What do you do when your work ends up in a White House press briefing, your brand is at the center of a national boycott, and then you’re laid off in the first wave?In this episode of League of Laid Off Legends, Monk Inyang, co-founder & CEO of First Street Partnerships and President of the Montclair Board of Education, walks us through his journey from:Leading influencer & entertainment partnerships for Budweiser and Bud Light at Anheuser-BuschBeing laid off in the fallout of the Bud Light/Dylan Mulvaney controversyWrestling with identity, ambition, and “big brand” statusTo building an AI practice focused on practical, culturally relevant AI for Black and Brown communities and everyday workersIf you’ve been laid off from a big-name company, are watching AI reshape your industry, or feel like your career has drifted away from what really moves you, this conversation is a playbook, not a pity party.You’ll hear Monk talk about powerful themes: The day of the layoff, & how he realized he was “pushing a stone uphill” inside a system that wasn’t built for his kind of creativity, Why working with Black creatives (Issa Rae, Ryan Coogler and more) felt more powerful than any Super Bowl party, and How a single workshop with fashion designers flipped his path from “marketing consultant” to “AI for the culture”The mindset shift: forgiving yourself after a layoff, separating your worth from your title, and designing the life you actually wantHow to think about AI as your “highly competent intern” — and why reading about AI is useless unless you use itIf you’re a laid-off legend in the making, this is your reminder: The brand was never the magic. You were.Resources: Website: https://1ststreet.co/Monk's Books on Amazon: Nightmare Detective: The Skeleton King: https://a.co/d/9xoaYEGNightmare Detective: The Oracle's Blessing (Book II): https://a.co/d/h822bKs