This millennial started his own business after his job was canceled

Marker-Turner-Gilchrist took matters into his own hands and became an accidental entrepreneur after months of frustrated job hunting.

In the spring of 2022, the 35-year-old was looking for a job as a luxury fashion strategist and had a series of promising interviews with social commerce companies. However, a few days after receiving the job offer email in his inbox, the CEO calls and cancels the job offer. The company explained that it is primarily funded by cryptocurrency investors whose digital assets are losing value on a daily basis.

“I’ve heard stories of offers being rescinded,” Turner-Gilchrist told CNBC Make It in June, noting that background checks and professional references can go unseen. Did. “But it never happened to me [before].”

CNBC Make It spoke with Turner-Gilchrist about what he learned from his challenging job search and how he unexpectedly became his own boss.

Publishing the canceled offer on social media was met with an outpouring of encouragement, even leading to some job prospects. Turner-Gilchrist hired someone to revamp his resume and his LinkedIn page and set a goal of applying to 10 jobs a day. But after countless interviews and every conceivable hiring mishap — recruiters ghosted him, prospects cooled down, and when it got to the final stage, he was interviewing for the position he was interviewing for. was deprioritized — nothing materialized.

“I’ve never had an experience like this before, so this year has been one of finding creative ways to overcome challenges and maintain a positive spirit,” says Turner-Gilchrist.

After several exhausting months, Turner-Gilchrist decided to stop applying for jobs altogether.

The break came just in time. In August, with a clear head, I reunited with an old friend who runs a PR firm in Los Angeles. A friend had a fashion client who needed help with marketing and strategy. Turner-Gilchrist had exactly the right experience they were looking for.

It wasn’t the full-time job Turner-Gilchrist was looking for, but he had this thought in his mind.

He had never done consulting work before, but found that he really enjoyed it, especially in terms of being his own boss and being in control of his own time. was enough to give him the confidence to bet entirely on himself and start his own consulting firm.

As of September 1, Turner-Gilchrist launched Atelier Lenora, leveraging its global experience in the luxury, lifestyle and fashion sectors to support merchandising and product strategy, trend forecasting, creative direction, and more. We help our clients with

Starting his own company was never on his career vision board. “I never wanted to be an entrepreneur,” says Turner-Gilchrist. “There are a lot of fears and uncertainties in entrepreneurship, but I have been in an uncertain phase of my life over the past few months.”

Building his own client network has given Turner-Gilchrist more control over his career than ever before. “I always bet on other companies to determine the trajectory of my career,” he says. Now he is in full control.

A year ago, Turner-Gilchrist said his thoughts on luxury are closely tied to his work, which includes sports designer products and international travel. Now that his consulting income is more liquid, he’s cut those things out of his budget. But as his own boss Turner Gilchrist puts it, “Freedom is the new luxury.”

Luxurious choice and autonomy means you can work four days a week or take a break for health and wellness in the afternoon. It also means finding ways to support himself, whether he has a full-time job or not (he’s completely open, by the way), taking on more clients and hiring employees. Hiring means having the freedom to expand your business (a solid possibility).

“Luxury really means choice, freedom and time,” he says. “Last year my definition of living in luxury was different than it is today. Now it’s about having an agency.”