That’s amazing, I write a lot of news/blog content for the workplace but naturally it’s earmarked PR stuff. I do love writing, I write fanfictions (as you do as an introverted millennial apparently) but do worry about having a niche or subject matter and not having an audience if I were to set up that kind of thing myself…
I have ME/CFS after a brain injury a few years ago, plus fibromyalgia and endometriosis (recently had an operation for it, glad I got the sick pay for that just in time!) so I tend to lean towards as local as possible with flexibility or remote capabilities. Since Covid, businesses don’t seem as keen on it and want to get people back into office.
I am considering online coaching for women (or men) with endometriosis or other disabilities, health conditions or concerns with health and nutrition etc, and how to create a sense of wellbeing in their lives. Got some imposter syndrome with it though, even though I’m technically qualified to do it as well as a qualification in nutritional advice, just never actually done it for real before so my comfort zone is completely shaken.
The thing with niches is that you can sort of end up between “the one everyone else is doing” or “the one nobody is interested in”. I knew a lady a while ago who created a blog for submissives living in Florida, US. Great for meeting people locally, but terrible for reaching people globally. On the other end of the spectrum, if you step into, say, beauty or fitness, well… you can just imagine how competitve the market is!
I’m sorry to hear about your plight, I have borderline arrested hydrocephalus and mild spina bifida myself, along with RSD Type 2 (apparently that’s shorter than “causalgia”? ). I used to get terrible periods too, although the minipill (Norgeston, not Cerazette, which was hell) has been a godsend for me there. When I applied for work way back when, the job coach looked at me and basically said “you’d be better off on benefits” because he knew I’d struggle to find genuine, flexible work. So yay for that, that’s kind of another reason I do what I do.
Imposter syndrome is a devil, but the way to think about it is regardless of your impact, you are making a difference to people’s lives. Don’t speak from what you’ve read, speak your stories, your truth, your experience and your knowledge. Share what you’ve found helpful, not what you’ve read helps other people. AI can do that, but only you can share your story
Oh bless you, you are wonderful, I really appreciate your kind words x That’s a bad set of ailments you have there, I’m so sorry to hear your struggles as well, but amazing that you’re enjoying writing your blog and helping others in similar situations to enjoy their times in the bedroom Education on these things is quite scarce so it’s surely an incredible resource.
I had a quick look at your website from your profile (didn’t even know you could write stuff in the forum profiles here!) and think I’ll be having a longer read of it later! I’d love to know if you have written anything on BDSM and psychology of it as someone under the asexual umbrella? I’d be totally open to write something with you about that if it’s something you’d be into, just find the subject so interesting and there isn’t much out there for we who identify as asexual, we feel guilty for enjoying certain things and are misunderstood for enjoying things society thinks we shouldn’t due to the misinformation and judgement of it as a sexual identity (maybe I should do something with that as well… )
As I’m not asexual I haven’t covered asexuality and BDSM before, however, I do consider myself a service submissive, rather than a sex slave, which I suppose in a way could be regarded as “BDSM without sex”. I’ve got a few pieces in mind at the moment but I will definitely get a post written.
We’re not supposed to collude outside of the forum as per the forum rules but I will create a new thread here discussing the topic as it would be good to get multiple perspectives. Thankyou for the idea
I hope I’m wrong, but the fact that you’re being told that you need to apply for this role to me implies that you’re also potentially in the firing line.
You might receive redundancy pay, but I’d recommend that you prepare and start looking for other roles, just in case!
I definitely feel like I’m in the firing line, despite the other manager constantly telling us the people that aren’t being made redundant are ‘safe’.
To be honest I’m starting to wonder if this is an act of nepotism and the CEO wants everyone to leave so he can bring in his own ideal group (I can’t in any way prove that but I’ve seen it happen before) but if that’s the way someone would want to play, there’s a group of very hardworking decent people who now are uncomfortable working with him.
You mention you have a good working team, have you all got the ability to start a company and work for yourselves? Is there a need in the market place for you
Oh wow, that sounds amazing @Wolf_in_White! There really aren’t many people out there doing this sort of thing. I would jump at the chance to speak to someone who actually understood my needs ( I have similar medical conditions to you). Is it something you could do gradually? Like work part time and set up a new business on the side until you’re ready to do it full time? My experience with self employment in the past has been that once you get one or two clients, word spreads and you soon find you have plenty of business. Could you advertise, take on one client in the evening or at weekends outside of work and see how it goes?
