties, it wasn't this matter of like, oh, who am I ignoring today to get my party done or any of those things? So it's like a freedom, yeah, guilt, release, yeah. That I don't a peace given that I get to wake up every single day now and know that there's nothing that I'm avoiding, or nothing that's waiting for me on the other side, nothing that I don't want to do. I think because I paid my own life during vacation, right?

Barb 18:59

While we were in vacation, that was huge, yeah. You had this realization of you're not gonna have to go back and clean up someone else. You're just gonna clean up our mess because we've been back for six days and have communicated and all the things, but it's different when it's your mess versus someone else's mess. Yep. And I think that was the first time, right? Again, that it happened on a Friday. We left on Wednesday. Things have just been. I know it was like less than a week ago.

Lyssa 19:26

Yeah, it changed the whole dynamic of that vacation because that was a thing too. Like I had taken PTO and I told myself, right, I'm not even gonna take my laptop with me. Like I'm taking a real vacation. And that was something, again, that I was building up. So then when it came time to pack, and it was like, well, now it's not even a question. Now it's not even a question if I need to bring my laptop because I don't have my laptop to bring. I don't work there anymore. Like it was, it was it was crazy, and it is. It's all these like little minor moments that I keep getting the reminder of, like, oh yeah, do you remember you're a full-time entrepreneur now?

Sleep Freedom And Vacation Reset

Barb 20:01

And it isn't it the sexiest thing to say. It's the sexiest thing to say. And I want you to live in it and I want you to bask in it. And every opportunity that comes up, I give you the look and I'm like, nope, this is your time to shot, baby. Say it out loud, say it loud, say it proud because I am ready. Because that's what it's about. Yeah. Because if we don't do that, then why did we work so hard the last five years to get here? Right. You're not gonna own it and integrate it and say the things. Yeah. And looking back now, three years ago, I was scared out of my mind. I it wasn't that same shift. It was still very new, still very scary. So, like, I want you to own this because this is beautiful. And again, I'm gonna set you up every alley so that you can fucking slam dunk it because it's it's worth it. The story is so good. Our story is so good. We've had to work really hard. We get to work really hard. And I just I am ready to own the shit out of our story. Yeah.

Lyssa 21:04

Well, you said it yesterday. Um, we were in the car, and you were like, We worked ourselves out of our jobs. And like sexy. That was crazy, right? Again, it was one of those nuggets where like I wasn't thinking of it that way. I in my mind, I was just let go. What do you mean? But that's because I worked myself out of the job, because I had gotten myself to this point where it I didn't need it anymore. And the universe knew it, and the universe served, and you did the same exact thing. And I think that's that's nuts when we think about when we first started our business and how we both were holding other jobs. And this truly was a weekend passion project, working literally seven days a week because we were holding down two true full time jobs while building up this business, and it got less. And less. And I see it. I can see how I was in that business and everything I gave them. And through these last five years, especially the last two, where I was just like, yeah, I'm available when I'm available, guys. Sorry, you know, because things got so demanding on our side. And there was, there was that shift where it was like, you guys are the most important because this is where all my work is, and I got to give you all my time and attention. And then it quickly, before we even realized it, it shifted into like, no, my business needs all my attention because like I'm growing, I'm scaling, I'm doing all these things. That no, I'm not available at 10 o'clock on a random day for you to just pop up meetings. I nobody got time for that.

Barb 22:41

You scheduled that shit. It's a true look what can happen in just five years moment. Just five. That's not even a long time. That's one hand, one hand up, yeah, five years, not that long to have such a transformative life, to transform life in all facets blows my mind. And I know because data has shown, right? When we give time and attention and all of our resources to the business, it only gets bigger. Yep. And I just can't not even imagine what is on the other side of this precipice for us. Yeah. Because it's only abundant. It's only good. I know that. I feel it. I believe it to the core of my being in my gut. Because that's where I feel things. We did an exercise, an inner circle, and it's it lives there. It's just gonna be crazy.

Lyssa 23:48

Yeah.

Barb 23:48

The most craziest, beautiful thing I could ever not even know what's coming. I couldn't agree more.

Working Ourselves Out Of Jobs

Lyssa 23:56

I I never, even though I right, we knew it, I I truly never saw this corporate job as like holding me back because of how little I actually worked. Yes, I agree. I thought so too. I believe they would have to be a good thing. I would go on and answer a few emails and have a few calls and call it a day. And it truly was not something that was taking up that much time, blah, blah, blah. So again, like in my mind, I truly built that limiting belief that like this really was not that bad. It was not going to take up that much time and it was all good. But that that freedom, that mind release, that body release, like I said, sleep was happening, is happening just so much quicker, easier. I'm staying asleep. Like it, all these little things that like I knew I knew were a part of it, but I I guess you just don't choose to ignore.

Barb 24:52

I would say, even this week, right? Our first, your first full week of entrepreneurship that's not tagged by a vacation.

Lyssa 25:00

Okay, right.

