Trinette Faint.
Courtesy of Trinette Faint
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Trinette Faint, a 54-year-old ex-Google employee turned actor, screenwriter, and entrepreneur who recently moved to Montpellier, France. It has been edited for length and clarity.I started out in production and as a personal assistant in the 1990s. I continued my career in 2011 as the US payroll manager, travel manager, and executive assistant to the CEO of Russell Reynolds Associates in New York. I went on to hold a similar role at Nike before working as a copywriter and editor for an Italian luxury skincare brand.My most recent corporate role was from August 2018 through November 2024 as an executive business partner at Google. I was also a writer, events manager, and PR coordinator.I was unexpectedly let go from Google in November 2024After my layoff, I had knee surgery in December. I spent that December and most of January 2025 recovering.From late January 2025 to now, I've been taking a creative gap year (and a half), which has involved writing, acting, filmmaking, and launching Chez Faint, my networking and retreat company, in addition to working as a contract field marketing manager for Udacity, which is part of Accenture.I earned just over $200,000 from Google when I left the company, including base salary and equity exercised at the time. Now, my income has been sporadic. I was definitely financially destabilized by the layoff, but I'm much more fulfilled than ever before. The trade-off has absolutely been worth it.I was traumatized, angry, and shocked by my layoffMy manager told me the layoff was performance-related, but I never felt that was true.
