Use Your Severance Package to Start a Business and Invest in Yourself | #211

Were you recently laid off and handed a severance check... but no clear plan for what’s next? Don’t just spend it—flip it. In this powerful episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, business coach Shannon Russell shares how your severance package can become the startup capital you need to finally launch your dream business.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How to reframe a layoff as a business opportunity
• Budgeting your severance to cover essentials and business investments
• How to create a side business with flexibility and freedom
• The benefits of hiring a coach to fast-track your entrepreneurial journey
• Why investing in yourself is the smartest move after a career shakeup

If you’ve ever dreamed of being your own boss, your severance could be your springboard. Let this episode inspire you to start building something that belongs to you—and only you.

👉 Ready to take the leap? Explore the Second Act Accelerator program: secondactsuccess.co/course

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Transcript

Second Act Success Career Podcast

Season 1 - Use Your Severance Package to Start a Business and Invest in Yourself | #211

Episode - #211

Host: Shannon Russell

Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate) [00:00:00] 

do you have a severance check and no clue what's next? Don't just spend it, flip it. Let's turn your payout into a business, buy-in, and finally invest in yourself. if you were given a severance package. Let's talk about how you can use this blessing in disguise to fund your dream business.

Are you ready to quit your nine to five job and start a business of your own? Well, you're in the right place, my friend. Welcome to the second Act Success podcast. I am your host Shannon Russell, and my mission is to help you produce your best life. This podcast will teach you how to get from where you are now to where you want to be and how to build a business that fits your life and lights you up.

Let's get started.

Hey friend. Welcome back to the second Act Success Career podcast. I'm your host Shannon Russell, a business coach supporting women building [00:01:00] businesses, and the author of Start Your Second Act.

Now let me ask you, have you or someone you know recently been laid off? 

The wave of corporate layoffs happening right now is affecting so many women across all industries. It's shocking, it's scary, but it doesn't have to be the end of your story. In fact, it could be the beginning of your second act if you were given a severance package. Let's talk about how you can use this blessing in disguise to fund your dream business.

That's right. How to turn a corporate layoff into a professional comeback by investing in yourself. And finally starting that business you've been dreaming about is what we're discussing today. Let's get into it.

We're seeing more and more corporations doing major restructuring, downsizing departments, eliminating roles and making cuts that leave smart, capable women without a job almost overnight.

And what do many companies offer as a parting gift? A ticking time bomb called [00:02:00] a severance package. It might come with fear, frustration, and some tears, but here's the twist. It's also a gift of time and the funding you need to move towards your second act business. If you find yourself in this position, and I hope you don't, but if you do, it's important to try and shift your mindset from Woe is me.

This is the end to, wow. This is an opportunity I didn't know I needed. So often a layoff feels like personal rejection, but what if we started to reframe that, especially in midlife? What if severance is actually your startup capital? What if it's your freedom fund? Because here's the truth, so many women wait for the right time to start a business, and that time rarely comes wrapped in that perfect bow. We hope it does. But a layoff and a severance check equals that rare combination of time, money, and motivation.[00:03:00] 

You get to decide, do I want to use this to survive or do I want to use this money to thrive?

Do I want to send resumes out into the abyss or officially unos myself and start building a business of my own? Here's a simple roadmap for how you can make smart, strategic use of that severance package.

, Step one. Get yourself together. It's okay to grieve a job loss. You can be mad, bitter, sad, all of the things, but let yourself feel these feelings and use them as motivation to move you in a better direction.

Next, let's make sure that your essential expenses are covered. That is your mortgage, your rent, utilities, health insurance, all of the necessities that you need each and every day. Create a budget so that you know how long your severance will realistically last.

This clarity will help you make wise decisions instead of fear-based ones. Next is [00:04:00] step number two. Set aside a business investment fund. After you cover your essentials, allocate a portion of your severance as your starting a business fund, you can dive into this fund to finally invest in yourself and your future by signing up for business coaching.

I work with women who are in similar situations and feel so motivated after a midlife layoff that they can't think about going back into another corporate role where they aret in control. And I get it. These clients come to me for help in figuring out their best business idea and how they can use their past skills and experience in their business so they can start a few steps ahead. We flush it out and we start a plan. You can also decide to use this severance, starting a business fund to help you with legal filings, like setting up your LLC, getting your business insurance licenses, anything like that.

Or you can use this money to invest and help with [00:05:00] branding or website development.

The goal here is to spend intentionally and not impulsively, so that at the end of the day, you are in control of your next steps while using your time and your money wisely. next, you might want to consider hiring a business coach. This is a major one. You've most likely never started a business before, so why go it alone? A coach can help you clarify that business idea, validate your business idea, build that plan, avoid costly mistakes, and actually get your business off the ground.

Think of it like this? Would you go wandering through the wilderness with a vague idea of the trail, or would you hire a guide to lead you through? Make sure you find someone who has walked this path of going from corporate to building businesses. This person will help save you time, money, and tears.

Trust me. When I left my corporate job in television to open my first business, I was [00:06:00] completely alone and it cost me a lot through all of the mistakes I made along the way. This is why I became a business coach years later, so that I can help others to not make those same mistakes I made.

Think of it this way, hiring a coach is not an expense. It's a shortcut to results. Okay, My next step is take action on your business idea. This is where the real shift begins to happen. So you want to ask yourself, what problems do I want to help solve? What skills do I already have? What do I want to help and who do I want to help? And what would light me up to go to work every single day?

And from there you can start building. You don't have to have it perfect, you just have to start. And don't worry, I have resources, programs, and workshops to help with that. And I'll link to some of those in the show notes below. Remember, your severance equals your seed money, my friend. So many women use their severance to float while they're job hunting, but [00:07:00] what if you use it to build something that is your own?

Something flexible, something purposeful, something where you are in control of your future, something that grows with you. You already gave your time and energy to a company, maybe more than one, and now it's time to give that energy back to yourself. Un Bos yourself and let's kick off your second act right

and this, this chapter right here could be the one where you finally start that business you've always dreamed of. If you're sitting on a business idea and a severance check, please don't wait. You are in the perfect position to take your power back while you take action on your long-term goals. Head over to second Act success.co and check out my second ACT Accelerator program.

It is my signature step-by-step coaching program designed for women like you, women who are ready to turn their career uncertainty into entrepreneurship. I also offer free [00:08:00] discovery calls if you want to talk through your ideas to see if coaching is right for you, my friend.

Your job may have ended, but your story is far from over. I've helped women in their thirties, through their sixties start businesses and reinvent themselves. So I know it's possible for you. Use this season to build your second act and do it on your own terms.

And if this episode has helped you share it with a friend who might be facing a layoff, you never know who needs that spark of hope today.

Until next time, my friend, I am Shannon Russell cheering you on as you produce your best life.

Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to second act, success. To view show notes from this episode, visit second act success.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do [00:09:00] mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell. And this is second act success.