✊🏾 When They Laid Us Off, I Built Something Better

Tanarah J
Sep 11
3 min read

Updated: Nov 10

The Personal Truth Behind the Birth of RISE

I was offended. I was hurt. I was tired of pretending I wasn’t.

After pouring years of my life into supporting workplace culture, advocating for equity, and making space for the very people corporations claimed to care about—I was laid off. Not just me—we were laid off. Thousands of us. Quietly. Strategically. Systemically.

And when I heard what some people had to say about Black women after the layoffs—when I saw how easily discarded our voices, our roles, and our contributions became—it wasn’t just disappointing.

It was infuriating.

I kept hearing:

“They’re cutting DEI across the board. ”Black women were disproportionately affected. ”It’s just business.”

But it wasn’t “just business. "It was a cultural erasure.

🎯 So I Asked Myself: Now What?

When the door closed on my DEI career, I didn’t rush to knock on another. I sat in the discomfort. I let the frustration do what it needed to do. And then… I turned it into fire.

Because if the world no longer had space for the very work I was born to do—then I’d build a space that did.

💻 And That’s How RISE Was Born

RISE isn’t a rebound. It’s a revolution. It’s not about getting “back” to work. It’s about moving forward with purpose.

RISE4US.com was born from that moment—the moment I realized we didn’t need to beg for belonging or wait for inclusion. We could build our own infrastructure. Our own visibility. Our own closed-loop economy.

A place where:

🛍️ We shop each other’s strengths.
💼 We hire from within.
🧠 We brag boldly about our brilliance.
🔁 We circulate opportunity, capital, and confidence.

RISE is for every woman who’s been laid off, silenced, underpaid, or made to feel like her presence was a “diversity box. ”Here, your presence is the foundation.

💬 Why We Still Brag

I created the Brag Wall not to feed egos—but to heal what was stripped from us:✨ Recognition.✨ Visibility.✨ Respect.

We deserve more than one line on a résumé. We deserve a living digital space that shows the world exactly what we bring to the table—and how we built the damn table, too.

🔖 Why the Hashtag Matters: #DEILayoff2025

This isn’t just a brand. It’s a timestamp in our history.

#DEILayoff2025 isn’t just a campaign hashtag—it’s our digital receipt. Proof that we were there, we were impacted, and we didn’t fold. We pivoted. We reclaimed our voice. And we built something that can’t be defunded, reorganized, or erased.

💡 What’s Next

RISE4US isn’t just for me. It’s for:

The sister who started freelancing after her DEI job vanished.
The creator who launched a product line with nothing but belief.
The consultant who was told “we’re going in a different direction”—but still showed up to make a difference.

We’re not waiting on rescue. We’re building our own resilient, imaginative, Black-woman-powered economy.

🙌🏾 Join the Movement

This is your invitation.

Whether you were laid off recently, pivoting into something new, or you’ve been waiting for someone to say “You’re not alone”...

RISE4US.com was built for you.

Create your Brag Profile.
Shop from within the circle.
Post a job.
Offer your services.
Or simply show up to remind yourself what you’re made of.

We’re not climbing back into broken systems. We’re building a better one together.

So go ahead…Brag a little. Rise a lot.

📍 Written by Tanarah J, Founder of RISE

✊🏾 Hashtag: #DEILayoff2025🌐 Platform: RISE4US.com