Job loss leads to second career for Ferndale consultant

When you've been unemployed for any length of time, getting that call for a second interview with a major corporation can be unnerving.
    Now think about facing the interview just a week after major surgery.
    Janine Krasicky took that challenge in stride, as she has several job losses, a herniated disc in her neck, a car accident and a couple of stress fractures - all over the past few years.
    And then there was the cancer.
    "At the time it happened, I don't know if I realized how big an impact it had," said Krasicky, who has found security and peace in owning J9 Media Solutions, a consulting firm. "I've always been an activity-oriented person."
    That last bit, there's an understatement. Krasicky has barreled into life at full speed since deciding to major in public relations at Wayne State University. As the economy pitched and rolled, she found herself jumping from one job to another, sometimes moving for a better position, sometimes laid off when money got tight.
    After working for Senate Republicans in Lansing, for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers - where she led a nation-wide media campaign - and TRW, she landed a communications position at Fanuc Robotics America, where she brought a better understanding about robotics to the outside world.
    Then the axe fell again, in November of 2001.
    "Then is when I first thought about starting a business," Krasicky said.
    Feeling a wall of personal resistance, she landed another job in PR, only to be laid off once again a year later. This time, her employer took a moment to sit down and offer her some encouragement. It seemed to make a world of difference in how she approached what would be her last bout with unemployment.
    "Instead of getting upset, that night I went to a networking event at the Auto Show," Krasicky said. "When I talked to people, I told them I might be coming up on a transition. I started full force networking with people."
    She joined networking groups, including the Women's Economic Club, which she'd always wanted to do, as well as a friend's "Between Successes" coffee group and a group at her church. She was the one among all of those people who went to the greatest number of interviews.
    "I was all over the place. I was up at 6:30 and kept
going until late at night," Krasicky said. "I believe
I'm in charge of my destiny. Nobody does it for you."
    Nobody goes through cancer treatment for you, either.
    About two years ago, around Christmas time, Krasicky's skin started itching. Something wasn't right, and with a family history of thyroid problems, she asked her doctor to perform an ultrasound.
    "Two weeks later, I was going in for a biopsy, which I never would have expected," she said.
   What doctors biopsied appeared to be very large, and they decided to take it out - an operation that proved 100 percent successful. For the next six weeks, Krasicky struggled with extreme fatigue, then she started taking medication she'll use to regulate her metabolism for the rest of her life.
    But nothing slowed her down.
    One week after surgery, she tackled a job interview. Two weeks after that, she walked miles in an MS Walk, to raise funds for people with multiple sclerosis. Her doctor was stunned, and Krasicky began to realize she might be overdoing it.
    She also realized she might be overdoing her job search as well.
    A book called God Winks crossed her path around that time. The concept, Krasicky said, wraps around a
single question: If you were God, wouldn't you wink to let somebody know they're on the right path?
    Krasicky realized she had already made significant progress toward building a consulting business. Enough contract work had come her way so that she was never in dire financial straits - not once in all the time she'd been unemployed, even when she was sick.
    "I knew if I was going to do this, I needed to decide, be strong and confident and trust it would be okay," said Krasicky, who lives in and works in Ferndale.
    With a strong client base, she's now looking at expanding into the non-profit world, providing consulting for events, media relations and fund-raising. She'd like to see that part of the business grow more and to maintain a good reputation, although it's hard to predict how that success will happen.
    "I just know I'm happier than I've ever been," Krasicky said. "I went on vacation in April...and when I got back, I realized it was the best vacation I'd ever had, because I didn't come home to a feeling of dread about having to go back to work."
    "It's really liberating to like what you do," she added.

--Joni Hubred-Golden