236: Overcoming Wrongful Termination: Legal Insights and Career Strategies with Sheryl Scott

If you believe you’ve been wrongfully terminated, what do you do? As you process the events that led to your termination and the tremendous emotions you’re feeling, you need a plan to move forward. And you need support and clarity. 

Today, I’m joined by Sheryl Scott. We discuss what to do if you believe you’ve been wrongfully terminated and what you should consider if you are ready to go out on your own and explore the self-employment route.

Sheryl Scott is an independent Legal Shield associate who protects and empowers families, entrepreneurs, and small businesses with affordable legal services and identity theft protection in Canada and the United States. She and I emphasize the importance of fit within a company culture and remind listeners that a wrongful termination lawsuit rarely leads back to the same job.

Additionally, we discuss self-employment and mid-career shifts and what you should consider if you decide that going the entrepreneurial route is your next best move.

Connect with Sheryl Scott:
Website | Facebook | LinkedIn 

Transcript

John Neral: 0:00

What should you do if you believe you've been wrongfully terminated? As you process the events that led to that termination, along with the tremendous emotions you're feeling as well, you need a plan to move forward. That plan needs to include support and clarity. Today, I am joined by Sheryl Scott and we discuss what to do if you believe you've been wrongfully terminated and what you should consider if you are ready to go out on your own and explore the self-employment route, let's get started.

John Neral: 0:50

Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm your Jo hn Neral, . I help mid-career professionals find a job they love, or love the job they have, using my proven four-step formula. As we begin, I want to state that my guest, Sheryl Scott, is not an attorney Working as an independent legal shield associate. Sheryl protects and empowers families, entrepreneurs and small businesses with affordable legal services and identity theft protection in Canada and the United States and, additionally, I'm not an attorney or legal expert as well, but I do believe bringing this topic to the podcast is important, as for some of you may have been in a situation and may feel that you have been wrongfully terminated, and if so, I want to offer you this. This episode is for information only. If you believe you have been wrongfully terminated, you should consult with a legal professional and expert who specializes in employment law about your specific circumstance and situation.

John Neral: 2:06

Now my guest, Sheryl Scott. Well, her career journey encompasses several jobs, gabbled with multiple side gigs, and has helped thousands of people choose and begin new careers, get jobs and start businesses. Today, Sheryl resides in southwestern Ontario, Canada, where she lives with her husband and their dog. This is a sensitive topic and, again, an important one which may apply to you or someone you know, so if that's the case, feel free to share this episode with them. But for now, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Sheryul Scott. S heryl, welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you here today.

Sheryl Scott: 2:51

Thank you for having me. This is so much fun I really appreciate it.

John Neral: 2:56

Absolutely. You and I are going to have a great conversation today. You've got a lot of things to help educate and get my listeners to think today about this whole topic around some things that people should be considering when they believe they've been wrongfully terminated. We're also going to talk a little bit about what things people should consider if they want to start a side hustle and turn that into a business. But before we get into all of that, everybody's got a mid-career moment. It's that defining moment in their career that shaped them and got them to where they are. You've got a few, but share one with us please. I got you to where you are today.

Sheryl Scott: 3:37

Oh, probably one of the biggest was when I hit a ceiling in my first career, which was hope-wanted advertising, and it was really a crossroads. There didn't seem to be a lot of job opportunities in my field. I wasn't necessarily qualified to do many things and I was overqualified to do many more. So I took advantage of all of the free services that were out there through government organizations and community organizations and really, even though I felt like I had to hurry up and get a job, I took the time to really do the exercises, all the things that they suggested at the same time as job searching, to really figure out what was I going to be happy doing next. And it was very enlightening to look back and what did I like about all my previous jobs and what didn't I like, because none were 100% great or 100% awful, in all honesty. So it was really a turning point for me.

John Neral: 4:45

Well, I appreciate you sharing that, because I think it's really important for us to realize that, as much as our work and my focus is always about helping people find a job they're going to love, you're not always going to love it 100% of the time, so I appreciate you calling that out for us today.

