Purgatory
Episode Twenty Two - This, My Friends, Is Purgatory | Geoff Curtis on Rebuilding Your Identity After Job Loss
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Who are you when the career you've spent decades building is suddenly taken away?
For 30 years, Geoff Curtis worked in communications and public relations, building a successful career that became central to his identity. When his company was acquired and his future became uncertain, he found himself confronting a question he hadn't given much thought to: who was he without the job?
In this episode, Geoff joins me to discuss his book, Embracing Your Own Purgatory, and the uncomfortable, often disorienting experience of rebuilding a life after career loss.
We explore the relationship between work and identity, the temptation to keep ourselves busy rather than confront difficult questions, and what happens when the person we thought we were no longer quite fits.
Geoff doesn't offer a tidy story of reinvention. He's still figuring things out. And perhaps that's the point. We don't always know who we're becoming, and we don't necessarily have to.
I begin with a few stories about horrible bosses, including Hollywood producer Don Simpson and a rather memorable experience of my own working at a Montreal wine auction house. Both raise a question: why does losing a job, or being treated badly at work, sometimes feel like losing a part of ourselves?
We finish with a conversation about imposter syndrome, taking chances, and the importance of occasionally giving yourself permission to suck.
Because perhaps becoming someone new isn't about knowing exactly where you're going. Sometimes it's about being willing to find out.
Mentioned in this episode
- Geoff Curtis — Embracing Your Own Purgatory
Find the book on Amazon - Charles Fleming — High Concept, a book about Hollywood producer Don Simpson
- Top Gun, Flashdance, and the era of high-concept Hollywood filmmaking
Music Credits:
Introduction
Synthwave Retro 80s by MondaMusic from Pixabay
Dreamdrive '86 by Pixelmaniaxx from Pixabay
80s Soundtrack by Astronaut Flute from Pixabay
Intermission
Cryin' in My Beer by Jason Shaw on Free Music Archive
Smooth Chill Jazz by AllWorldMusic from Pixabay
Outro
VHS Tapes by The Top One Percent on Free Music Archive
Eighties Ladies by The Top One Percent on Free Music Archive
Connect
Learn more about Career Coaching with John, explore other episodes, or find out about working together:
Website: https://www.johnfialkowski.com
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If this conversation reminds you of someone who's been holding back from trying something new, share it with them.
And remember: becoming capable usually involves being willing to look incapable first.
Your Guest: Geoff Curtis
Geoff spent nearly thirty years in healthcare communications, including agency and corporate roles. Following a company acquisition that resulted in his role being redundant, Curtis experienced a professional identity crisis, a loss of relevance and began an uncomfortable journey to redefine his purpose and life. Rather than offering solutions, Embracing Your Own Purgatory, his first book, is written not as a triumph but from inside his ongoing battle with this uncomfortable space.
Curtis serves on multiple boards, was a fellow in the University of Chicago's Leadership and Society Initiative and holds degrees from Lake Forest College and DePaul University.
- From Geofferycurtis.com
Connect with Geoff on Linkedin
Your Host: John Fialkowski
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