The Reboot Era
Layoffs. Burnout. Reinvention. Welcome to the messy middle of career change — and the community that's not afraid to talk about it. Hosted by Dray Jankowski, a former tech program manager laid off in 2025, The Reboot Era is part unfiltered storytelling, part emotional support group, and part career comeback plan. Through weekly solo episodes and candid guest interviews, we explore what it really means to rebuild your life — professionally, emotionally, and financially. We’re not here to sell you hope. We’re here to tell the truth — with humor, heart, and a little chaos. Each episode dives into one of our seven pillars: • Layoffs & Unemployment • Motivation & Momentum • Strategy & Income • Redirection & Reinvention • Mental Health & Renewal • Closure & Reflection • Identity & Calling If you’ve ever screamed into a throw pillow after reading a rejection email — this is your place. 🎧 New episodes every week. 💬 Got a story of your own? Come tell it. This isn’t just my era — it’s ours!
Episodes
In this episode of The Reboot Era, I sit down with two incredible recruiters who’ve seen it all—hundreds of resumes, countless interviews, and the chaos of the 2025 job market.
These aren’t just any recruiters—they’re smart, candid, and people I deeply trust. We talk about what really happens after you hit “apply,” how hiring decisions get made, and why you might not get a follow-up (even when it felt like the perfect ...
What happens when a UX leader who’s built billion-dollar systems for Fortune 500 companies gets ghosted by recruiters and told they’re “overqualified”? In this episode, Dray sits down with Chris Nelson – former Head of Design at Walmart Fulfillment Services – for a raw, unfiltered conversation on layoffs, LinkedIn noise, AI chaos, and the exhausting ritual of job searching in 2025.
Chris shares stories from Verizon to ...
In this deeply human episode of The Reboot Era, we explore the emotional rollercoaster of job loss, job searching, and the quiet fight to keep going. Host Dray Jankowski is joined by two guests — Christine Vela, a seasoned sales and business development expert with decades of experience and multiple layoffs behind her, and Ry Mantione, a marketing pro and creative force navigating unemployment, identity, and reinventi...
In this episode of The Reboot Era, I sit down with Jean-Baptiste — better known online as Jean the AI Guy — for a fast-paced, unfiltered conversation about artificial intelligence, automation, and the wild future we’re already living in.
From working with luxury brands like Chanel and LVMH to becoming one of the earliest adopters of ChatGPT, Jean shares how he fully transitioned into the world of AI. We talk about how ...
Laid off. Same company. Same call. Same "thanks for everything" energy.
In the pilot episode of The Reboot Era, host Dray Jankowski sits down with Chrissy—who was laid off on the exact same day, at the exact same time. Together, they kick off this unfiltered, satirical, and surprisingly cathartic series by unpacking the emotional rollercoaster of being let go.
🎧 We talk about:
- That awkward “we need to talk...
In this episode of The Reboot Era, Dray sits down with two guests—Fredrico Salianga and Jake Lender—who share powerful, honest stories of navigating life after layoffs. From scammy interviews to side hustle wins, freelance struggles to career pivots, this conversation is packed with lessons, laughter, and real talk about what it means to rebuild after getting knocked down by the job market.
🔗 Topics We Cover:
- The e...
When Rob Saro was unexpectedly laid off, he had two choices: spiral or strategize. In this episode of The Reboot Era, Rob takes us through the moment he got the call, the emotional and mental toll of being laid off for the first time in nearly two decades, and how he transformed that anxiety into action — landing a new job in under 60 days while also building and launching his own SaaS product, TimeTrackerAI.
From docu...
What happens after you toss your cap in the air… and the real world hits harder than expected?
In this episode of The Reboot Era, Dray sits down with A’jadynn Coleman, a recent marketing graduate from UMass Dartmouth, who opens up about navigating her post-grad life with honesty, humility, and hustle. From working at a salon while job hunting to building her marketing portfolio, optimizing LinkedIn, and chasing her dre...
Angela Delk joins The Reboot Era and does not hold back. A seasoned software sales pro turned digital artist, Angela takes us through the highs, the lows, and the straight-up WTF moments of her layoff journey—from inequitable quotas and being gaslit in meetings, to launching her bold new art brand after nine months of job-hunting frustration.
We talk:
- The real reason behind some layoffs (and the corporate spin that ...
Welcome to The Reboot Era — a podcast about what happens after the layoff.
This trailer is your first look at a raw, real, and slightly unhinged journey through unemployment, identity loss, awkward job interviews, and the messy magic of starting over. If you've ever been ghosted by a recruiter, cried on your lunch break, or questioned everything after a layoff, a career pivot, or just on a random Tuesday... this i...
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