A new life for women after redundancy

Companies around the world are making their employees redundant. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who managed to re-invent themselves after losing their jobs.

After being laid off in 2015, communication executive Dawn Kelly used her severance pay to open her own cafe, The Nourish Spot, in Queens, New York. Dawn, who was 58 when she started her entrepreneurial journey, had always wanted to run her own business but never had the funds to start. Hers is a story shared by many black women who, despite being the fastest-growing demographic of small and medium entrepreneurs in the USA, still face discrimination and struggle to access capital.

Eleanor Tweddell worked in senior management positions in the corporate world for over twenty years for companies including Virgin Atlantic, Costa Coffee and Vodafone - until she was made redundant, twice. She wrote a book about her experience, Why Losing Your Job Could Be The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You, and started her own company, Another Door. She now coaches individuals and organisations to provide advice and support through redundancy.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Eleanor Tweddell, credit Aga Mortlock; (R) Dawn Kelly, courtesy of Dawn Kelly.)