Jamie’s Story - REBIRTH (9 mos)

"Like many people, I was laid off in March 2020.

I decided to move back home with family to wait it out.

Unfortunately, I was let go a few months after because of the same reason we were all laid off. Deciding to look for permanent, remote work online, fast-forward two years… and I still couldn’t get hired anywhere.

I’ve paid career coaches, HR Department freelancers, and webinars the remaining money I had in my savings to try and find someone to help me get a job again.

I told myself I wanted a job with specific criteria: 100% remote, enough money to not need two other side hustles to survive, no customer service jobs (for the sake of my already-fragile mental health) and that I at least didn’t hate it.

If I was lucky, maybe I could find one that I enjoyed. Fast-forward again to six more months.

My family, friends, my boyfriend, and coaches all suggested that maybe I had too many criteria that were not allowing me to find anything.

Three years of applying for work and only getting “We regret to inform you that we have gone with other candidates at this time” can really do a number on you. My chronic depression that was stable before COVID happened, and now dwindling, really did a number on me, too. I had a -literal- mental breakdown on my garage floor, next to the warm car that had been turned on for what seemed like an eternity ago.

You know when you think you’ve reached your limit? Imagine being past that… and then more…. and then more…. You literally have nothing else in you… imagine that point right there. I was past that point. I started to think maybe I did have too many criteria. Maybe I could do a customer service job. There are TONS of those that are also remote, right?

To hell with my non-existing mental health… I just needed a JOB! But something kept telling me to not settle.

No matter… “Just. Don’t. Settle”. I kept going back to what my good friend Yuritzi had told me some years ago. “Listen to your body, because THAT’s what knows best for you.”

“...not your brain, because it has too many negative/maladapted thoughts and traumas that are not your own, so it’s not good advice. Not your heart, because it’s only thinking of what you’d like to do, but not what you need to do. Listen your BODY, because it’s a mix of it all, and the one that’ll tell you the real truth. What you feel intrinsically that not even your consciousness is aware of.”

…Wow.

Yes. Absolutely.


So I did exactly that. Every time I or someone else told me to settle, I checked in with my body to see what it was telling me. What is was making me feel. I slowly became more and more attuned to it, and with time, learned to understand its language.

Everybody said “settle”, and my body said “don’t you dare!”

Fast forward a few more months and it’s December 2022. I received a call. The voice on the other side of the phone. “How much are you looking to get paid?”

It was a job offer. Or a potential one, depending on my answer. As the person on the other end kept saying numbers that were 3 times more than what I’ve ever gotten paid in my life, my brain said “SAY YES!”; my heart said “Omg, omg, omg, omg….”

Guess what my body said. “You’re worth more”.

And I was worth more. So with my tail in-between my legs and my head held high, I said a bigger number. “We’re unable to give that”, she responded. “Please reconsider”, I asked.

She prodded. “So you’re saying you don’t want this job?” I knew she was just the gatekeeper and I had to get past her, but my body didn’t budge. “You’re worth more”.

I took a deep breath… “Respectfully ma’am, that’s what I’m worth”.

I got the job.

Not only did I get the job, I got THE job. 100% remote? Yes. Customer service? No. Enough money to not need two other side hustles to survive? Yes, but maybe I’ll wait a year or two first before seeking higher pay :) Did I at least not hate it? No… I LOVED it! And I still do.


All because of learning how to listen to my body, how to understand what it’s telling me, and how to catch when it’s telling me something. Your body first whispers, and then it screams.

It’ll turn your head and make you look if you still don’t listen; Depression, anxiety, body aches, medication resistance, weight gain/loss… you name it.

But if you learn how to listen, and you give the body the attention it actually deserves, it’ll take you further than ever.

I couldn’t have learned that without Yuritzi."