Rise & Shine: The Day I Almost Unraveled Right Before My Speaking Event

Last Thursday, I was in full preparation mode.

I had a speaking event that evening, talking to a room full of high-performing professionals about finding clarity, positioning themselves with confidence, and building the kind of momentum that leads to real career alignment.

My notes were ready. My slides were dialed in. I was making the final touches on my speech when the lights went out.

Not just in my house. The entire city lost power as storms tore through Indiana.

And just like that, my calm, focused afternoon turned into full panic mode.

What if the power doesn't come back on before my speech? Is my hotspot strong enough to run a virtual event? I have zero lighting. My office looks like a cave.

Then, before I could even process those thoughts, I realized our generator wasn't kicking on. Which meant our sump pump wasn't running. Which meant our basement was potentially flooding.

So there I was, 60 minutes before I needed to start getting ready, hovering over the sump pump with Tupperware, scooping water into a bucket, completely unraveling.

And in that moment, I did the only thing I knew to do.

I prayed.

"God, not today. Please. I need your help."

Five minutes later, I nearly jumped out of my skin when the power roared back on and that sump pump kicked into full gear.

Crisis averted. Basement saved. Speech delivered.

Here's why I'm telling you this.

That moment, crouched on my basement floor with a bucket and a prayer, felt remarkably familiar to something I hear from clients every single week.

Not the risk of a flooded basement part, but that feeling of everything hitting at once.

• The application you spent hours perfecting goes into a black hole. 

• The interview you prepped for gets rescheduled for the third time. 

• You finally get a call, and your wifi cuts out. 

• The job you were a perfect fit for gets posted as "on hold."

Job searching is already stressful on a good day. But when life keeps piling on top of it? That stress can quickly shift from motivating to suffocating.

And the difference between people who push through and people who burn out often comes down to one thing: how well they manage their stress before it manages them.

What stress in a job search actually looks like

We tend to think of stress as this big, obvious thing. But a lot of the time, it shows up quietly before it shows up loudly.

• You're suddenly snapping at people you love. 

• You're staring at a job board for 45 minutes without actually reading anything. 

• You're lying awake replaying an interview conversation. 

• Your motivation is gone, but so is your ability to rest.

Stress doesn't always announce itself. Your body often knows before your brain catches up. The tension headaches, the brain fog, the irritability that seems to come from nowhere. Those are signals worth paying attention to.

Because when you ignore them long enough, the small stuff becomes the thing that breaks you. And you can't afford to be broken when you're trying to show up confidently in an interview or a negotiation.

What actually helps (no fluff, I promise)

1. Know your stress signals BEFORE they escalate.

Before last Thursday, I knew prayer was one of my anchors. I didn't have to figure that out in the middle of the chaos, it was already part of how I'm wired. 

What's yours? A walk around the block, a ten-minute venting session with a friend, a workout, a playlist that resets you? Know it now so you can reach for it when things go sideways.

2. Protect your energy like it's your most valuable resource. Because it is.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in job searching is treating it like a full-time job where more hours automatically means better results. It doesn't work that way. Job searching is emotionally exhausting in a way that most work isn't. You're constantly being evaluated. You're managing hope and disappointment in the same afternoon sometimes. If you're not building in real recovery time, your performance suffers — in applications, in interviews, in how you come across.

3. Reframe what rejection is actually telling you.

Rejection in a job search is rarely personal, even when it feels deeply personal. 

• Budgets change. 

• Roles shift. 

• Internal candidates appear. 

• AI tools filter people out before a human ever lays eyes on the resume. 

When you start seeing rejection as information rather than a verdict on your worth, it changes how you carry it.

4. Don't isolate when things feel hard.

Stress shrinks our world. When we're in it, we tend to pull back from the people who could actually help us feel less alone. Reach out. Talk to someone who gets it. That might be a friend, a mentor, a coach, or a community of people in the same season. Connection is one of the fastest ways to regulate your nervous system when everything feels like too much.

5. Build the small habits that hold you steady.

Routine matters more than inspiration when you're in a prolonged job search. A consistent morning, movement during the day, a hard stop time on job searching in the evening… these aren't luxuries. They're the infrastructure that keeps you functional when the search stretches longer than you expected.

The thing about my Thursday

The power came back on. The sump pump worked. I got ready, showed up, and delivered a talk I was proud of.

But what I keep thinking about is that the chaos itself wasn't what made the difference. It was the years of practicing how to come back to center, even when everything is going wrong at once, that allowed me to get through it and still show up.

That same skill is what carries you through a job search that takes longer than you planned. It's what keeps you from completely unraveling when a promising opportunity falls through. It's what allows you to walk into an interview with confidence even when you're privately exhausted.

Resilience isn't something you either have or don't have. It's something you build, practice, and strengthen over time.

And the good news is, you can start building it today.

This week's challenge:

Name one thing that genuinely resets you when stress starts creeping in. Write it down. Put it somewhere you'll see it. And actually use it this week before the stress has a chance to spiral.

You've got this.

Cheering you on, 💛 Alyssa

P.S. If your job search stress has started feeling less like motivation and more like a weight you can't put down, that might be a sign you need a real strategy and a little support behind you. My calendar is open if you want to talk. Just hit reply.

Thanks for reading Rise & Shine by Rise Up Career Coaching.

This newsletter is for high-performing professionals who feel stuck, overlooked, or unsure of their next move — and want a clearer, smarter way to navigate the modern job market.

Here, I share real talk about:

• Getting clear on what you actually want next

• Navigating job searches without mass applying

• Networking in ways that actually lead to conversations

• Interviewing with confidence (even if you’re rusty)

• Negotiating offers without leaving money or opportunity on the table

The job market has changed, but most career advice hasn’t. I’m here to help you stop guessing and start moving forward with clarity and strategy.

I'm here to change that.

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ALYSSA BAILEY is a Certified Professional Career Coach who helps high-performing professionals get unstuck and land roles that match who they are now. With 15+ years of corporate experience, she’s guided clients through career transitions, interviews, and negotiations — helping them turn experience into opportunity.

If you’re done waiting for clarity or the “right time,” this is your sign.