Merry Korn on Turning Professional Loss into Purpose-Driven Work

About this episode

Merry Korn shares her journey from professional loss to founding a mission-driven social enterprise that prioritizes employment for marginalized communities.

What happens when the job you thought would carry you to the finish line disappears overnight? Two months into what she believed would be her final role, Merry Korn was let go. She was a single parent with two teenagers, college tuition looming, and no clear path forward. The fear was real. The pressure was immediate. Staying in bed was not an option. What followed was not an overnight success story. It was a series of hard conversations, informational interviews, small courageous steps, and a refusal to surrender. From those early survival decisions, Merry went on to found and scale a for-profit social enterprise that employed more than 1,300 people across 30 states, prioritizing jobs for people with severe disabilities, disabled veterans, and individuals living in the most impoverished communities. Merry shares how to: Move forward when fear feels paralyzing Use informational interviews as a career and business growth strategy Align work with purpose instead of contorting yourself to fit the wrong environment Build a mission-driven company that attracts high-quality talent Create simple rituals that protect presence at home Lead with values when rebuilding after a professional…

People in this episode

Host: Michael

Guest: Merry Korn

Topics covered

• professional loss
• purpose-driven work
• career growth
• social enterprise
• employment for disabled

Keywords

• fear
• informational interviews
• mission-driven company
• presence at home
• values-based leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Pearl Interactive Network

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