Girls Gotta Eat — "All the Cool Girls Get Fired"

Guests: Laura Brown and Christina O'Neill
Release Date: November 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the taboo, shame, and transformative power of getting fired. Ashley and Raina welcome media powerhouses Laura Brown (former Editor-in-Chief of InStyle) and Christina O'Neill (head of Sotheby's Media, ex-EIC of WSJ Magazine), co-authors of All the Cool Girls Get Fired. The discussion dives into their personal journeys of being fired, the emotional fallout, the shifting landscape of work and media, and how setbacks can forge new paths for growth and reinvention. The episode combines heartfelt storytelling, practical advice from their book, and the comedic candor GGE is known for.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: The Universality of Getting Fired

• Ashley and Raina open with personal stories of being fired early in their careers, highlighting the shame and unexpected growth that often follows.
• “It’s such a universal experience that pretty much everybody goes through, and there’s so much shame around it...but it is this, like, universal experience.” — Raina (05:13)

2. The Guests’ Origin Story & Friendship

• Laura and Christina recount their first meeting at a Marc Jacobs fashion show the night before 9/11.
• “I’d been in New York for six days. I was dazzled…Everything was grapes. There was grapes everywhere.” — Laura Brown (40:48)
• “Our first impressions of each other: she talked a lot. She thought I talked a lot, and I thought she was judging me.” — Laura Brown (41:28)

3. Early Career Hustle in Media & Fashion

• Both describe a wild, underpaid, and high-energy era: nonstop events, forging relationships, learning from tough bosses, and the joy of working in pre-social-media print media.
• “You’d have a drinks, then a drinks, then a dinner, you know what I mean, in one night. And we were just hurtling our asses around New York City.” — Laura Brown (43:07)

4. “Getting Fired” Stories — Ego, Relief, and Identity

• Laura: Let go from InStyle with her entire team in a Zoom mass firing (48:43). She reflects on the abruptness and ego blow but acknowledges, “I am free. I can do whatever I want.” (14:41)
• Christina: Fired solo after 10+ years at WSJ Magazine, blindsided in a meeting that moved suddenly to the HR floor (51:13), “There are parts of that meeting I have zero recall.” (55:00)
• Both emphasize how identity is tied up in work, and losing a job can feel like a loss of self.

5. Shame, Community, and the Power of Being Public

• Both guests stress the value of talking openly about being fired rather than hiding in secrecy or shame.
• “There’s no gain in taking this big, heavy kettlebell of bloody shame and spin…rather than [just saying] ‘there was a change, I got laid off, or we got fired.’” — Laura (54:48)
• Showing up at industry events after their firings helped destigmatize and reclaim their narrative. Laura immediately went to a fashion show after being let go (60:08).
• “Get in front of those people. Talk about it. Like, talking about it really helps…If you don’t put your hand up, no one’s going to grab it and pull you along.” — Christina (62:13)

6. The Shifting Landscape of Work & Careers

• Post-pandemic job loss is not unique; short job stints or resume gaps are no longer career-killers.
• “The individual is the career, is your economy. You two, as hosts of this, are your business.” — Laura (67:55)
• They highlight that not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur: “There’s so many different things the individual can do based on their individual skills that don’t rely on a corporate 401k and that sort of structure, which is so challenged right now.” — Laura (67:55)

7. Practical & Emotional Advice from the Book

• Mental Health: It’s natural to grieve, wallow, and take time post-firing—just don’t self-isolate for too long. Lean on your network. “You have to bring some ego into it…you own this.” — Laura (59:54)
• Professional Tips: Download contacts before you’re locked out, don’t sign anything in the moment, don’t go scorched earth on your former employer.
• What’s Next? Sometimes the “kick in the ass” is needed to move forward, whether into entrepreneurship or a new traditional role. Be open to hybrid/patchwork work, and revisit personal interests (creating a board game, writing, etc.).

