How Redundancy Made Me Reassess Work, Purpose and My Pet Life
I’ve noticed more people starting to speak openly about redundancy lately — and that feels overdue.
It is one of those experiences many people go through, but far fewer talk about honestly. For a long time, it seemed to carry a quiet stigma, as though it was something to move past quickly and privately rather than acknowledge for what it really is: a life event that can shake more than your income.
Redundancy in your 40s does not just disrupt your career. It can unsettle your sense of self.
You are experienced, but not always recognised as senior. You know what you are good at, what you enjoy, and the value you can bring, yet you can still find yourself in that awkward middle ground where none of that seems to count unless it is framed in exactly the right way.
That has been one of the hardest things for me. Not a lack of capability, but the challenge of translating it in a way that gets seen.
If your CV does not align closely enough with the wording of an opportunity, you may not even get the chance to have a conversation. That can be hard to reconcile when you know you have experience, insight and transferable strengths, but the process feels built to reward neat matches over broader potential.
And then there is everything else redundancy brings with it.
It affects more than your finances. It can test your confidence, your identity and your sense of direction. It has a way of making you question what you have built, what still fits, and whether the path you were on still feels like yours.
For me, that reflection has not just been about what job comes next. It has been about what kind of work I want my life to hold.
What do I want to spend my time building?
What feels meaningful now?
What still fits, and what no longer does?
Those are the questions that quietly led me back to My Pet Life.
This platform is not just a project to fill time or a business idea I happened to have. It has become part of a bigger rethink about purpose, lifestyle and alignment. It represents something I want to build that feels more personal, more meaningful and more connected to the life I actually want — not just the one that makes the most sense on paper.
That does not make the experience of redundancy easy. It has still been uncomfortable, exposing and uncertain at times. Reaching out, putting yourself forward, staying visible and staying positive all takes energy. And when effort is met with silence, or the outcome is not what you hoped for, it can be difficult not to feel disheartened.
Not because you stop believing in what you bring, but because career transition can be far more isolating than people realise.
At the same time, it has been clarifying.
It has pushed me to think more honestly about the kind of work I want to do and the kind of life I want to build around it. And for me, My Pet Life has become part of that answer.
So this is not just a story about redundancy.
It is also a story about reassessment.
About starting again.
About trying to build something that feels more aligned with who I am now.
Sometimes starting over is not just about finding the next role.
Sometimes it is about rediscovering what matters enough to build.
#Redundancy #CareerChange #StartingOver #MidlifeCareer #PurposeDrivenWork #MyPetLife