Never trust people higher up, when I was made redundant we were all told it wasn’t going to happen, it’s just rumours and there would be no problem with wages as it was just a slight misunderstanding with the bank, then it came at least 20 people in my section was made redundant plus others in other sections plus we never did get payed.
I recognise this situation all too well (although it was not me being offered the apparent poisoned chalice).
I guess the rhetorical question is - would you pick up an enhanced redundancy package if you were made redundant further down the line? And would you see the new role as ‘a feather in your cap’ on the CV with additional training opportunities with the long term advantage of being able to barter for a better paid job elsewhere?
And, if you don’t take it - would it be closing the door on a career with your current company as you could be seen as unambitious?
Have a chat with some friends or get some career guidance counselling - usually the company offer this as part of a consultation process or at redundancy anyway (depending upon the size of your company).
Good luck with whatever happens and in my experience people you were not expecting, depending upon a variety of reasons, suddenly jump ship too and other opportunities arise that you could possibly benefit from if you want to stay.
All I do know is that redundancies are not personal.
Fingers crossed for you
Yeah NEVER trust people when they say your job is safe.
In my previous job the company went into administration and the administrators told me when i asked in a meeting if because our factory was profitable and had a full order book would we be ok?
They said yes, as long as we were making them money they’d keep us going until they found a buyer.
That was Monday, on Thursday they shut us down.
I believe the new role would be a rather pretty feather on my CV of course, but you aren’t the first to say it’s appearing to be a poisoned chalice, particularly because I’ve recently been told I’d have to apply for it in a competitive interview with external applicants so I wouldn’t even be prioritised as someone already working for the company. My current role is theoretically safe, however I’m made suspicious by the overly similar tasks aligning on the new role. Not sure what my actual job becomes when the new person is up to speed with their job, if you see what I mean…
I believe it’s a statutory redundancy package, which is around 1 week for every year of work. I’d only be given 3-4 weeks, it’s not a very significant amount to cover someone between jobs in afraid.
@Kitty-Cat01 I absolutely would, I think I just have some imposter syndrome with it as it’ll be a new thing for me to have people like yourself trusting me to help guide you in your feelings, but honestly in my experience with these conditions sometimes it does really just help to talk to someone who is willing to listen and understands what you’re going through, and that’s what I’d really like to put forward for people.
Thank you for sharing your interest in it as an idea though, just having someone say to me ‘that’s a service I’d be really interested in investing in for myself’ has my heart fluttering with hope I’d plan to have three ‘tiers’ with different pricing structures and would depend on how many sessions you’d like (more time spent with me would gain a discount for the client) so I kind of have a business model in mind x
I’m currently in marketing and event planning so I’d have the skillset to market myself, but when it’s for a business that already exists, there’s usually some degree of guidence and collaboration in place. When it’s for yourself, for some reason it feels different? I’d love advice if you have any on the self employment side of things x
I think it’s a really good idea and it sounds like you’ve got good experience too. There’s not much advice I can really give. I did a bit of GCSE and A level tutoring when I wasn’t well enough to have ‘proper job’, just a few hours a week to keep something on my CV and because I enjoyed it. It started as a favour to a friend which I did for free. They then recommended me to their friends and so on. The only thing to be careful about is making sure you have adequate records of income and expenditure for doing your self assessment tax return, get some advice from an accountant if you’re not confident with taxes and read up on what you need to record.
So many heads to companies aren’t ever in touch with their employees and I also feel like it’s a major waste on the system as if they’d spend time like they should do visiting places and getting to know the staff they have then maybe they’d be more inclined to think how well a happy work place increases productivity rather than just going by numbers on a screen…
Definitely speak with a career guidance Counsellor to review your options and update your CV regardless.
Statutory redundancy is not unusual, so long term decisions are yours regardless of the role and whether you want to stay with this company.
Personally, I’d give it six-eight months, whichever role you choose & review then.
Good luck!
). I used to get terrible periods too, although the minipill (Norgeston, not Cerazette, which was hell) has been a godsend for me there. When I applied for work way back when, the job coach looked at me and basically said “you’d be better off on benefits” because he knew I’d struggle to find genuine, flexible work. So yay for that, that’s kind of another reason I do what I do.
Education on these things is quite scarce so it’s surely an incredible resource.
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