Respiris

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It is Day 199 with our founder living with pancreatic cancer. Today, he stood next to a payphone that was probably invented sometime in the 1970s and became a hot commodity in the 1980s. That payphone once represented connection. It was how families stayed connected before smartphones, FaceTime, AI, DMs, and constant digital connectivity changed communication forever. It was how children called parents for rides home, how friends connected privately, and how communities stayed connected before everything became instant. That payphone became a reminder of how much change humanity has already survived. Society moved from typewriters to computers, from desktops to laptops, from flip phones to smartphones, and from isolated devices to ecosystems connected through tablets, cloud platforms, and artificial intelligence. Every generation experiences moments that feel overwhelming until eventually those moments become normal. Cancer has forced our founder to think deeply about change. This journey started in an emergency room after severe pain disrupted everyday life and initially resulted in a diagnosis of pancreatitis. Today, he is receiving care through City of Hope while exploring clinical trials, treatment paths, research, technology, and opportunities that could extend and improve his life. One lesson emerging through this experience is that people cannot lean away from change. They have to lean into it while also taking others with them. That is partly why these reflections are being shared publicly. At Respiris, we are documenting what it looks like to fight pancreatic cancer differently through deep empathy, AI, and community, which are also the core values upon which our company was built. This morning was difficult. Our founder spent 45 minutes alone inside an MRI machine while navigating claustrophobia, fear, and the emotional weight of cancer. When the machine closes around you, your thoughts become louder than the scanner itself, and fear can easily take control if you allow it to. During those 45 minutes, one realization became clear. The battle against cancer is not only physical. The battle is deeply mental and emotional. He redirected his thoughts toward gratitude, Iris, purpose, and the future he hopes to create. He also thought about people privately carrying pain, including cancer, job loss, divorce, depression, parenting struggles, loneliness, financial pressure, and fear of the unknown. Many people are sitting inside some version of an emotional MRI machine right now. Life squeezes all of us at different moments, and what matters is learning how to breathe through pressure instead of surrendering to it. That payphone served as a reminder that change always feels disruptive. Then one day, humanity adapts. Even now, we still believe we can redesign how people support one another through the hardest transitions in life through conversation, community, deep empathy, and human connection. Scarf by 🏡 Kim

Our founder, Angel Cruzado, often shares that one of the biggest mistakes people make during career transitions is treating work like it exists independently from the rest of their life. When coaching individuals through transition, Angel frequently sees people focus almost exclusively on resumes, LinkedIn profiles, interview preparation, compensation, or job titles without triangulating three critically important parts of their life: family and friends, personal interests, and career. Most individuals unintentionally optimize for only one corner of the triangle, and that approach often creates short-term movement but long-term dissatisfaction. The situation becomes even more emotionally complicated after someone experiences job loss trauma. Job loss trauma changes how people think, trust, interview, communicate, and emotionally process professional risk. Many individuals quietly experience grief, shame, fear, financial stress, anxiety, sleep disruption, identity loss, or isolation after losing a role. Some people lose much more than a paycheck during a transition. They lose routine, confidence, community, healthcare, professional identity, and belief in themselves despite years or decades of meaningful contributions. Angel has coached individuals who appeared composed externally while internally carrying enormous fear about supporting children, paying rent, caring for aging parents, maintaining immigration status, protecting marriages, or simply surviving another month emotionally and financially. That reality explains why transitions impact much more than employment status alone. Transitions impact family dynamics, parenting, health, identity, confidence, finances, and a person’s relationship with themselves. On Mother’s Day, Angel believes it is especially important to recognize how many career transitions are quietly carried by mothers, grandmothers, spouses, co-parents, daughters, and strong women who provide emotional stability during periods of uncertainty. Many individuals successfully rebuild their lives because a mother answered the phone late at night, listened without judgment, encouraged them to keep going, helped with childcare, provided temporary housing, cooked meals, prayed for them, or reminded them that one painful chapter does not define an entire life. Sometimes a mother’s belief becomes the bridge between despair and hope. Sometimes a mother becomes the reason someone keeps applying, interviewing, networking, and moving forward after rejection, layoffs, or emotional exhaustion. Some of the most successful transitions Angel has witnessed occurred because individuals aligned their career with the people, values, and experiences that mattered most to them personally. Career strategy becomes significantly more powerful when life strategy is also clear. Happy Mom’s Day!

