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Share From Ground Zero to Purpose: When Losing Your Job Changes Everything | Merry Korn
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From Ground Zero to Purpose: When Losing Your Job Changes Everything | Merry Korn
What happens when you wake up and the title is gone… the paycheck is gone… and the identity you built your life around disappears overnight?
In this deeply human conversation, Merry Korn shares the moment she was fired just two months into a role and found herself at what she calls “ground zero.”
Single mother. No income. No plan.
But what felt like collapse became excavation.
Instead of rushing into another job, Merry began the inner work. The deep questioning. The alignment process that many of us avoid. That inner excavation eventually led her to build Pearl Interactive Network, Inc., a for-profit social enterprise that grew to 1,300 employees across 30 states, prioritising hiring people with disabilities, disabled veterans, and those often excluded from opportunity.
This is not a hustle story.
It is a story about identity.
About DNA-level resilience.
About listening to the whisper before building the platform.
About discovering that job loss is often not failure… but information.
If you’ve ever tied your worth to your work, this episode will land deeply.
📝 Show Notes
In This Episode, We Explore
- The emotional shock of being fired and waking up to “ground zero”
The hidden danger of outsourcing your worth to your job title
Why alignment matters more than income alone
The role of informational interviews during career transition
How inner excavation precedes sustainable success
Hiring people with severe disabilities and untapped talent
The power of giving disabled veterans meaningful work
The intersection of business strategy and heart-led leadership
Spiritual guidance, synchronicity, and trusting the unseen
Why resilience is often inherited… but must be consciously accessed
How purpose transforms survival into contribution
Key ReflectionsJob loss is not always rejection.
Sometimes it is redirection.
Your worth was never meant to be housed inside a role.
The bravest work isn’t rushing to the next solution.
It’s staying present long enough for the true step to reveal itself.
About the Guest
Merry Korn is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, author, and founder of Pearl Interactive Network, Inc., one of the world’s most successful for-profit social enterprises.
Over two decades, she built a company that created thousands of meaningful jobs for disabled veterans, people with disabilities, and individuals in economically challenged communities.
Today, Merry shares her story to help others navigate career disruption, rediscover purpose, and build work aligned with heart and mission.
#SuddenlyDifferent
#FromGroundZero
#CareerRedirection
#PurposeDriven
#LeadershipWithHeart
#DisabilityInclusion
#VeteranEmployment
#SocialEnterprise
#IdentityAndWork
#Resilience
#TrustTheProcess
#InnerWork
#WomenInLeadership
#FaithAndBusiness
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By Leigh-Anne SharlandWhat happens when you wake up and the title is gone… the paycheck is gone… and the identity you built your life around disappears overnight?
In this deeply human conversation, Merry Korn shares the moment she was fired just two months into a role and found herself at what she calls “ground zero.”
Single mother. No income. No plan.
But what felt like collapse became excavation.
Instead of rushing into another job, Merry began the inner work. The deep questioning. The alignment process that many of us avoid. That inner excavation eventually led her to build Pearl Interactive Network, Inc., a for-profit social enterprise that grew to 1,300 employees across 30 states, prioritising hiring people with disabilities, disabled veterans, and those often excluded from opportunity.
This is not a hustle story.
It is a story about identity.
About DNA-level resilience.
About listening to the whisper before building the platform.
About discovering that job loss is often not failure… but information.
If you’ve ever tied your worth to your work, this episode will land deeply.
📝 Show Notes
In This Episode, We Explore
- The emotional shock of being fired and waking up to “ground zero”
The hidden danger of outsourcing your worth to your job title
Why alignment matters more than income alone
The role of informational interviews during career transition
How inner excavation precedes sustainable success
Hiring people with severe disabilities and untapped talent
The power of giving disabled veterans meaningful work
The intersection of business strategy and heart-led leadership
Spiritual guidance, synchronicity, and trusting the unseen
Why resilience is often inherited… but must be consciously accessed
How purpose transforms survival into contribution
Key ReflectionsJob loss is not always rejection.
Sometimes it is redirection.
Your worth was never meant to be housed inside a role.
The bravest work isn’t rushing to the next solution.
It’s staying present long enough for the true step to reveal itself.
About the Guest
Merry Korn is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, author, and founder of Pearl Interactive Network, Inc., one of the world’s most successful for-profit social enterprises.
Over two decades, she built a company that created thousands of meaningful jobs for disabled veterans, people with disabilities, and individuals in economically challenged communities.
Today, Merry shares her story to help others navigate career disruption, rediscover purpose, and build work aligned with heart and mission.
#SuddenlyDifferent
#FromGroundZero
#CareerRedirection
#PurposeDriven
#LeadershipWithHeart
#DisabilityInclusion
#VeteranEmployment
#SocialEnterprise
#IdentityAndWork
#Resilience
#TrustTheProcess
#InnerWork
#WomenInLeadership
#FaithAndBusiness