Episode 20: Redefined: Losing a Job and Finding Yourself with Cynthia Gutierrez-White
When crisis communicator and author Cynthia Gutierrez-White lost her job in early 2025, she found herself facing the same question so many professionals are asking this year: Who am I without the title?
In this candid conversation, Cynthia joins host Laura Edwards to talk about her upcoming book Redefined (launching November 18) and the reality of navigating job loss amid layoffs, AI disruption, and a job market transformed by uncertainty. Together, they explore the emotional, practical, and deeply human side of career upheaval — from identity shock and grief to resilience, confidence-building, and reframing what comes next.
As two communicators both navigating recent job loss, Laura and Cynthia discuss the unexpected ways professional training helps (and sometimes complicates!) personal crisis response. Cynthia shares how she moved from “panic productivity” to clarity, how community and connection became lifelines, and why redefining success matters more than ever.
Listeners will learn about:
☕️ What job loss actually feels like in today’s volatile market
☕️ How AI and industry-wide shifts are reshaping career stability and opportunity
☕️ What it means to “Reflect, Reset, and Reimagine”
☕️ Why connection, community, and asking for help are essential
If you’re experiencing job loss, career change, burnout, or uncertainty — or if you support others who are — this episode offers clarity, validation, and a way forward. It’s a conversation about redefining success and rediscovering who you are when everything changes.
About Cynthia
Cynthia Gutierrez-White is a seasoned communications strategist and storyteller who has spent more than two decades helping organizations navigate complex moments and connect with their audiences in meaningful ways. Whether leading media relations during national disasters or shaping public messaging at major health-care systems, she has built a career at the intersection of service, strategy, and heart.
Most recently, she served as senior director of corporate communications at GTB Solutions, where she led national storytelling efforts around disaster preparedness and community resilience. Before that, she held senior roles at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross, where she also served as a national spokesperson.
Throughout her career, she has appeared in numerous local, national, and international media outlets—including CNN, BBC, Univision, EFE, and The New York Times—to deliver critical updates in both English and Spanish. She has also media trained leaders and spokespeople for interviews with media outlets including Good Morning America, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and top-tier outlets in every major US market.
Over the years, she’s collaborated with public figures ranging from Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Pitbull—but the only time she was truly starstruck and geeked out was when Darth Vader walked through the doors of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital to visit the patients.
Cynthia holds a BS in communications from Appalachian State University and an MS in management from St. Thomas University. Originally from South Florida, she traded Colombian empanadas for Maryland crab cakes—though she’ll happily eat both if given the chance.
She lives with her tech-loving husband, their two incredible kids, and a small zoo including dogs, parrots, and a super chill cat and fish. Cynthia is most herself when she’s cheering from the sidelines at her son’s soccer games, singing loudly in the car with her daughter, training for a Spartan race, or enjoying a cup of matcha.
This is her first book—but probably not her last.