For former Channel 7 reporter Grace Fitzgibbon, redundancy became a reset rather than a setback after the death of her brother reshaped her priorities and drew her back home to Newcastle.
The daughter of former Labor defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon has just taken on her "biggest and best job yet", raising her own daughter, six-month-old Frankie Jack.
The middle name is a heartfelt nod to her brother, "universally loved" Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon who died after a "two-million-to-one" parachute accident amid Australian Defence Force training in March 2024.
"Once we lost Jack, and then I fell pregnant, nothing shifts your priorities like grief," Ms Fitzgibbon said.
"I was immediately drawn to coming home. I left 15 years ago and I didn't know if that was going to be on the cards for me.
"I think if we didn't lose Jack, I'd still be chasing those career goals, but for me all that matters now is making memories with mum, dad and my wider family. That's the number one priority for me."
The 33-year-old moved back to Newcastle from Sydney with her partner when little Frankie was just two weeks old.
Ms Fitzgibbon said her parents were "over the moon" when she decided to return home.
For now, she has swapped deadlines and exclusives for a good bedtime story, but Ms Fitzgibbon says she is not "hanging up" her journalism boots.
"There's nothing like TV news," she said.
"No day is the same in that job."
Southern Cross Media said earlier this month that 250 to 300 jobs would be cut as part of a cost-reduction program aimed at saving $150 million a year.
Ms Fitzgibbon said the community needed journalism, but part of the problem was that people had changed the way they consumed news.
"It's heartbreaking for all of the journalists and people behind the scenes that are losing their jobs, because you don't do journalism for money, it's a passion," she said.
For the past year, Ms Fitzgibbon led Channel 7's The Bright Side, a positive news segment she describes as a career highlight.
"The stories I got to tell were just unmatched, and every single day was about positive stories, which can be few and far between in news," Ms Fitzgibbon said.
"I will definitely miss the people and the privilege of being able to tell people's stories, because I feel like I've been able to help and make a difference for people who wouldn't have had a voice."
Motherhood has shifted her priorities, and Ms Fitzgibbon says she finally understands what it means to feel like your heart is living outside your body.
"I was pretty naive, I knew it was going to be tough, but nothing prepares you for motherhood," Ms Fitzgibbon said.
"My focus is just on keeping this little baby healthy and happy. I already thought women were amazing, but I just have this newfound respect for mothers.
"It seems funny, I mean not many people think a redundancy is good news, but for me it really was because it just made that decision for us to stay here and be close to family."
In the months following her brother's tragic death, the support of her family, loved ones and the wider community has helped ease her grief.
For Ms Fitzgibbon, that grief put what is really important into perspective.
"When we lost him, it just felt like, you don't sweat the small stuff anymore," Ms Fitzgibbon said.
"It's bittersweet, Frankie will never get to meet her uncle, which is heartbreaking for all of us.
"Even though he's not physically with us, I want Frankie to know what he was about, what a cheeky little larrikin he was and how loved she is by him. I hope her middle name is a permanent reminder that she does have a protector, a guardian angel in heaven."
