Rock bottom to breakthrough: Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me!

Do you want to learn how to turn failure into success? Or change one of the worst moments in your life into one of the best things to ever happen to you? Then this episode is for you. I spill the tea on one of the worst moments of my career, getting fired from my first full-time job, BUT now years later it’s one of the best things to ever happen. In this episode I discuss:  

• How to overcome any setback in life
• How to shift your mindset from failure into opportunity.
• Why rock bottom can become a foundation for growth.
• How any setbacks can actually redirect you toward something better
• How to turn failure into your biggest breakthroughs
• How to reframe any negative situation into a positive one

It’s a simple message, hitting rock bottom can become a foundation for growth. The situations that feel like failures in the moment may later reveal themselves as the catalyst for something better. Whether you’re dealing with job loss, a breakup, or another life setback, there’s often a lesson, a redirection, or a higher standard waiting on the other side.

The key message from this episode: When you are going through a rough time or at rock bottom, there is always... 

1. A lesson for you to learn

2.  Something better is coming your way 

3. A new standard for yourself to never let this happen again

Thank you for being here with me, love you bye!!! Grace x

Follow me for more on Instagram @mindyourownbeeswaxpodcast & TikTok: @mindyourownbeeswaxpod

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Mind your own beeswax. Hey, count up.

The time I got fired

What did getting fired teach me?