Yesterday, our founder, Angel Cruzado, spent nearly two hours speaking with a candidate who was psychologically in transition. Initially, the conversation started as what appeared to be a potential business development opportunity. Instead, it became something much more human. Angel provided a free coaching session because, at the core of Respiris, there has always been a belief that transitions are rarely only about work. Over the course of his career, Angel has helped thousands of people navigate transition by asking thoughtful questions, unpacking family and workplace dynamics, and listening carefully to the parts of a person’s story that often exist below conscious awareness. Those experiences quietly shape confidence, identity, leadership, communication, relationships, and self-worth. They influence how people show up at work, how they show up at home, and ultimately how they show up for themselves. Even a simple question like, “Where do you live?” can reveal more than most people expect. A commute can reveal exhaustion. A neighborhood can reveal aspiration, reinvention, financial pressure, divorce, loneliness, caregiving responsibilities, or hope. A home can reveal whether someone feels emotionally safe or emotionally stuck. This understanding is part of how Respiris was founded. Not through a traditional business plan alone, but through years of conversations with human beings navigating uncertainty, grief, career disruption, burnout, reinvention, and personal transition. Respiris was built on the belief that people deserve support that goes deeper than resume edits and interview preparation. People deserve to feel seen, heard, and reinspired during some of the hardest moments of their lives. Sometimes the most important conversations begin the moment we stop trying to sell something and start trying to understand someone.

People often ask how Respiris got founded. The honest answer is that Respiris was not created in a boardroom. Respiris was created through transition, uncertainty, pain, empathy, and lived experience. Respiris was built after years of working across Human Resources, Recruiting, and leadership roles inside startups, venture-backed companies, private equity-backed companies, and large organizations. Through those experiences, one reality became increasingly clear. Companies invested enormous amounts of time and money into onboarding employees, developing employees, engaging employees, and retaining employees. Yet when employees lost their jobs, many organizations unintentionally disappeared during one of the most emotionally difficult moments of a person’s professional life. Respiris witnessed talented people lose confidence almost overnight after job loss. Parents struggled to explain uncertainty to their children. Professionals questioned their identity, value, future, and purpose. HR leaders quietly carried enormous emotional weight while trying to support impacted employees with limited tools, limited time, and limited resources. At the same time, Respiris was also shaped by personal transition. The company was built during periods of uncertainty, rebuilding, single parenthood, emotional exhaustion, and reflection around what human beings actually need during difficult moments in life. During one particularly rough day after work, a conversation occurred that would eventually shape the company forever. The founder attempted to explain the desire to inspire people through difficult transitions. His daughter, Iris, listened carefully and responded with a simple but powerful observation. “You are not inspiring people. You are reinspiring them.” That single word changed everything. Reinspire. Because many people do not need inspiration for the first time. Many people simply need help believing in themselves again after life, work, layoffs, illness, divorce, grief, financial pressure, or uncertainty knocked them down. That moment helped shape the foundation of Respiris. Eventually, the question stopped being how companies manage transitions. The question became how transitions could reinspire people instead. Respiris was founded on the belief that the last mile of the employee lifecycle matters just as much as the first mile. Transitions deserve deep empathy, community, structure, coaching, and now artificial intelligence to help people move forward with dignity. What started as conversations turned into coaching. Coaching turned into community. Community turned into partnerships. Partnerships turned into testimonials, referrals, events, and a growing movement of people who believe work transitions can be handled differently. Today, Respiris continues to grow because human beings need human connection. A few words from Iris: https://lnkd.in/ghK8TNn6

An Open Letter and Update from Respiris To the Respiris Community, Over the past several months, many of you have learned that our founder, Angel Cruzado, is navigating one of the most difficult chapters of his life. Angel has pancreatic cancer. Like many people facing a life-changing diagnosis, Angel initially tried to carry the weight privately while continuing to lead, parent, build Respiris, support others, and move forward. For a while, this battle remained deeply personal. Angel quietly carried the emotional, financial, and physical weight while bootstrapping Respiris, navigating life as a single parent, undergoing treatment, and researching clinical trials, hospitals, and therapies that could improve his life. Friends, colleagues, and community members eventually reminded him that this was not something he needed to carry alone. Cancer changes a person’s relationship with time, energy, priorities, work, family, and even silence. It forces people to confront what matters most while still functioning in a world that keeps moving at full speed. For Angel, three priorities became clear. First, his health. Second, being a Dad to Iris. Third, continuing to build Respiris into a company that re-inspires transitions for others during uncertain and overwhelming moments. Respiris was built from lived experience and around the belief that career transitions deserve deep empathy, community, honesty, and support without judgment. Now, Angel is living inside one of the biggest transitions of his own life. Over the coming months, Angel will begin sharing daily updates on Respiris.com. Some updates will focus on treatment, rebuilding strength, and uncertainty. Others will focus on leadership, fatherhood, emotional resilience, community, and continuing to show up when life becomes extraordinarily difficult. These updates are not about sympathy. They are about honesty, visibility, accountability, and community for people navigating difficult transitions in life, health, work, and family. Too many people suffer quietly. Too many people feel isolated while trying to remain strong for everyone around them. Some days these posts may be hopeful. Some days they may be exhausted. Some days they may simply be honest. But they will be real. Respiris remains fully operational, growing, and deeply committed to supporting organizations and impacted employees through transitions with dignity, empathy, and humanity. To every client, partner, founder, HR leader, coach, family member, friend, physician, nurse, and community member who has supported Angel and Respiris during this chapter, thank you. Thank you for the grace when his energy was limited. Thank you for the encouragement when the days became heavy. Thank you for reminding him and Iris that community matters. For those who would like to support Angel directly, we will provide the GoFundMe link in the comments. Tomorrow, he will post again. With gratitude, The Respiris Team

What an amazing turnout!

