Meet our Team
Alex and Kim, co-founders of RIFF ON JOBS™, have been friends and colleagues for more than twenty years. They have 50+ combined years of experience working in healthcare, information technology and management consulting. In 2022, they were invited to an urgent Teams meeting with their department and were notified en masse that their positions were being eliminated. They were a couple years away from retirement, but not quite ready to be put out to pasture. Their layoff (aka, “RIF”) occurred at the same time that thousands of employees from many global companies were receiving similar news. Some of those people woke up in the morning, ready to begin their workday, and found themselves locked out of their work resources only to learn later in the day that they no longer had a job. That lack of humanity was stunning to Kim and Alex.
After a few months of job hunting and sharing stories, both came to the same conclusions. First, job hunting is not fun, though it can be funny. Second, getting a full-time “day job” is not the answer for everyone, especially people of a certain age (i.e., over 50). After lots of laughs and brainstorming, Kim and Alex formed RIFF ON JOBS™ to share wisdom, insight, humor, compassion, and hopefully some guidance for others on the same journey.
Alex and Kim, co-founders of RIFF ON JOBS™
Meet Kim
Kim’s diverse career spans more than 25 years, mostly in the healthcare industry. Her focus has been on information technology strategy and performance improvement. She has worked for large multi-state health systems, managed care organizations, a Big-Four management consulting firm, and a clinical decision support software vendor. She also served nearly a decade as Adjunct Faculty teaching Masters’ Candidates in Healthcare Administration.
Kim has managed teams, hired staff, counseled, coached, and mentored. She has also been RIF’d on several occasions, typically resulting in a better job.
She has also been a writer, stand-up comedian, actress and pilates instructor (and has been paid for all of these!) Her motto is, “Life is too short to stop laughing.”
Meet Alex
Alex is an ex-healthcare information technology executive who has worked at several health systems during his career. He has also worked as a Senior Manager at a Big-Four consulting firm along with two Internet companies. He has over 25 years of information technology experience with a proven record of innovating, building and leading technology teams and initiatives, and leveraging a consultative approach as a servant leader. He has proven project management and process improvement competencies, with expertise leading strategy development, service delivery optimization, culture building, and business relationship management.
In addition to the above, Alex has been on both sides of the layoff process including being required to lay off entire teams at a major health organization. He has been personally RIF’d at least four times due to changes in economic conditions and company profitability or re-organizations. His RIFs all resulted, ultimately, in promotions.
Our Stories
Alex’s Story
If you’ve recently been laid off, you have some difficult choices to make. These include finding another job, starting a business, doing some part-time work, or retiring. When I was faced with these choices immediately after I was laid off, my first inclination was to find another job. I had the use of an outplacement firm which was charged with helping me through this process. So, I did what anyone looking for a job might do. I updated my resume, posted it on some sites, updated LinkedIn, started networking with friends and former colleagues. I found a couple of promising opportunities that I applied for. As I was going through the process, I was also watching the economy start to plummet. Interest rates were rising, and even more companies started to lay people off. I suspected that we were seeing a pattern. But I went through ten (10) interviews with the promise of a job. All of them went well. Not wanting to commit to another opportunity while awaiting an offer, I pulled back on my pursuit. Weeks later, the company put a hold on all job requisitions, and it looked like I would have to start my search from scratch. Seeing the continuing trend of layoffs and company downsizing, not to mention some of the recent banking issues, I decided that I wanted to move in a different direction. I did not want to confront a job market and obtain a position, only to be laid off a few weeks later. Fortunately Kim, my colleague and friend of twenty years, was in the same boat. In fact, she and I interviewed at the same company and we both had potential offers pulled.
Sooo, we figured that we’re probably not alone, that many other people have found themselves in the same situation and, thus, we decided to start a business to share our stories and support with others. We formed RIFF ON JOBS™ to help you through your transition, to support you, but also to add a bit of humor to this difficult process. We know this is risky and there is no guarantee of success. But our mission speaks to us, and we are committed. That mission is to provide a judgment-free platform for learning, sharing, support and humor in a safe space, away from job boards. We’re just getting started, so hang with us as there is more to come!
Kim’s Story
Some people were caught completely by surprise by their layoffs, but my team at work was lucky enough to have a little warning. We knew change was imminent and suspected we would be impacted. A few of us were in denial, but some of us quietly kept our heads down, updated our resumes and, perhaps, applied to some jobs. I fell into the latter category. Before actively blitzing the universe with my resume, I gave some thought to what type of job would be next. I did everything I’ve always learned. I identified companies I wanted to work for, looked for jobs on their websites, and figured out on LinkedIn who I might know at those companies, who could nudge the hiring manager if I applied for a job. I did land a few interviews and, in a couple of instances, I came close. In one case, I interviewed with ten people over the course of a few months, only to eventually receive notification that the position was no longer available (as the company restructured, re-evaluated, and cut positions that were not yet filled). I am grateful; I could have been hired, only to be laid off again, just months after starting to work.
After this experience, and not much success through online resume submissions, I decided to check my ego in at the door and look for easy jobs that I could do from home, freeing up my weekends and evenings for all my other passions. I applied to some jobs that were a few levels lower than the one I had just left, with job titles I held 20 years ago, but that would provide a good livelihood and welcome healthcare benefits. During one such interview, I was asked what my “ideal job” was, and I laughed out loud (no joke). There are many ways to answer that question when interviewing for a job you are excited about. If you are interviewing for a job you don’t really want, the only answer to “what is your ideal job?” is “not this one!” That was when I knew that I wanted to pursue my passions and hold out for something great. I amped up my “search.” I clicked on links to job descriptions, and I read a LOT of descriptions. As I read one job description after another, I got sick to my stomach. That was the moment I knew… and I texted Alex, my good friend and colleague of twenty years, and said, “Put a fork in me. I’m done (job hunting).” Alex said, “Hallelujah” and we began brainstorming to form our own business, which resulted in RIFF ON JOBS™.