Sheryl Scott: 5:02

Absolutely. And I mean, if the worst thing about your career is the commute, well how bad is it? I mean, you can't just look at the top 10 and the bottom 10. You also have to wait them, because some are more important than others, obviously. So if what you hate is something, you can live with Quick complaining and enjoy what you love.

John Neral: 5:23

Well, cheryl, when you and I connected, we discussed on a pre-podcast call some interesting angles here to help my listeners, and one of those particular points I wanna talk today about is what should somebody do if they believe they've been wrongfully terminated. And we understand that this can be a very sticky and delicate and even volatile situation depending on somebody's circumstances. But you have some background in this and I'm wondering if you can share with us a little bit, maybe from the context of if you have a real life example or a case study, maybe just to help frame what a wrongful termination is and what kinda happens from there.

Sheryl Scott: 6:16

Okay. Well, after my advertising career, I was employed as a career coach for 15 years and it's amazing, when you're in a public facing career center, how many people think they've been wrongfully terminated, wrongfully dismissed, whatever label you wanna put on it. And the funny thing was is we listened to all of those stories. Most of them, no, we're not wrongfully dismissed. They were simply angry, which I understand. Anger is one of the grieving stages and I don't care how much you hated your career, you're still gonna grieve it, even if it's just the habits of the day or having that routine, or maybe it's the people. Whatever it is, you're still gonna grieve it and anger is one of those stages. But every so often there'd be somebody with a story that okay, yeah, it sounds like you actually have maybe been wrongfully terminated and you need to speak to a lawyer. So that's my first piece of advice is A go to a couple of people who are impartial not friends and family who are gonna side with you, but maybe the career center, if you've got a government agency that looks after unemployed then go talk to them, bounce the story off of them and see what they think. If anybody thinks there's a possibility, then it's worth talking to a lawyer, because we don't necessarily always understand our rights, employers don't always understand their responsibilities and obligations, so sometimes it could be malicious. Other times it's completely innocent and they've just missed some steps.

Sheryl Scott: 7:55

And I had a friend who this is going back now about seven or eight years had been promised her job as long as she wanted it, Her and the boss. They absolutely clicked. She was managing a running shoe store and she loved her job, he loved her, she was doing great, fabulous. Well, doesn't the owner remarry, the new wife gets involved and suddenly my friend finds herself laid off. And first of all, when they filled out the record of employment, which is a document you have to have here in Ontario, they did that wrong. And so many employers do the paperwork wrong, quite innocently, to be honest, because they don't necessarily make those forms very straightforward, and a layoff can be permanent or temporary.

Sheryl Scott: 8:50

We think of layoffs as being temporary due to the name of it, but it could be a plant closure If that's not an option on the form. They will often choose something that's incorrect, and so you've got to make sure that the paperwork's correct. So talk to someone who understands it and then get that corrected. But also, yeah, if there's any chance that it could be a wrongful dismissal, you need to speak to a lawyer because there's certain steps to go through to figure out is it. Have you got a good case and the laws? Laws are interesting because sometimes there's gray areas and when it's in the gray area it might not be a strong case and might not be worth your time, effort and, in some cases, money to fight it. In other cases, absolutely. My friend got an 18,000 settlement because she had been wrongfully dismissed absolutely and they had failed to pay her proper severance and vacation pay and so many more things Plus screw up the paperwork.

John Neral: 9:50

Cheryl. I'm curious though, for somebody who might go through and file a wrongful termination lawsuit how often is it that you see those people go back to their employer and work there?

Sheryl Scott: 10:10

Never.

John Neral: 10:11

Right.

Sheryl Scott: 10:11

I mean, if somebody hasn't treated you well, why would you wanna go back? I mean, let's be honest.

John Neral: 10:18

You know, like it doesn't make any sense, I haven't seen it in my yeah, sorry to interrupt you there. I haven't seen that in my career either, where anybody has gone back. But to your point earlier when people are angry and they feel they've been treated unfairly, part of that emotional piece can be look what you're missing out on. I can come back and do this. We have to go back to the situation or the circumstance and say they've already told you they don't want you.