Why worst case scenario is the best thing that can happen

Why getting fired was the best thing to happen

Why rock bottom is a great place to be

3 Lessons you need to know when life sucks

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hello and welcome back for another episode of Mind Your Own Beeswax. Today's episode, I feel like it might be short and sharp, but it is a juicy one. I feel like I love hearing stories like this. So I'm really excited to share with you some shit that went down in my life a few years ago that now, well, at the time it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. And now, years later, I can proudly say that it's actually one of the best things that has ever happened to me. And that's why I love this kind of mindset, personal development work, is that shit can go down. You can be going through the worst time of your life, but when you imply the things that we do, when you have perspective, when you take time to reflect, you might actually realize that the worst time of your life is actually the best thing that ever happened to you. Which is crazy. And I think back and I'm like, when I think about that time, if you told me that was the best time of my life, nah, sorry, I would not believe you. So let me take you back, I think the year was 2017, so nine years ago, and I finished uni in the middle of the year. And on the Friday, I handed in my final assignment, and on the Monday I started my first full-time job using my degree. And at the time I was like, I am the shit. I have made it. Like graduating uni, lining a job up, like that's the dream, right? I was so proud of myself, my family was so proud of me. I just thought I'd made it, I'd hit the jackpot. Now I was 22 at the time, so I rocked up on my first day of work and the vibes were off. I just did not vibe with the people, I just didn't vibe with the place. If I'm honest, I think it was a real shock to the system to be working full time. So I think I had to work 8 a.m. till 5 30, which is a long day, plus over an hour commute either way. So I was leaving home at like 6 30 in the morning, getting home 7.30 at night. And as a young 22-year-old, like that was fucked. Like that just was a shock to the system. I had no time to do anything. I just was working, coming home, sleeping, you know, eat, sleep, rave, repeat, except no raving, just working. And it just sucked. Like I didn't like working full-time, I didn't like the job, I didn't like the person that I was working with, I didn't like the work. It just was off and the culture of the place as well. I think now prospectively that I know about sort of workplace culture, the culture was really bad. Um, it just was like rough, I don't know, it just was not for me. At the time, I just thought this was what work was, you know. My parents were like, You gotta suck it up, Grace. This is what working is, a bit of tough love, you just gotta get through it. And so I just tried to stick it out, and I just thought this was my life now. But I obviously didn't like the job, and I feel like perhaps the company picked up on that because three months in I got called into a meeting Friday afternoon and they said, Grace, you're gone. Get out, we don't like you. No, they didn't exactly say that, but what they did say is we're letting you go, we've cleared the office, no one's there, go get your shit and get the fuck out, basically. And as a 22-year-old, having HR tell you that, walk you to your desk, ask you to clean out your drawers, walk you out of the building, and take your security tag and say, see you later. And I stood there on the side of the road with a box of all my shit, and I was like, fuck. What the hell? I just worked the last three years at uni for this, and I've just been shown the door. And it just was horrible, like it was so devastating. And I never even told anyone that first weekend, it was a Friday, I didn't tell anybody. I just went about my life, and it wasn't until Sunday night I think my parents were like, you know, talking about going to work the next day, and I was like, oh, actually, I won't be going to work tomorrow. I got fired, and they were shocked, but they were also not surprised because they knew I hated it. Um, yeah, it just was a whole thing, and it was awful. I think back and I'm like, you know, I was 22 years old, I didn't know any better. It just was horrible and it was traumatic. And I actually didn't work for six months after this. I was so traumatized. I definitely spiraled into depression and anxiety, which I think is reasonable if I'm honest. And I just lay in bed. I thought I was a failure. I had to go to my university graduation a few months later, and you know, when you get your full cap and gown, and everyone's like, How are you going? How's your job? And I was like, I got fired because I'm an idiot. It just was awful, and like I think having to go to the graduation ceremony, like that just made it feel made me feel even worse. Like I was a total failure. So I ended up having six months off and just fucking rotting in bed for six months, wallowing in my self-pity. And yeah, I ended up six months later, I ran out of money, so I had to get a job, and I got this fucking horrible job because it's all I could get, working in a warehouse, steaming clothes, in December, like in Brisbane. It was so hot, no air con, steaming clothes. And I just was like, I remember just being like, what the hell? Like I had this great job, I lost my job, I've been unemployed, and now I'm just a slave steaming clothes in a hot warehouse. And even though it was not the best job, eventually I did end up getting a good job, but I had to steam clothes in a warehouse for two years. Oh my god, and then I had to take another job, which was basically customer service. Again, not a great job. But then probably like four years later, I ended up getting a really good job that I loved. Now, when I look back, I think if I was still in that first job and I never got fired, maybe I would still be there. Maybe I would be working this horrible job still, slaving away, traveling into this city, unhappy. Who knows? Like maybe I would still be there. But now I'm in a much better job that I love. I'm out here podcasting, you know, I've got the capacity to have a little side hustle. I probably would have not had that capacity if I had stayed at that other job. But the number one thing that I really feel like getting fired taught me is that getting fired from a job, that's the worst case scenario, right? Like you lose your income, your career is put on hold, getting fired is the worst case. And for me, I'd been fired. So after that, I had no fear. When I was at other jobs, I was like, go on, like fire me. I don't care. Like I've been fired before, I survived. And that's a crazy perspective, but honestly, worst case scenario had already happened, so I had nothing to lose. And I think over the years, as I interviewed for other jobs, when I would go to an interview and the vibes were just off or I didn't feel like it was right for me, I for the first time ever had the courage to say, nah, I don't want to work for that company. And I think about how many jobs over the years I've potentially passed up that maybe they would have been even worse than that first job. Sometimes, unfortunately, worst case scenario is the best thing that could ever happen. And I'm so grateful that that company fired me. And to this day, that is the best thing that has ever happened to my career. Because number one, it wasn't right for me. I wasn't right for them, we were not a match for each other, and that's okay. Number two, it taught me that worst case scenario, if it happens, I'll be fine. Life goes on, I will figure it out, I survived the worst thing happening. And number three, I think it also helped me create a standard for myself that I was not gonna let that happen again, so I wouldn't put up with shit. I wouldn't risk going to a workplace that felt like it was gonna be a bad fit for me. And I just, my life is just so much better because I got fired. And that's a crazy thing to say. If you'd told me that when I was 22, that getting fired is the best thing that's ever gonna happen to you, I would have just laughed and I would have said, nah, you're cooked, bro. But here I am telling myself, if I could teleport back to 22-year-old me, I'd say, Grace, getting fired is the best thing that's ever gonna happen to you. And I think about other things that happen in life. I feel like whenever you hit rock bottom, I love saying that rock bottom is a great place to be, right? Because when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up. You know, when the situation is so bad, the only way is up. I hope that me telling you about the time I got fired was actually the best time of my whole life. I hope that that can help you. Maybe right now you're going through a situation that's awful and you're struggling. Maybe you've been fired, maybe you've been dumped, maybe you're being evicted, I don't know. Whatever the situation is, I hope that you can look at that situation with a lens of love and go, okay, maybe this awful thing right now is gonna be one of the best things that's ever gonna happen to me. Because from that situation, maybe something better will come along, maybe you will learn a really important lesson, or maybe it's just teaching you what you don't want and you'll never settle for something as low or as shit as that ever again. If there's a message that I can give you right now, is that if you're going through a tough situation, there's always either a lesson to be learned, something better that will come along, or that situation is there to teach you to never accept a standard as low as that again. You are worthy of better things, and this right now is here to teach you that you deserve better, and you will not accept anything as shit as that again in the future. I hope that makes sense, and I hope that gives you some perspective. It's always nice when you're going through a tough time, or maybe you feel like you're at rock bottom, to know there's a light at the end of the tunnel, there's something better ahead waiting for you. I will leave you with that as my final thought. Thank you so much for being here with me. I'm loving talking to you, I'm loving podcasting. 2026, it's my year of being a podcaster. I cannot wait to see where this takes me and where it takes you. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and TikTok. Thank you again for letting me in your ears today. I hope this episode has added some value to your life. As always, love you, bye.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Lean back, yeah.