I Sensed Economic Danger Before Anyone Else — This Is My Escape Plan
#07: How I'm Building a Recession-Proof Business After Corporate America Failed Me
Stop Trusting Your Employer — Start Trusting Your Instincts
I’ve always had a God-given superpower that allows me to sense threats before they happen.
In 2023, I was living in California with my wife, and I worked as a Senior Scientific Writer at Cutera, a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ. In my free time, I used to read books and analyze the major news happening in the world, and something seemed off to me. The economy is on the verge of an unprecedented crash, particularly in the USA, and it will ripple through all nations that rely on the petro-dollar.
I then read "The Fourth Turning" by a historian and economist who, based on historical trends, predicted that the USA had reached the final stage of its life cycle and that a crash was imminent before 2030.
I was worried, and I obsessed over it. It was everything I could think of. I reached out to the VP of my department and shared my concerns with him. I wanted to find a way to thrive within the company I’m with, and I sought someone who could help me articulate my voice to the board.
It seemed I wasn’t very convincing, so he told me, “There is no need to worry; the USA will never fall, and our company is doing great.” I didn’t buy into that. It’s not the first time I've dealt with someone who failed to see what I saw, but later, they know I was right, only when it’s too late.
A few months later, the stock price for Cutera fell from $50 to less than $10. A few dozen employees were laid off in the first wave, and then, by the end of the year, I was laid off as part of a second wave of layoffs. The VP moved to another company a few days later, and now the company is delisted from NASDAQ; it’s essentially like they went into bankruptcy.
Why I Converted All My Money to Gold — And It Saved My Family
When I was first laid off, I received some generous benefits, and the first thing I did was to convert all my earnings into gold ounces. Back then, it was $2,000 per ounce of Gold; today, it’s $3,300. It was a conscious decision because I knew that what hit Cutera was hitting the US economy. The dollar is not safe, and it’s not safe to keep my savings in the form of electronic money.
In 2019, millions of Lebanese citizens lost their lifelong savings after the economic crash hit. I know two of my friends who have lost more than $100K after spending decades saving the money. The banks were unable to return people's money because there was no liquidity; everything was digital, but nothing was physical.
What happened in Lebanon isn’t impossible to happen in the USA. In fact, two banks in California met the same fate in 2023, one of them was Silicon Valley. Hundreds of startups lost their funding.
Everything that happened in 2023 told me that I needed to leave the US, convert my dollars into Gold and start a new business.
Why Converting Dollars To Gold Increased My Wealth By 60% In One Year
Fast forward to today, the US dollar is weaker than ever versus Gold. Now, one ounce of Gold has gained more than 60% in value. What is happening now in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine is accelerating the decline. No one is safe.
I lost faith in the employment system after I started working in France. I joined Pasqal, the strongest quantum computing company in Europe in 2024, and less than four months later, I got laid off again.
You know the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
Shame on me for not starting my own business after my first layoff.
Shame on me because I didn’t trust myself enough to know that I could do it.
Shame on me because I didn’t see the value in what I was doing; instead, I was serving a company rather than serving the people and honoring my time and self-worth.
Shame on me because I had to wait for a second layoff.
I Left The Corporate World With A Newborn Baby — Here's My Survival Plan
I made a brave decision. I decided to start writing on Substack, stop applying for more jobs, and cease seeking HR’s approval. It was risky; I now have a baby for whom I’m responsible, a house for which I need to pay rent, and mental health that I need to care for.
It’s not easy to switch your identity; I was a scientist and a scientific writer. I worked 20 years to earn those titles.
It’s not easy to accept that you shouldn’t rely on a monthly paycheck.
It’s not easy to believe that you will have the faith to persevere and not get bored, dropping this project a few days after seeing no engagement.
It’s not easy to believe that with my Attention Deficit Disorder or a Scanner mindset, I’ll be able to stay consistent and not switch to 100 more exciting other projects I find along the way.
It’s not easy to cross the abyss, but two things helped:
1- The Secret To Financial Freedom Is Not Having A Job — It's Having Faith
I had faith in God that where there is a will, there is a way.
I decided to create a successful business model on Substack that can help me navigate our path to financial freedom. It’s not an easy task for someone who has never built a business before. I don’t even like sales and I don’t enjoy convincing people to pay me. So, how can I establish a business model? That didn’t matter. What mattered was that I just wanted to show up in public and share my journey with others, telling them about what I was learning along the way. This determination is, at its core, a spiritual one. No one can cross this abyss without profound faith in God and in themselves.
2- The Fourth Turning Was Right — How I'm Preparing For America's Collapse
The second was the investment I made in gold. We have a saying in Arabic that says, “Save your bright dime for a dark day.” And here I am, living unemployed with no mainstream income, something people would usually consider a “dark day,” and now I’m using my bright gold to sustain my lifestyle. Gold has helped me cross the abyss. The determination that I can move forward with this Substack business is knowing that I have enough until my business model is established. The determination here is tangible in essence.
The 1 Business Model That Will Survive The Coming Economic Crash
In short, I believe that I have taken the best route anyone can take in 2025 to prepare for the upcoming economic crash, which is expected to begin at the start of 2030 or possibly earlier.
Why Legacy Branding Is The Only Business That AI Can't Replace
In an era where AI is taking a significant chunk of the job market, and as this trend is expected to grow exponentially, it becomes evident that the only clever thing any person can do is to stand out with a business model that helps them become irreplaceable.
Personal branding, and specifically Legacy Branding, is the way there.
Legacy Branding is all about creativity and philanthropy. These two things are at the core of what AI can’t do to people.
AI isn’t creative. AI is simply a parrot that repeats what it finds on the internet. It averages the voice of people into a diplomatic soulless chunk of words. You are creative, and you can bring in original ideas. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. The idea that no idea is original is false.
Original ideas happen with creativity, and legacy branding is all about that.AI can never invest. AI doesn’t own anything. While you, as a person, can offer value to others because you have money. You are richer than AI.
And that’s how Legacy Branding works; it’s all about reinvesting in the community. It’s about serving and investing.
When you gather a group of people around you and then help those who are getting started with value (advice + investment), you are doing something AI can’t replace, and you become irreplaceable.
This is the business model I’m creating; it's a new breed of personal branding. I’m here to coin the art & science of it. I’m still in the beginning, but I know I’m going to build that model.
What does this mean for you?
In short, if you want to have a plan B to survive the next few years, it’s time to start building your Legacy Brand. Suppose you have enough savings to sustain yourself for a year or two. You can quit your job and live your life as a full-time writer.
Or, if you’re not ready yet, start expressing yourself on Substack and build thought leadership. In due time, you’ll find yourself ready to cross the abyss and live life however you want.
How do you know if this model is for you?
If you are willing to:
Write to self-express and not to impress.
Show up consistently, even if once a week.
Share your transformational story and teach it to people while you ask nothing in return
Show up authentically and not fake your personality to the world.
Do it to serve people and God.
Recycle a portion of your revenue to support your loyal followers.
If you want to leave a legacy, let your name be remembered for generations. Then, Legacy Branding is for you, and Legendpreneurship is your lifestyle.