Sheryl Scott: 10:50

Yeah, Pretty much. Yeah, absolutely, and it can be under all sorts of circumstances. You know it's crazy, but you will grieve that job for sure.

John Neral: 11:03

Staying along that same line with me for a moment. What are some of the misconceptions people may make where they might think they have a wrongful termination lawsuit but really they just don't have any ground to stand on?

Sheryl Scott: 11:24

Ah, it's amazing how many folks think they've been terminated for particular reasons when that's not in fact the case. Because the employer might say one thing you know your jobs being eliminated were downsizing right. Those are both common common phrases, especially thanks to COVID. And you know they're like, yeah, but I know it's because I'm too old, I know it's because they're paying me too much money. They're gonna turn around and hire somebody younger for less money. Well, if they do, then yeah, probably was a wrongful dismissal.

Sheryl Scott: 11:58

But if they don't, they may seriously truly be downsizing and cutting back. You don't know, you just don't know. And you know in most states and provinces to legally let's. There are steps to take to let somebody go, assuming it's not a fact that they've actually broken the law, that's a whole other matter. But if it's just they're not doing their job, they're not doing it correctly. Bad work ethic, whatever it may be. There are steps and it usually involves at least one written notice, a verbal warning, something. So it shouldn't really come as a surprise if somebody's being let go for performance, not to say that people can't be in denial.

Sheryl Scott: 12:43

People hear what they want to hear sometimes, but there should be some warning signs absolutely.

John Neral: 12:50

Well, I know in my career, when I was a local union president for an educational district and a teacher wasn't tenured and they were let go in their non-tenured period, that essentially 99 times out of 100. And what happens is that you know they don't have to renew your contract, they can simply let you go for whatever reason, and that's simply because you are not tenured, right? So obviously, if they are being let go, there's been feedback and conversations around specific reasons why it could be a lack of enrollment, it could be a downsizing in some way shape or form. But to that point where, if I have my numbers correct, 48 out of the 50 United States are at will employment states where you can be let go for any reason. I'm not sure if it's the same in Canada or not. Right? You're shaking your head now, okay?

Sheryl Scott: 13:58

No, in Canada we've got a probationary period Government mandated is three months, some companies will make it longer and during that time you can be let go for any reason or no reason, yeah, but outside of that they have to have cause. If you break the law, especially, let's say, for instance, you're involved with high ticket, high value items and you get caught stealing, they can let you go, no warning, sorry, you're done. Obviously, if you lose your driver's license and driving is a necessity for your job well, guess what? The job's going to be over.

John Neral: 14:40

That's right yeah.

Sheryl Scott: 14:42

Right, there's some that are and it's obvious to you or I and we're laughing, but it's amazing how many other people are like but they can't do that. I mean, yes, they can. Yeah, absolutely. And put the shoe on the other foot. If you were the employer, what would you do? Sometimes it's fit If you've got somebody in the group and this happened where my husband was working recently somebody that they hired great worker, they gave him great references and actually referred him to some other employers, but he just didn't fit with the group. I want to say, culturally, he just made everybody uncomfortable and it was more about their work environment than it was about him. But it was easier to change one than 23. And he totally understood that.

John Neral: 15:34

Yeah. So just to restate again, as I shared in the introduction. So neither one of us are lawyers. We're here having a conversation about that and providing some information. But to your point earlier, if someone does believe they've been wrongfully terminated, we strongly suggest that they do consult the expertise of a legal professional.

Sheryl Scott: 15:58

And in particular an employment lawyer or attorney.

John Neral: 16:02

Correct.

Sheryl Scott: 16:04

If your brother-in-law is a traffic lawyer, no, not going to help. If your dad is a divorce lawyer no. I mean they might be able to help you interpret the rules and the laws, but that's about where that ends. Sure, take their advice with a grain of salt. They probably can introduce you to someone who specializes in employment law.

