In this episode of The Creator Spotlight Podcast, Francis speaks with Melanie Ehrenkranz, the creator of the Laid Off newsletter and Discord community. They discuss the origins of Laid Off, building a community where people feel supported and engaged, and the concept of the laid off to creator/entrepreneur pipeline.

__

Follow Melanie

Laid Off Newsletter: https://laid0ff.substack.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-ehrenkranz-07231126/

__

References

Melanie's Laid Off survey: https://laid0ff.substack.com/p/hundreds-of-layoff-stories

Never Post podcast episode with Melanie: https://www.neverpo.st/any-rigid-idea-about-yourself-is-a-prison/

Interview with The Sidebar: https://mozillasidebar.substack.com/p/inside-the-newsletter-making-layoffs

Interview with The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/style/laid-off-newsletter-substack.html

__

00:00 Introducing Melanie

01:44 How 'Laid Off' began

06:32 Building an engaged, valuable community

10:12 Trend reports and insights from the laid off experience

13:20 Monetization that gives back to the community

22:47 LinkedIn culture and the need for personal brand

30:36 Potential future services for Laid Off

35:48 Permeable definitions of the creator

39:56 The creativity of the newsletter format

42:28 The laid off to creator pipeline

49:01 How to gain your first 10K subscribers

51:26 One year of Laid Off

#podcast #laidoff #creatoreconomy