I woke up on my kitchen floor in the Philippines in 2015 after swallowing every pill I could find. They forced charcoal down my throat at the hospital. That's what they do when you try to kill yourself with pills. I survived. That wasn't the first time my brain tried to kill me. Just the most dramatic. I just wrote the whole story. From hearing voices as a kid and thinking it was normal, to quitting school at 15, to managing movie theaters at 18, to losing everything after 9/11, to moving to the Philippines, to the suicide attempt, to the 2022 heart attack, to sending out 450 job applications this year and getting zero offers. All of it. If you want to know how I went from three mental hospital stays and a suicide attempt to making $2,500-5,000/month from Medium and running multiple freelance contracts, it's all in there. Fair warning: it's raw. It's long. And there's no inspirational bullshit at the end where everything magically gets better. I still hear voices every day. I still take medication every day. I'm not cured. I'm just too stubborn to quit. https://jasonjamesweiland.medium.com/if-my-life-didnt-happen-to-me-i-never-would-have-believed-it-949c27118122?sk=e459d5456d39cf76dae1c70375f8498b Read it if you want. Don't if you don't. Either way, I'm still here.

We’re glad you’re here. This space is for creators 40+ who want to explore AI as a partner in writing, storytelling, and business. Take a moment to share: - Who you are - What you’re working on (big or small) - One way you’d like AI to support your creative work - share a picture of your workspace! No pressure—keep it short and simple. This is just a place to start the conversation. Looking forward to meeting you,Jason

I see a lot of you in here grinding through job applications. Tailoring resumes. Writing cover letters. Following up on interviews that go nowhere. And I get it. I've been there. Hell, I'm still there sometimes. But here's what I've been thinking about lately. What if we're asking the wrong question? We keep asking "How do I get hired?" when maybe we should be asking "How do I stop needing to get hired?" Nobody wants to hire people over 40. We all know this. The algorithms filter us out. The hiring managers see our experience as "overqualified." The salary expectations don't match their budgets. We can keep banging our heads against that wall. Or we can build our own door. I'm not talking about some massive startup with investors and employees. I'm talking about something that's yours. Freelancing. Consulting. Coaching. A service business. A digital product. Something you control. Because here's what I've learned after months of building my own thing while freelancing on the side: The traditional path is broken. But there are other paths. The data actually supports this. People are starting businesses in record numbers right now. Over 5 million new business applications in 2024. That's 50% more than in 2019. And here's the kicker: 64% of entrepreneurs in the US are over 40. We're not too old for this. We're actually in the sweet spot.Most entrepreneurs don't even launch their businesses until they're 42. But I'm not going to lie to you. It's scary as hell. I've failed at business before. Multiple times. And starting again at 57, broke, with decades of failure behind me? That takes everything I've got. But I've never been this far along. I've never had this much momentum. I've never felt this certain that I'm onto something. Here's what's different this time. I'm not choosing between a job and a business. I'm doing both. I'm taking freelance work to keep money coming in. And I'm building my own platforms, my own products, my own audience at the same time.

I’m not quite 40 yet, 39 currently, and I have certainly seen this major shift. It’s almost as if having more than 7 years experience on a resume is creating an impossible hurdle now. Despite any accolades or accomplishments. I’ve heard more, “you’re over qualified…” and “we’re looking for experience in ‘toasters’ do you have that?” And that’s if I hear anything at all. So, here’s my resume attached. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6410cc7a7b2f865e04a2ef0e/t/692df304070d421b4326fc2d/1764619012529/ChrisWojcicki-Resume.pdf Ive removed all design elements from it so it’s just a straight forward black and white resume. Of which I’ve also been told by many at this point, that this is the way to go. Curious about people’s thoughts, comments, and I’d be interested and happy to review anyone else’s that is willing to share.