From Layoff to Two Job Offers in One Day: How Her Allies’ Mentorship Helped Octary Azis Land Her Dream Role
"I really enjoy talking with people in the break room, getting to know each other, making LinkedIn friends, and expanding my professional network — it's hard to expand that," she says. "That is really one of the things I love about Her Allies. I met wonderful women."
When Octary Azis was laid off from her contract role at Meta in December 2025, she was, in her own words, "at the lowest point in my life."
She wasn't new to layoffs. She'd already weathered one in 2021, during the post-pandemic recession, at a marketing startup. This time felt different.
"I mass-applied to hundreds of jobs," she recalls.
Between a career transition, a non-linear resume, and a job market she describes as brutally competitive, the odds felt stacked against her.
One recruiter told her plainly:
"There are so many senior people who are desperate to get lower-than-usual positions just to get anything, and they are taking mid-level roles."
That's when a friend introduced her to Her Allies.
A Career Built on Reinvention
Octary's path to tech wasn't conventional. She holds a BA and a Master's in Law and worked as a lawyer before relocating to the United States 13 years ago. Rather than repeat law school in a new country while adjusting to a new culture and a new role as a wife and mother, she took a 5-year career break, during which she worked at a children's library.
When she was ready to return to the corporate workforce, she deliberately chose a path that would let her build something of her own: project management and data analytics.
"I wanted a role where I could be myself and do things on my own and still have responsibilities as a mom to two young daughters," she says.
From there, she moved into project management on a marketing team, first at a startup, then in a contract role at Meta before both roles were eliminated in layoffs.
"At that time I felt I had tried everything and tried big tech, and it kept happening again and again," she says of the repeated setbacks. "It seemed like it just kept happening."
It was demoralizing, to say the least, for her. She was unsure where to go.
Finding Direction Through Weekly Mentorship
Through her friend, Octary connected with Her Allies. She didn’t have many expectations for the program and initially couldn’t understand why a team of volunteers would help, looking for nothing in return. She was pleasantly surprised to find an empowering community. She was matched with a mentor, Lisa Flom, whose approach stood out immediately. Rather than pushing Octary toward any open role, Lisa focused on something more fundamental first.
"For her, it is really important to find out what my calling is instead of just applying to random jobs," Octary explains.
Together, they worked through to understand what Octary actually wanted, landing on marketing operations, a natural extension of her project management background but with deeper exposure to campaigns, paid ads, and multi-channel marketing.
That clarity reshaped her entire job search.
While Her Allies' standard mentorship model recommends an hour-long coffee chat once a month, Octary and Lisa met far more often.
"We met weekly for 20-30 minutes, so we could do a weekly check-in on the process and what is happening."
Lisa reviewed and restructured Octary's resume, making it shorter and more ATS-friendly, and coached her through every stage of the subsequent interview process.
Two Offers, One Tuesday
The new resume led to an interview at what would become Octary's current company. It was a multi-round process, and Lisa was there for every step.
"Every round I had those check-ins, and I practiced many times, and with that I kept going to the next round and the next round," Octary says.
Then something unexpected happened: a recruiter reached out about a role at Apple, running in parallel with her existing process.
"I usually tell people, 'I'm at the last stage in another process,' but Lisa coached me to proceed with both, highlighting that you don't know until you have a written offer if you will get the job, so you should always keep going, Lisa advised," Octary says.
For the first time, Octary found herself managing two live interview processes at once.
The result: two offers on the same day.
"I still remember it was a Tuesday morning I got an offer from my current company, TDK, and then at 3 pm I got an offer from Apple."
With two offers in hand, Lisa helped her think through which to choose and how to use each to negotiate a stronger package.
"She helped me draft negotiation techniques for the best possible compensation," Octary says. "It really feels that she is really excited for me, almost like she is getting the job. She walked me through all the processes."
More Than a Job Search: A Community
Beyond one-on-one mentorship, Octary points to Her Allies' broader community as one of the most valuable parts of her experience: the weekly webinars, the recordings she caught up on when scheduling didn't align, and especially the informal networking.
"I really enjoy talking with people in the break room, getting to know each other and making LinkedIn friends and expanding my professional network — it's hard to expand that," she says. "That is really one of the things I love about Her Allies. I met wonderful women."
She's already looking to give back:
"I would definitely volunteer in the future. I really love the vibes, and I enjoy hearing the talks in the break rooms and making friends."
Why Octary's Story Matters for Anyone Facing a Layoff
Octary's experience reflects a pattern many professionals recognize after a layoff: repeated rejection, an oversaturated job market, and the disorienting task of translating a non-linear career into a compelling narrative.
What changed her trajectory wasn't just a better resume; it was consistent, structured accountability and a mentor invested in her success as if it were her own.
For anyone navigating a layoff, a career pivot, or a return to work after time away, Octary's story is a reminder that the right support system, not just more applications, can be the difference-maker.
Interested in mentorship like Octary's? Learn more about how Her Allies pairs women out of work with professionals as mentors for weekly, personalized career support.