Barb 25:01

And we have four events this weekend. We have four events this weekend starting tomorrow, and you're present and you're not stressed. No, I don't, I feel it. Right. I know when Excella had things going on, you're it's a tense, it's a yeah, how am I gonna get all of this shit done in this limited amount of time while also spending time with my son and my partner and this and laundry and all all the things, all the things you chose to desensitize yourself to it, right? Like it's not holding you back anymore. No, and now you're able to sit down and pour creativity and time and freedom into your work, and it doesn't feel like it's going crazy. Yeah. And like, what a gift. What a gift to yourself, what a gift to your little family, what a gift to us. Where yesterday, what okay tangent?

Lyssa 26:04

We took this this yesterday, and it was so needed.

Barb 26:09

We took the calendar and said, nope, not today. Right? I'm gonna push the projects above, below, but this time I'm going in, I'm gonna take care of my body because did I mention that I have four events this weekend? Yeah, I'm gonna put my body through the ringer this weekend. It's okay, I've been on vacation for a while, you know, it's fine, but I'm gonna take care of my body. Yeah, we went and we got your new mini laptop, and we had an us day.

Lyssa 26:38

Yeah. And we put that right before all of these events, which is something that with a corporate job, I probably wouldn't have been able to do. Or I would have done it, but I would have done it with my laptop next to me. The attachment to that laptop, I knew it was toxic. I knew it was a toxic relationship for a long time. And yet, you know, I just stayed in it. I had to stay in it. And when I didn't have to stay in it anymore, and I was too blinded to see that the universe gave me what I needed. And it also happened, you know, at a time too, where I think that's I don't think I know. Um, that that's another reason why I don't feel scared is I am surrounded by boss ass bitches. Like just the best. And I've got to watch my favorite one that's sitting right across from me right now for the last three years, fucking kill it as a full-time entrepreneur, and I just want to be like her all the time, you know? And then to tie it back, you know, to Aubrey, right? Like she so amazing, and she sent such a beautiful message, you know, after I finally told everyone. And one of my favorite parts of it was where she was like, you know, you are in, you know, you have the right people around you when you tell a group uh of women that you got let go for from a job and they all cheer for you.

Barb 28:13

Yeah.

Support Systems And Bigger Abundance

Lyssa 28:13

You know, and I was like, that's it. I am surrounded by so many amazing people that I know I can do anything because of them. And I'm watching them do all of these amazing things as entrepreneurs. I know that I'm capable of that. I'm surrounding myself with the people that I want to be like, and now I get to be just like everyone else at the table. And like I did that, I worked for that, I made that happen. I put myself in the right environment that I wanted to be like, and now I get to be like that.

Barb 28:49

Isn't that crazy? It's now I challenge us to go back and listen to the episode about networking and listen to those little girls and now listen to these little for real though. And that's why I love this platform. That's why I'm forever grateful to the Mars and Mindset podcast, because I know the story because I'm writing it and living it, and yet I'm so taken back by the story sometimes. When you put it in the chronological timeline order and tick all of the important markers, this podcast is gonna be three years old in October. She wasn't ready and has captured some very transformative moments for us in life, in business, in all the things, because we are all the things. Yeah. And we kind of had an inclination to it at the beginning of this podcast, and that's why we started it. And through time, it has just become clearer and clearer that this is what we're supposed to be doing. I am living my bliss, I am where I am supposed to be. I am not worried about what anyone else is doing. I am not, I'm I'm here with you, and we're doing this because this is what we're supposed to be doing. Absolutely. And it just feels so right.

Lyssa 30:25

It does. I don't know any other way to put it. It feels right, it feels good, it just feels like I'm living exactly how I'm supposed to be.

Barb 30:34

Yep. And as we plan for the celebration of year five, it it is such a gift. Yeah, it is such a gift to be given on this marker so that the next five years can be even better. And I that I can't even fathom because the first five years have been so good. Yeah. But and to know that we have set ourselves up so that for the next five years, it is just more of that. It like my heart does a dun dun dun dun kind of thing. We're really fucking cool. I'm amazed by us. I know I say that a lot, but I'm amazed by us, and I'm amazed by other people that do this because it's not easy. It's not it's not easy deciding to leave the corporate steady. Yeah, right. That's how they bait you. Yeah. And it's a good stitch. And for some people it works, and for other people it doesn't. And I guess the message to come across is that if you fall in those other people bucket, yeah, don't be scared to and be scared. It's okay. It's okay. And you're gonna do it anyways, because there's something more.

Cheers And How To Connect

Lyssa 31:46

Yeah. If it's meant for you, it will be. If you want it, you can get it. Like it's it's just all all the mantras put into one because life is truly what you make it, it is all made up. So make it up however you want, and then and then it will happen. The universe will serve if you are clear on what you want. I'm just really excited to be here.

Barb 32:16

Really grateful to be here, really honestly. What a what a big, beautiful life we have.

Lyssa 32:23

I agree. Let's cheers on that.

Barb 32:25

Oh, cheers.

Lyssa 32:26

Salute. You just want to drink more. I do. That's beautiful. I do want to drink more, so I think this is the part where we're going to love and leave our friends. This is the part where you do all the things you're gonna like and follow and subscribe. You can follow us on Instagram and YouTube at Marks and Mindset Podcast. And if you're local to the ROC and you want to party with us at Homemade Events ROC. Until next time. Bye. Oh my god.

Barb 32:53

We did it. You told everybody.