Episode 25: Fired from Emirates Airlines - How It Changed My Life for the Better
There’s getting fired and then there’s this saga.
Getting fired is one of those moments in life where you must decide the lesson you will take away from it.
This moment is by definition decisive - but only you can decide what it means.
For many people, getting fired would be a source of shame. For others, it would be meaningless. For others still, it may even be a good thing, if they didn’t like the job!
In this post I share the process of being let go by Emirates - and what it’s taught me!
One minute you’re flying high in Dubai… the next? Somewhere in Bangkok.
The first thing I’d like to say is that I am not a person who dwells in the past or in regrets often.
I used to be a very regretful person, always going over past mistakes before bed, making sure I paid for them mentally over and over again. After years of this, I decided that the best course of action would be to stop, and try to learn from what happened to me instead.
By choosing to take action as soon as possible after a mistake, I can avoid regret altogether. Regret, bitterness and guilt are slow-moving emotions. They can’t catch up to someone who is always on the move.
One of the reasons I believe that my “Getting Fired From Emirates” video became popular is because of how I handled the obstacles.
Instead of losing it when I was fired, I applied to Etihad. Instead of panicking that my apartment was gone, I moved to Thailand. Instead of feeling sorry for myself each time, I took action to make something out of it. I genuinely did my best and kept it moving.
(PS. If you haven’t watched the video, I would recommend watching it first so that the rest of this blog post makes sense.)
The point I want to make though, is that this skill did not develop overnight. It is normal to be sad and feel bad for yourself. However, when you face enough difficulties in life, you learn to keep it moving. The sad phase gets shorter and shorter until it feel more like a pause.
Emirates Training College
This year, it’s forced me to learn even faster and even more. Here are some life lessons, in chronological order of when I learned them:
Tattoo Removal Takes Forever
A few months into trying to remove it, I found out tattoo removal takes a minimum of a year. Something no one mentions online! Until I did, anyway.
There are other factors to keep in mind as well with tattoo removal, which also make the exact time needed to remove it hard to determine:
It is an expensive process, where you will often pay the price of the tattoo itself many times over.
The process depends on the types of lasers used to remove it, your personal health condition and the age of the tattoo (how long you had it).
It is a painful process (but the sessions are fairly short).
GO WHERE YOU ARE CELEBRATED
People often say this, but it’s very true: Go where you are celebrated, not only tolerated.
Life is too short to settle for an environment that does not celebrate all of you.
In my case, I am a very free-thinking, at times sassy, innovative and creative person. This is how I’ve always been. I am not disrespectful or against tradition by any means, but I love innovation. If we can change the status quo, why wouldn’t we?
Needless to say, this is not at all the type of vibe of an established Emirati company.
Emirates as a company runs essentially in the same way as the United Arab Emirates as a whole, where the power is clearly unevenly distributed but it’s what you sign up for.
Certain freedoms may be sacrificed but because it’s an authoritarian arrangement, there is very little room for discussion.
Individuality is not valued or celebrated. Conformity and adherence to standard (which is normal in airlines and customer service roles in general) is critical and enforced heavily (down to your nail shape and your BMI).
Deviance from conformity leads to reprimand.
Because the company provides accomodations, the home environment and the workplace are intertwined to an extensive degree.
At home, at the airport, in the city - it seems to me you’re always watched. Initially, I felt safe and comforted by the presence of the company every step of the way during my immigration process.
Years down the line? I’m not sure how much I would enjoy being watched 24/7.
A photo I took during a Training College lecture where the conformity struck me. Individuality is not part of the company culture at Emirates.
GRATITUDE IS THE KEY
After losing not one dream job but two (here’s looking at you, Etihad), not to mention the stability of my home, family and friends in Toronto, it would be easy to write off all of 2023 as a loss. The year began with my cozy furnished Canadian apartment, a secure job and simple life. It ended with me flying back to Canada from Thailand, to move back home with family as I sorted out my living situation once more. Not easy, right?
I would be lying if I said that I didn’t wallow for some time. Particularly given that in my case, moving back home was not exactly a welcome change. Add to this the stress of the job hunt, a desire to make sense of the past year and the harsh Canadian winter, and silver linings were not exactly on my radar.
With time however, gratitude did emerge as a result of this experience. Here are some things I am grateful for today:
The comments on my video genuinely changed my life. One of the reasons why I did not want to move back home is that my family is intensely critical of me (eldest daughter anyone?). When I returned, I was berated for my life decisions, which only exacerbated the pain.
When I published the video, I was expecting backlash and criticisms, but I really did want to let my subscribers know what happened and help them be prepared.
The kindness and sympathetic reactions of most commenters genuinely shocked me. Who knew most people are actually nice?
Rejection is a sign for me that I am meant to dream bigger. Although as crew I often thought about what it would be like to fly Business Class rather than serve business class, I didn’t really see how it could be possible. Although I am rather educated, it seemed unrealistic to think of myself as someone who can jet-set globally so freely.
However, since handling so many trials, it has given me a level of unshakeable confidence from facing my deepest fears head-on.
Losing a job I loved? Check.
No home and alone on the other side of the world? Check.
Getting put under a microscope by the internet for my decisions? Check and check.
Not to mention moving on my own to another new city in 2024, making new friends as an adult, starting a creative business in another language and more which I won’t even mention online.
I’m starting to think I’m straight-up bionic.
With this much strength, more possibilities have opened up to me because fear is less of a factor.
What’s a business call when you’ve dealt with international job loss and the world saw it happen?
Unshakeable Confidence. As I mentioned just above, I am grateful for the opportunity to broaden my horizons without losing sight of myself. It showed me how resilient and strong I truly am.
In the past, something like this would have been unthinkable.
This experience was truly educational, as I was able to create memories and experience so much, from Spanish lattes to dating abroad but also because it showed me who I had become without realizing it.
I genuinely did not know that I was a strong person until all of this happened.
Much to my surprise, the pressure of the last few years created a confidence I was unaware of.
Today, I have a deep, visceral assurance that my confidence is real and that all those small decisions to do the right thing when no one was looking actually paid off big-time.
My dream came true. Even if I was let go, the feeling of your dreams coming true is truly unmatched.
I will never forget leaving my bags in the Emirates accommodation apartment and walking out on my sandy balcony overlooking Dubai.
My headphones were playing a new Arabic song I had heard that day and as I listened to this joyful, fun song I acknowledged my past self for taking care of all the obstacles I had to overcome to get to this moment.
As I felt the warm wind on my face, the sun was setting, my linen shirt was blowing in the wind and tears came down my face.
I’d actually done it.
Although the dream may be different for you, that level of gratitude is something that only comes around a few times in a lifetime.
It’s a profound feeling where your entire life seems to live up to a singular defining and enchanting moment.
Life feels like a dream, and I’m thankful for that memory. It’s a gift I get to hold onto every time that song comes on, no matter what happened afterwards.
The view from my Emirates accommodation building.
Taking the time to look at painful experiences once the wounds are healed is so important.
What looked like a setback in my life may have actually been the catalyst to become even more bold and daring today.
If I can survive all of this and be stronger for it, who knows what the future has in store?
Stay tuned and subscribe as I hope to keep sharing content for all of you to help you make your dreams come true.
By the way, check out my new ebook below all about how to make the cabin crew dream come true for you!
There’s no excuse in 2025 :) If you’ve failed before, try asking yourself what you learned and taking another chance on yourself.
Who knows - it could really pay off!
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