Navigating Layoffs, The Impact Bubble news and more!

Hey friends,

It’s been a hot minute! February was an eventful month since the launch of The Impact Bubble — catch up in #Edit 3 if you’ve missed it 😉—. We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response and impact is indeed bubbling up since. More news and cooking updates further down👇🏽Keeping the promise this community will have Early Access on anything coming up!

In other news, the recent layoffs are quite challenging. Tech companies have been reducing their workforce ☹️ and my immediate circle was impacted! Reason why, I’m writing this edition after taking some time to reflect and gain more perspective, hoping it can be valuable to you and other people going through it…

Onto the order of the day:

• 💭 Tech layoffs and reflections.

• ✍🏼 Navigating and Redefining Times of Uncertainty.

• 🔥 The Impact Bubble updates and early access.

• 🧠 Resources I’ve found insightful lately.

• ✨ Mantra of the moment.

📝 Diving in…

For context, since the start of 2023 only, 139.065 employees were laid off from 502 tech companies, as of today, March 19^th, 2023.

My team and organization, including people I’ve worked with for years, were directly impacted by the layoffs the past couple days (I am still in my role though, for now, to avoid confusions). Since January, I’ve been receiving email threads from people announcing the news, looking for opportunities and support. At each notification ping, my heart skips a beat. Until it came down to my close circle…

🕯Long story short, while processing it all and reframing some core beliefs around our professional journeys, I made some research on behavioral science and neuroscience facts, talked to couple folks who are or have been in similar situations:

✅ I summarized it all in the article in the following section ✍🏼 to help anybody who needs it in times of uncertainty. It applies to any area, beyond the current circumstances of the tech industry👇🏽

✅ And that’s not it! Head to The Impact Bubble section below as well to discover the initiative launching in response to these unfortunate news 🔥

✍🏼 Published

🔥 The Impact Bubble updates and early access

✅ Update 1: Cohort 1 has successfully closed! It was full in less than 48h after its launch and served many areas, including Engineering, AI, Sales, Entrepreneurship, Product Management, Career growth and development, Personal development and Leadership skills.

✅ Update 2: Cohort 2 is full and kicking off this week. Spots for the next cohort are filling up quickly, make sure you reserve one in the form below and tell your friends!

🆘 A serious urgency matter! Given the current layoffs and circumstances, we have decided to dedicate a cohort of The Impact Bubble bridging the gap to effectively support the impacted individuals and those willing to lean in and offer 30min of their time to help in different ways. So please, share and forward the sign up form below to anyone who might benefit from it, mentors and mentees.

🧠 Onto the Resources

In the Tech world

Open AI announced the launch of GPT-4 only few months after ChatGPT was public — check out Edit#1 Resources section if you missed the use cases of chatGPT — .

GPT-4 is reported to be safer, more accurate and sophisticated! It’s been already adopted by companies like Stripe, Duolingo, Morgan Stanley, Khan Academy and the Government of Iceland.

In the Leadership / Continuous growth world

For many of us, asking for help can be challenging. Ami Vora — Chief Product Officer at Faire, known as well for her previous prominent roles in Product at WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram — breaks down how crucial it is to change the mindset around asking for help and how it can propel you forward much faster than you once thought.

✨ Mantra of the moment

💌 Final words

✈️ Forward this newsletter to whomever you think it can provide value to!

Onto the second half of March, let's make each day count ✨

Stay Curious, Stay Unique & Explore more... Until Edition #5.

Oumaima Talouka