Laura Brown and Kristina O’Neill Wrote the Best Career Book of 2025
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I haven’t really touched on getting laid off from my media job earlier on the website because I’ve talked about it on The Edited and Styled Podcast and my Substack newsletter. It’s been such a visceral part of my life that it never occurred to me that I should keep the conversation going until I came across Laura Brown and Kristina O’Neill’s Instagram for their new book, All the Cool Girls Get Fired: How to Let Go of Being Let Go and Come Back on Top.
For context, Laura Brown and Kristina O’Neill not only sharpened their journalistic skills at the illustrious Harper’s Bazaar, but they went on to step into editor-in-chief roles later on. While Brown steered the ship known as Instyle Magazine, O’Neill held the reins at WSJ Magazine before both were led to the “You’re fired” chopping blocks. As someone who spent months thinking she was a failure, this put a lot into perspective.
“If people at the top of their game can be fed the same corporate jargon when being laid off or fired, maybe the world's not actually ending. Maybe you’re on the precipice of a new beginning.”
Wait, so are Laura Brown & Kristina O’Neill breaking the “talk about it politely” code?
Depending on the industry you work in, you’re probably familiar with handling sensitive information. This could be a patient’s medical history or a popular beauty brand’s upcoming embargoed product launch. But before you got that far, it’s likely you had to read over hiring documents and potentially sign things like a non-compete agreement or even an NDA.
Sometimes that NDA (non-disclosure agreement) contained language that prevents employees (current or former) from publicly bashing the company that employs or employed them. Even if that document wasn’t a part of the hiring process, it’s an unspoken rule that you’re really not supposed to discuss the ins and outs of being let go from a company you’ve given your all to.
I’m no stranger to the latter, but it was difficult to keep quiet once I saw how many other people were being laid or fired abruptly in rather questionable ways. While I can’t speak for anyone else, I’ve made it clear how quickly I forced myself to hurry back to work after a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy only to be laid off effective immediately a month later. It was such a slap in the face and it took a while for me to decide to prioritize my morals/values.
I mean a couple of things when I say that.
I stopped pretending like I owed my former “employer” the overly polite version of me.
I said the quiet parts out loud and then set up boundaries that don’t require me to communicate with anyone I don’t want to.
With Brown and O’Neill’s All the Cool Girls Get Fired, it’s safe to say they’re not abiding by ridiculous societal or career rules either. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, O’Neill shared what she thought about when being fired. She said she was “given time to wrap up” which means Wall Street Journal was letting her go “in April,” but she didn’t officially end her role until June. She also recognized she could’ve tried to smooth her firing over to lessen the blow publicly, but ultimately chose not to. “ But I was in my dream job. I knew I couldn’t look anyone in the eye and say I was walking out of my own volition. I think what I needed to preserve was that honesty,” she revealed.
Brown acknowledges that she and O’Neill are in fact boldly saying the quiet part out loud. “It made people go, ‘Oh, they’re just saying it? Cool,’” (via Harper’s Bazaar). She remembers that she was “canned right before New York Fashion Week [in February 2022], and it was the Proenza Schouler show the next day.” Instead of choosing not to attend the show, Brown told herself she’d “earned the right to go to this show,” especially after receiving an invite. It was her way of saying, “Your decision isn’t going to control my life. I’m still here even if it looks different.”
Did their relationship to their careers change?
Ultimately, Brown & O’Neill decided that being fired wasn’t going to make them spiral into dark holes they’d never get out of. While it’s probable that the experienced self-doubt and heartache, they redefined what their careers looked like by thinking about what they truly wanted in life. Brown said, “Ambition to me now is taking what I built and using it in the bigger world,” while O’Neill dished, “I’m grateful that I could reframe what ambition looks like for me personally and ground myself again,” (via Harper’s Bazaar).
What’s the biggest takeaway?
Despite how terrible getting fired is, Brown & O’Neill are normalizing it because they’re not the first ones to get fired. Honestly, all you have to do is turn on the news or go on LinkedIn to see a slew of posts where people are getting let go from their jobs despite how long they’ve held their positions. It all boils down to the glaring reality that “job loyalty” doesn’t always mean what it used to.
My biggest takeaway is that losing your job will always feel heartbreaking, but sometimes it’s truly like the worst ex you’ve ever had. Companies will waste zero time gaslighting you as they’re literally holding matches to uproot your life, so why pretend it doesn’t hurt to be set on fire? Simultaneously, you begin to realize their decision is a glaring sign that you’ll be better off without them.
Obviously it doesn’t feel that way at first, but I know I’m personally glad I don’t feel like I have to write or say performative things just to hope higher ups at my former job will think I’m worthy of being hired as a full-time employee. Although I made the tough decision to cut off ties with the entire organization, I can’t say there’s a huge black hole in my life from not talking to them anymore. I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Watch Oprah Winfrey’s Podcast Episode Featuring Laura Brown & Kristina O’Neill
Buy All the Cool Girls Get Fired Today:
All the Cool Girls Get Fired: How to Let Go of Being Let and Come Back on Top by Laura Brown & Kristina O’Neill
Let’s face it — getting laid off or fired sucks. What’s even worse is that higher ups always seem to make the decision right before or after a major moment. Fertility issues? Sorry, we can’t take that into consideration. Fashion week invite? Our apologies, but you won’t have your title or pay grade anymore.
Laura Brown and Kristina O’Neill know what it’s like to experience something that happens all to often, but they’re not letting it dictate how they live the rest of their lives. In fact, they don’t want you to either.
Learn how to face the reality of your situation without letting it stop you from the rest of life’s possibilities.