John Neral: 16:27

Yeah, thank you for that.

Sheryl Scott: 16:29

And Google does not have a law degree, just saying.

John Neral: 16:32

No, it doesn't, Nor does chatGPT.

Sheryl Scott: 16:34

Correct, although the way it's going, I suppose it could earn one at a point, I'll tell you.

John Neral: 16:39

It's changing every single minute, cheryl, you're so right. So, from a career development standpoint, and when we think about best intentions and anybody who is currently in a job or they're starting a new role, they obviously don't want to screw up, right? They want to do the best quality work and add the most value to the company. But, from your experience, what would you say are some of the things that employees can do to be a little more proactive when it comes to protecting themselves against any kind of wrongful termination or dismissal in that regard, or even proper dismissal.

Sheryl Scott: 17:25

I mean and my first would probably be if there are any resources, an employee handbook, a contract, a union agreement, anything along that line, read it. Health and safety documents read them, or listen to them, depending on how they're offered to you Make sure that you take advantage of any and all training and never, ever be afraid to ask a question. The only stupid questions are the ones that aren't asked.

John Neral: 17:54

Hey there. Have you ever been hesitant to like a LinkedIn post about finding a new job because you're fearful of being seen by your employer or colleague? I get it. I see you, my friend. Since you're already listening to this podcast, I wanna help you get an even bigger win in your career and to do that, I'm inviting you to join my free email community and subscribe to the mid-career GPS newsletter. It's delivered to your inbox twice each week with helpful tips, strategies and resources to help you find that job you love or love the job you have. It's all free and you can subscribe by visiting my website at johnnarrellcom. Check the show notes or my LinkedIn. For now, let's get back to the episode.

Sheryl Scott: 18:43

Because you just don't know how something was in a previous place of employment could be entirely different than your new place of employment. Never assume anything. And, yeah, you can talk to coworkers, and that's not a bad idea, but a better idea would be talk to your boss or somebody else in charge HR, if there is an HR department, and ask specific questions. Again, the only stupid question is the one not asked.

John Neral: 19:14

Oh, so true. I remember in my days as a local union leader, you had to know that collective bargaining agreement backwards and forwards, frontwards and sideways and all those kind of things. And it was because you needed to know what was agreed upon and what wasn't in order to help stand up for your members and your membership and the union and everything. And I remember getting frustrated at times when I would have colleagues and members who just well, I just didn't bother to read it. Well, no, no, you have to read it. That's part of what it means to work here and why we have this in place and we fight for those kinds of things.

Sheryl Scott: 20:00

Absolutely, and they're usually long and boring. So read 10 pages before you go to sleep every night. It'll help you sleep, because they are boring in most cases, but they're written for a reason. The union is really good about laying out the employer responsibilities and the employee rights, but if neither side knows, it doesn't do them any good. Same with employer handbooks. Non-union environments are less good at doing so, but some of them are, and you gotta be aware. How else do you know? You know as funny story as a child I got in big trouble for sticking my tongue out with my mother. She kept saying tell your dad what you did. I don't know. Nobody ever told me that you're not supposed to stick your tongue out at your mother. Well, if you don't know it's wrong, you don't know not to do it. What's the same thing in the workplace?

John Neral: 20:56

Yeah.

Sheryl Scott: 20:57

It is what it is.

John Neral: 20:59

True, I had a mouth on me as a child and I used to get a bar of soap scraped across my teeth. And I commented one time to my mother how much I enjoyed the taste of ivory soap. That didn't go over well, Cheryl.

Sheryl Scott: 21:14

Nothing like poking the bear, oh my.

John Neral: 21:20

Yeah, I had a mouth on me as a kid. I learned pretty quickly not to do that.