The past couple of months, our Founder has been a little lost. He thought he could scale outreach with AI, only to realize he was becoming "that guy." The one who spammed people and lost his authentic voice via email. He was focused on the grind and lost sight of the humanity. This came to a head while recruiting for a client as a fractional HR resource. He saw all the spam applications and how they all looked exactly the same. They were empty. It was hard to find a candidate's authentic voice. That’s when it hit Angel: 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. He was trying to compete with industry giants who have been in this business for decades, and his desperate shortcuts only made me look less viable. The only meetings that have ever led to anything meaningful weren't from a sales sequence; they came from genuine relationships and authentic conversations. So, he has asked us to pull back from all the spammy AI platforms. This is his mom and him, going for a walk in Sudbury, MA. She’s always been his compass. As a first-generation graduate, he owes so much to her and the foundation she built for our family. She taught me that true success isn't about shortcuts; it's about the purposeful journey and the relationships he has built along the way. That’s the reset he needed. His journey as a founder isn't just about building a company from scratch after working in VC-backed and public companies. It’s about building something authentic. It's a returning to his roots; to the values of hard work, genuine connection, and humility. His Reset: People Over Platforms He is choosing relationships over spam. Voice over noise. And showing up consistently, because that’s where reinspiration happens. 📍 Two short videos a week 📍 A daily, brief post 📍 A podcast about transitions; both the positive ones (when we resign, move on, grow) and the painful ones (when our jobs are eliminated). Transitions are where humanity shows up most. And AI should support that humanity, not replace it.

Who in your company in HR needs to be in the room where it happens on October 15 in Santa Monica? 4D Executive Search and Respiris are thrilled to host an AI Future of Work Gathering as part of #LATechWeek designed for CHROs, Heads of People, and HR Leaders who want to shape the future, not just watch it unfold. We’ll gather at Santa Monica Playhouse for an intimate, 80-person session exploring: 📍 How HR can take its rightful seat at the table 📍 What it means to be AI-fluent while staying human-first 📍 How to lead teams through transition with clarity and empathy Our stage will feature leaders including: DJ Norman (PayPal), Ian Maron-Kolitch Apex - Spacecraft Manufacturing, Tiffany Hindman (ServiceNow), Wade A. McNair (Tricon Residential), and Scott Domann (Fruitist) Then we’ll take the conversation to the streets with a food + drink pub crawl through Silicon Beach because the best ideas often happen after the panel ends. Attendees include: Ana Flor (ATTOM), Anjelica Garcia (Red Bull), Anie Y. (Scopely), Andii Lee (Axle Health), Corinne Prudhomme, SPHR (HR Various), Jason Yeh (Adamant) Julian Chaparro (Groupe SEB), Lina Alcala (Tinder), Lisa Burelli (Hudson Pacific Properties), Patti Mancini (Zest AI), Paula Tett, (Fuel Cycle), Pooja Dalal (Fox Corporation), Susan Miller, (Consultant), Tom Kondo, MHRM (Global Critical Logistics) 🎟 Only 58 of 80 seats left. Request your invite here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/gtZZKBbv Big thanks to Sebastian Jacobs at One Medical for continuing to sponsor us. We have a few sponsorship opportunities. Details about sponsorship here: https://lnkd.in/gpjQHGBz Let’s make sure no CHRO, Head of People or HR Leader in LA is not left behind. Please share the TECH WEEK by a16z schedule with your teams and company to encourage experiential learning: https://lnkd.in/gC3YUWHu #LATechWeek #FutureOfWork #HRLeadership #AI cc: Katia Ameri | Rose Johnson

🌹 A Rose for Gratitude 🌹 On Sunday, our founder prepares for the week ahead. Sometimes that means carrying stress. Other times, it’s carrying hope. This evening, he is carrying gratitude. His perspective... When your job is eliminated, it’s okay to feel hurt. Job loss often brings real trauma; the sudden stop, the loss of identity, the quiet questions about “what’s next?” Too often, we hold that pain alone while our networks sit dormant. At Respiris, when we work with clients who have been impacted, it’s important to hold the container; a safe space that supports them through the uncertainty of transition. Gratitude is the starting point. Gratitude for the work completed, the lessons learned, the colleagues who shaped us, and even for the company that let us go. When gratitude is paired with our Career Prayer™ framework, something powerful happens: dormant social networks come alive. Gratitude softens the ask. Career Prayer™ gives language to purpose. And together, they touch the hearts of friends, family, and colleagues who are then more willing to step forward, extend their networks, and support you in your transition. Gratitude doesn’t erase the pain. But it opens the path. It’s the rose we place on the past so the future has room to bloom. 🌹 Here’s to gratitude, healing, and the week ahead.