8. Networking and Paying It Forward

• Cultivate contacts everywhere, even if you don’t know when you’ll need them: “Johnny Appleseed, you’re throwing these seeds around your entire career. ... They do bear fruit.” — Laura (82:00)
• Anecdotes about memorable job-seekers: “He would Photoshop me as Daenerys in Game of Thrones on a throne. And then he would be at my side…” — Laura (83:02)

9. Redefining Power and Success

• “If you lose your job, you don’t lose your power. It’s only in your head if you do.” — Laura (00:00, reiterated at 85:48)
• The book’s central message: Everyone eventually faces setbacks; the cool girls embrace it, learn, and help others.

10. The Book’s Impact

• Receiving stories from women readers—government officials, DMV workers, marketing teams—who find catharsis and inspiration in sharing their firing stories. “You feel so vulnerable, but we don’t want anyone to feel vulnerable again.” — Laura (89:23)
• “You’re not alone. This is the best community—girls that have been fired. We’re so cool, guys.” — Ashley (89:28)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Identity & Ego:

• “Your value is yours.… Do not give them power over you.” — Laura (48:43)

On Shame:

• “Why not just call it what it is?” — Christina (54:48)

On Openly Discussing Being Fired:

• “If you don’t put your hand up, no one’s going to grab it and pull you along.” — Christina (62:13)
• “Get out in the world. There’s nothing good that comes from isolating yourself.” — Laura (61:44)

On Community:

• “It’s old-fashioned as hell…the friends you made along the way, you know what I mean, but they’re gonna be the ones that are there for you.” — Laura (86:48)

On Reframing Power:

• “If you lose your job, you don’t lose your power. It’s only in your head if you do.” — Laura (85:48 and opening)

On the Book’s Impact:

• “She wrote this beautiful note…‘This has been so helpful.’ Then she signed her name, and underneath, she wrote, ‘Cool girl.’” — Laura (88:08)

On Post-Firing Growth:

• “No one wants to hear this will be the greatest thing. You’re like, shut the fuck up.” — Raina (79:03)

On Career Trajectory:

• “The best way to get a raise is to leave your job and go to the next job.” — Laura (76:09)

Timestamp Guide to Important Segments

• 00:00 Laura: “If you lose your job, you don’t lose your power…”
• 09:50 Ashley: Tells her first “getting fired” story — young, entitled, and the shock of being fired by email.
• 19:36 Raina: Restaurant firing story—pain, shame, and the long road to recovery.
• 37:19 Guest introductions (Laura Brown & Christina O’Neill) and starting the deep-dive interview.
• 40:48-43:35 Laura & Christina reminisce about high-octane magazine life in 2000s NYC.
• 48:43 Laura: The InStyle firing — mass Zoom layoff and reclaiming self-worth.
• 51:13 Christina: Her “HR floor” firing story—blindsided, shocked.
• 54:48 Laura: The toxicity of spinning stories to hide being fired.
• 60:08-61:44 The importance of showing up after being fired, using community.
• 66:36 Raina: On giving herself and others grace after a job loss.
• 67:55 Laura: The new model—people are the business now.
• 74:47-76:52 Both guests discuss their next steps and the creative ‘pilot light’ that can guide post-firing reinvention.
• 85:48 Laura: “If you lose your job, you don’t lose your power…”
• 88:08 Laura on hearing from readers who sign off as “cool girls.”

Closing & Where to Find More

Laura and Christina’s book, All the Cool Girls Get Fired, is available everywhere.
Follow them:

• @allthecoolgirlsgetfired (Instagram, TikTok)
• @LauraBrown99
• @ChristinaONeill

Ashley and Raina close out with a message to listeners: There is no shame in being fired—only in keeping yourself small and isolated because of it. And, ultimately, “All the Cool Girls Get Fired.”

Summary prepared by an expert podcast summarizer — capturing the heart, humor, and hard-won wisdom of the conversation.