Sheryl Scott: 21:24

So hey, let's yeah, my sister did as well, and I suppose, on that note, another point would be just because you see a colleague doing something doesn't necessarily mean it's right. Just because they're taking shortcuts doesn't mean that you should, particularly if it comes to health and safety things. Some people are daredevils. It's not worth it in the workplace because you're not only putting yourself and your safety in jeopardy, you're jeopardizing everybody else. The safety record of the organization and possibly their license or certification. If you're in something like healthcare is just not worth it.

John Neral: 22:01

Good point. So, cheryl, let's transition this conversation a bit, because you and I had previously talked that when people have been let go or a variety of reasons, whether appropriate or wrongful, whatever it may be, and especially in light of the pandemic we have seen people decide that it might be their time to go out on their own, and, whether it be a side hustle or a full-on consultancy or business venture, you have particular expertise in this area and, just to start us off here, so when people are considering starting a side hustle, where do they get it wrong From?

John Neral: 22:57

a standing up legal guidance type perspective. Where do they get it wrong?

Sheryl Scott: 23:02

Oh, trust me, I've seen this many, many times and my first suggestion would be talk to a career, professional. People will start businesses and side gigs for many, many reasons, some of which are admirable, some of which. I mean. If I had folks show up in my office that said, oh, if I don't get a job right away, I'll just hang out a shingle and be self-employed, I'd be saying slow down. It might be that simple, but it's not that easy. If you actually need to make money Now, if you've got a you know, a spouse making six figures, whatever and money's not the issue then have at it. But if you need to make money but the reason that you wanna be self-employed is so that you never have to ask a boss for time off, you can take aimless vacation. Well, guess what? Welcome back in three weeks when you've run out of money, because it doesn't work that way. The reality of being truly self-employed is that you will work harder than you ever worked for somebody else. The difference, hopefully, is that you're gonna enjoy it more, but it's not that you're gonna work less or any less hard. It's not, in fact, you're gonna work more.

Sheryl Scott: 24:13

The other challenge I find is people are really good at their craft. So let's take a carpenter as an example. I've been laid off. He thinks, well, I'll start a woodworking shop in my garage and make furniture and sell it or widgets or whatever, and that's great. He's probably great at woodworking.

Sheryl Scott: 24:31

But hanging out a sign is not gonna cut it. Yes, you can get referral business, but not until you've got your first few clients right, because otherwise who's gonna refer you? You know your friends and family don't know you as an independent business person. They know you as an employee. So who the heck are they gonna recommend you to? Probably not too many people. And what about marketing? Hanging out a sign isn't enough. If you build it, they will come, but only if they know it's there. And in this day and age that means you've gotta have a website, no matter how simple. You've gotta have one. You've gotta be on social media and I'm not saying that you need to post 10 times a day in some of these other things that people proclaim. That would depend on your industry and who your target market is, but you've gotta at least have a presence, because otherwise I mean, think about it, john, when you hear of a new business, what do you do?

John Neral: 25:26

I want to research them. I want to see what they're all about.

Sheryl Scott: 25:29

So you Google them, and what do you think when you find nothing?

John Neral: 25:35

Oh, it completely destroys that whole no-liking trust factor right there.

Sheryl Scott: 25:39

Absolutely, because either they just started this business this morning or they're not legit. Trust me, there are scams all over the place, including employment scams, for sure. Now you don't want to become jaded, but you got to be cautious. So, yeah, all of these things are necessary. So my mantra, if you will, over the years, has always been do what you do best and rely on pros for the rest.

Sheryl Scott: 26:04

Now there are some things, as business owners, we can do ourselves for a little while, till we start making money and can afford to pay people like bookkeeping that's, record keeping Most of us can handle that Cleaning our office or our workspace or whatever. You know those types of things. But there are other things like don't do your own taxes. Hire an accountant or a professional tax preparer who is familiar with your industry, Because you will miss tax write-offs that you don't even know exist and you won't find out. Until the day comes when you do hire someone and they go oh, you didn't know about this or that. You're thinking, oh, all those thousands of dollars I could have got back. Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking tax evasion. We should all pay our fair shake, but no more than that. And there are tax breaks out there for businesses and entrepreneurs, specifically to help them out, especially when they're starting.

