When One Door Closes…

Earlier this week I was laid off from Lamb Weston as part of a restructuring and 4% reduction in the workforce. These are never fun for anyone involved and my heart goes out to all those at Lamb Weston and anywhere else that have gone through something like this. This is actually (I can’t believe I’m saying this) the 2nd time I’ve been laid off in my life. So, I’ve been through this before and I felt called to share this short story as one of encouragement to anyone who has, will, or is going through the emotions of a job change where there is not a clear path to where you will end up next.

In 2010, I was laid off from IBM near the end of the financial crisis where my entire team and department were let go. At the time, I was within 2 years of my recovery from Stage 3 colon cancer and I had frequent check ups in New York City (with my oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) while I was working at the time in Dallas, TX. I was in need of good insurance with all of my medical bills and I was stressed at what would happen if I couldn’t find a job right away. When I was first diagnosed with cancer I was only about 1 month into my job at IBM after graduating college, and thankfully, I had insurance to pay for all of what followed. I had surgery to remove most of my colon, 6 months of chemotherapy to ensure all the cancer was cleared out, and all sorts of other tests and check-ups. Post surgery and recovery where I took a medical leave of absence for a few months I wanted to go back to work to live a ‘normal’ life a 23 year old would live.

So I decided to go back to work while undergoing chemotherapy. The oncologist was fine with it but I needed to see him every 3 months. I remember thinking how expensive that would be for me to fly back and forth on my entry level salary to go back every 3 months. Shortly after this conversation one of the physician assistants provided me with a pamphlet of a service called Corporate Angels. Corporate Angels was a free service that flew cancer patients to and from their appointments on the empty seats of corporate jets. Flights were never guaranteed but because you could apply for general dates of when you had an appointment in another city you they would call you a few days before and say hey we have a match.

So, fast forward, after my first 3 months in Dallas I had my first check up in New York and I put in a request to fly Corporate Angels while simultaneously purchased a Southwest ticket because I could get my money back just in case Corporate Angels didn’t come through. Wouldn’t you know it a few days before my flight they called and said they had a plane for me to go on! Amazing!

So I roll up to Addison airport just north of Dallas with my little duffel bag (because I was still living the frugal college life) to a warm greeting by the receptionist who immediately takes my bag and walks me right out to this beautiful plane and I’m told I am on the ‘Pepsi jet’. I walk onto the plane and the pilots are right there with no door and some nice leather seats and NO ONE else on board.

I asked them, “Uhhh.. am I the only one on this flight?”

They responded, “oh no, you’ll be flying with Mr. Al Carey.”

I said, “Who’s Al Carey?”

To which they responded with a surprising but proud smile, “He’s the CEO of Frito-Lay.”

As you can imagine, the thoughts going through my head of I’m three months post surgery, undergoing chemotherapy and feeling pretty crummy most of the time and here I am, this skinny young kid who has no business flying with a Fortune 50 CEO alone for an entire flight!

Now you’re probably wondering why this is relevant to getting laid off? Well, over the next year and half or so it just so happened that Al who lived outside NYC near PepsiCo’s Purchase, NY headquarters but leading Frito-Lay in Plano, TX had him traveling Monday through Thursday to and from Texas. And my oncologist just so happened to take check ups on Friday’s so over the course of those 18 months ‘the Pepsi jet’ with Al frequently on it ended up being my ‘corporate angel’ to and from New York. So we slowly built a relationship over that time when he’d frequently ask about how my recovery was progressing, etc.

Fast forward to 2010 when I was laid off and I just so happened to have a check up at Sloan-Kettering in New York 2 weeks later. I have to admit I prayed and prayed for Al’s schedule to line up again where I could meet him on the flight where I would somehow bring up the fact that I was out of a job and if there was anything he could do to help.

Well, wouldn’t you know it I got the call a few days before to meet at Addison airport again and when I walked on the plane Al greeted with a warm smile and the first question he asked me was, “Hey Kurt, how’s the job going?”

To which I responded, “funny enough, I just got laid off.”

He said, “Well, I’d love to see if I can help you out. Why don’t you email me your resum-“

“Actually, Al I have one right here” with a small smirk. And at that moment I pulled out a thick and sturdy copy of my resume and handed it to him. Al said he’d pass this onto some folks to see what he could do and then we departed ways.

Within 2 weeks I received a call from an HR contact at PepsiCo and set me up with some interviews with some folks mostly in Frito-Lay’s Foodservice division. And after a number of interviews where I basically told them I was willing to do anything and everything for an opportunity, I got the call a few weeks later that I was asked to come onboard as a K-12 outside sales development manager in Houston, TX.

I was Frito-Lay’s newest employee.

I share this story because at a time when I couldn’t have felt more vulnerable, 23yrs old, recently undergoing my cancer journey and trying to get my life in order, I end up getting laid off when facing continued medical bills and at the time a much higher fear of the cancer returning. And then a literal angel in the sky helps pull me out to what started my career in Foodservice the last 15 years. That one little generous act that I didn’t deserve gave me the opportunity to work hard and has led me to where I am today.

God closed a door for me and I had no idea what was next but he opened a door for me. And he will do that to all of us. He is always there, we just need to seek him, pray to him, and trust in him. He knows our good better than we do. I certainly wouldn’t have picked getting laid off as being the path. I certainly wouldn’t have picked getting Stage 3 colon cancer at 22yrs old to be the path. But, I wouldn’t have gotten my start in Foodservice which was the beginning of a string of events that led me all the way to San Diego where I met my amazing wife and now have a newborn son that brings so much joy to my face everyday.

For those of you who are in my position now or find yourselves in it in the future. Pray. Pray and trust that God will lead you through and you say yes to whatever he’s calling you too.

Please pray I find and say yes to my next path too. Until then, I know what his will is for me to, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Th 5:16-18, ESV, emphasis added).

Ironically, I’m headed on a flight next week. This time it’s not to a cancer check up but to Portugal. While I doubt I’ll run into a CEO on the flight (and I didn’t book it through Corporate Angels) I know I have angel looking out for me and so do you.

I’m so thankful for my time at Lamb Weston and I rejoice at the fact that I’ve been so blessed these last 8 years. To all my former colleagues if you’re reading this, I wish you nothing but success. Godspeed.

Here are a few pictures over the last 8 years