I Lived Through 11 Rounds of Layoffs, So I Built Something Different

The Blow Your Mind Podcast · Apr 30, 2026 · 15m

11 rounds of layoffs. Yellow envelopes on desks. Two ballrooms in two different hotels, and the news that everyone in the other room just lost their job.

Before Erika built Directorie, she lived through some of the most painful corporate restructurings the pharma industry could deliver. In episode three of the Blow Your Mind Podcast, she walks through what those years actually felt like and how they shaped every decision she made when she got to build her own company.

From the "moments that matter" framework to the no-asshole policy to why one-on-ones are non-negotiable, this episode is the…