John Neral: 27:01

Yeah.

Sheryl Scott: 27:02

But they're not widely advertised. Neither your government nor mine I'm in Canada has ever ever sent a tax assessment back and said oh, by the way, you missed this and this, here's some more money. Oh, oh, they hope you missed them. So that's just one example. But you need to assemble an, A team, if you really want to be successful. You need someone to help. I mean, unless one of these areas is your expertise, you need someone for marketing, you need someone for website, you need someone for accounting, tax preparation, you need a good lawyer or legal service. And down the road, once you start bringing in money and I don't mean profit, just any money you need a financial advisor.

Sheryl Scott: 27:43

Yes, it's your money because it's your business. But if you take it all, how does the business grow? And if you put it all back into the business, how do you pay your rent and eat? Because that's just as important. There's a fine line in there, and how are you supposed to know where it is? Somebody else has already figured that out for themselves and for others and can help you figure it out. So rely on pros. Absolutely. It will cut your learning curve, it will make you profitable faster and it will just save you so much heartache.

John Neral: 28:13

Yeah, it's so true, and I remember when I was standing up my business, one of the first things I did was retain the services of an attorney for things like my coaching agreement and making sure I had all those things in place, and I'll never forget one of the things that he said to me was he goes. This is intended to protect both you and your client, and having a firm agreement in place means that you operate at a level of business that ensures you do your best to protect your business and your client, as evident in this agreement.

Sheryl Scott: 28:53

Absolutely. And the other reality is someone may come to you with a contract, so I already have something. Well, that's great, but it was created by their lawyer, so they have their best interest in mind, not necessarily yours. So, yeah, you can use it, but I would strongly suggest have legal counsel look it over before you sign it. It is worth its weight. It is way easier to do that and cheaper than to down the road, find out uh-oh and try to get out of it, which isn't always possible.

John Neral: 29:26

So let's have a little fun here for a second. You're on various social media channels. You see a bunch of things, just like I do as well. What's the one thing that infuriates you that you see on social media when it comes to your own business or entrepreneurship that you think is the most misleading? We'll just say bullfunky, that is out there.

Sheryl Scott: 29:58

Oh, that's just a huge can of worms. Probably the thing that annoys me the most is and this is true for entrepreneurs and job seekers and even employees, for that matter, people in general is that they have this misnomer that it is social media and therefore only social, and the things are two completely separate. No, employers are going to go check out your social media, potential clients and suppliers and employees are going to go check out your social media. And not that you can't put anything fun, but there's got to be a line. We hold certain professions to a higher standard. What we see a trucker posting might be okay, but if a doctor, a lawyer or an accountant posts it, it'd be like oh, I'm not, no, no, that's not the accountant for me. How do we make decisions? That's how other people make decisions. That's probably the thing that annoys me the most. And then I don't know personal note probably the second thing that annoys me the most is when people put personal information. They're showing their hospital bracelet with the ID number.

Sheryl Scott: 31:15

They're showing their boarding pass for their trip. It's like their driver's license. I mean, you're proud of your kid for getting it. But don't like that's. You're just opening yourself up for identity theft, do not, but personally identifiable information on the internet? Yes, those barcodes has your life on there. Just don't do it. Yeah, that's a little off topic, but a hot button for me for sure.

John Neral: 31:41

And so my listeners understand why this is such a hot button for you. I'm gonna read your headline on your LinkedIn, which I think is great, because one of the things it does is it uses one of those keywords that I strongly encourage all of my clients and listeners to use in their headline. But Cheryl Scott's LinkedIn headline reads providing peace of mind by helping individuals, families and small businesses access affordable, top-notch legal services and identity theft protection throughout Canada and the US. So clearly that's a hot button thing for you and I'm glad that you shared that example there.

Sheryl Scott: 32:23

And it was even before I got into this business, right, you know, when your neighbors posted, yeah, we're on the plane, we're headed to Mexico, and I'll typically respond with great, have a good time. Now's a great time to go break into your house, thanks.

