When I was laid off from my last traditional job in February 2009, I searched high and low, as did many individuals at that time, for my next job.
I found many individuals who were in the same situation, with few resources to help us become better job seekers. That’s why I founded Unemployed in Des Moines. This group helped me hone my website building skills, helped me understand the power of social media to bring people together around a shared interest, understand the value of networking and to be more comfortable speaking in public.
About six months after founding Unemployed in Des Moines, I decided to start my own business, which meant that my time available to spend with this group was going to decrease. For the first several years, a handful of amazing volunteers, who understood the value of assuming a leadership role, stepped up to keep the group operating – coordinating speakers, sharing the event on online community calendars and LinkedIn Groups, maintaining the networking calendar on the website, etc.
What’s happened over the years is that there are fewer and fewer unemployed which means there are fewer and fewer individuals to volunteer to keep this group afloat. My business is taking me on an amazing journey which means that it’s time for this portion of the journey to come to a close.
Thank you to everyone that has supported this group over the years. It began at a time when there was a huge need and I hope many people were helped.
