Before I got laid off in tech, I built my cohort-based course, Influential Researcher, into a six-figure course business—online education, content, a real audience. When the field it served started collapsing, I shut it down. I wasn't going to keep teaching something I knew wasn't helping people anymore. That decision taught me as much about business as building it did. Then I got laid off. And instead of panicking, I did it again. Deborah Ann Does Donuts went from a side hustle to a six-figure mobile catering business booking weddings, corporate events, and festivals. Then we added on Laid Off Dad Kettle Corn, which started as a kitchen experiment and became a six-figure CPG brand with wholesale accounts, retail distribution, and a content engine that built itself. I built all of them while holding down a full-time job. No investors. No trust fund. No "quit your job and follow your passion" nonsense. Just systems, decisions, and some early mornings and late nights. People started reaching out—"How did you actually do this?"—and I realized I was already doing consulting for free. So now I do it for real. If you've got a half-baked idea and a full-time job and you want someone who's actually done it to help you stop spinning and start building, book a session.