John Neral: 32:38

Yes, yeah.

Sheryl Scott: 32:40

Hopefully that doesn't happen when you get home.

John Neral: 32:43

Yes, exactly, absolutely Well, cheryl. I wanna thank you for sharing some information and educating and teaching us about a few of these things today, especially around how you build a side hustle and also what people should consider if they believe they're wrongfully terminated. But, as we wrap up here, what advice would you give someone to help them build their mid-career GPS?

Sheryl Scott: 33:10

Besides, talk to you. Well, consider your why. Why are you starting this business? Or why did you start the business? What is your mission and vision? Where do you wanna get to? Don't get so caught up in the day-to-day doing that you forget about the why. Yeah, and I mean that comes. One of my favorite books is Simon Sinek's Start With why, and I'd highly highly recommend that for any business owners. I mean, I got a whole list of books, but that's one.

John Neral: 33:46

It's one of my favorite books as well, and it's such an anchoring type of mission-driven purpose about why we get to do the things that we do So-.

Sheryl Scott: 33:58

Absolutely. Don't just start a business because you think it's where you're gonna make the most money or because you think that's what the greatest need is. No, think about why. What do you really want to accomplish?

John Neral: 34:13

Early on in my business. You know how you get solicited by people on social media and somebody reached out to me this was early on in my business and they said John, would you like to have a seven-figure business? I said no, I'm trying to get to six figures. I just started out, so back off.

Sheryl Scott: 34:31

I love it. I love it. Yeah, I get that a lot as well. I said I'm not your client.

John Neral: 34:35

The person wrote back, so why I could help you. I'm like no, no, that's okay, I've got a business coach, we're good.

Sheryl Scott: 34:40

And I suppose that'd be my second tip Know that everybody is not your target market. Yeah, Absolutely. Someone says no, back off.

John Neral: 34:50

Yep, so true. Well, Cheryl, if people want to connect with you, find you, learn more about you or even hire you at some point for your help and expertise, I'm going to turn the mic over to you, share with us all the good things and places where people can connect with you.

Sheryl Scott: 35:05

Oh, probably one of the easiest places to find me is on LinkedIn. I spend a lot of time there and check it often. Second place would probably be email, and my email address is Cheryl Scott, 15, at gmailcom, and it's Cheryl with an S, just to be different. But yeah, whether it's career advice or you need affordable legal services, and by affordable we're talking 30 to $33 a month instead of four, five $600 an hour and identity theft if you've been notified you've been part of a data breach, that's a great time to reach out. For Sure, I'm happy just to give you advice, give you more information, and if I can help you, great. And if I can't, maybe I can point out someone else who can.

John Neral: 35:58

I will make sure all of that is in the show notes so people can find you and connect with you. Cheryl Scott, thanks for being a great guest on the Mid-Career GPS podcast.

Sheryl Scott: 36:07

Well, thank you, John, greatly appreciate it. This has been fun.

John Neral: 36:11

It has. It has been fun. So, my friends, as we wrap up today, you think about your takeaway from this episode. Here's what I wanna offer you.

John Neral: 36:21

There are people out there that know far more than all of us, and if you feel like you have been wrongfully terminated or you are considering starting a side hustle and wanna make sure that you have everything in order, it may absolutely be worth your time, effort, energy and money to invest in hiring a legal expert to help you with that part of your career journey. Protect yourself, protect others and, most importantly, as you build your Mid-Career GPS, let that be another person who is part of your A team. I've got them. I'm very grateful for them. I know Cheryl does as well. We want you to have the same thing. So find those people in your world who can be part of your A team for that type of career, business and legal advice. And in the meantime I want you to remember this you will build your Mid-Career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day.

John Neral: 37:36

Thank you for listening to the Mid-Career GPS podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform and, if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple podcasts. Visit johnnarrowcom for more information about how I can help you build your Mid-Career GPS or how I can help you in your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at John Darrell Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters.

Sheryl Scott: 38:37

Thank you.