Dispatch: Martinez Woman Undaunted By Job Loss During Holidays

Update: Martinez Patch received this note from EcoloBlue CMO Tracy Mondella Dec. 16:

1) Jenny Starmack resigned from EcoloBlue

2) EcoloBlue has not suspended operations.

Martinez Patch regrets the error.

It’s exactly the kind of seasonal surprise you don’t want: last week, Martinez resident Jenny Starmack left the company she worked for nearly a year. 

“Ecoloblue is an awesome company,” Starmack said. “I love the company and I love the product. They make water from the humidity in the air. This is an amazing product the whole world needs right now – our drinking water is going downhill fast.”

So Starmack, the mother of two grown daughters, finds herself at the doorstep of the holidays without a regular job. She is doing odd jobs around town, reaching out to Facebook friends and her rather extensive network of Martinez friends and admirers. Starmack is the singer in the popular local band Garageland Rodeo.

“I planned to be in this job for the rest of my life,” she said Wednesday. “But life has a funny way of teasing you when you make plans.”

The work she’s doing now – cleaning houses, helping a guy out on his boat – is helping her get by, but Starmack is seeking more permanent work as a business office manager, a business consultant and/or a public speaker.

“I was business office manager for Sunrise Senior Living in Pleasant Hill,” she said, “but the mortgage crisis hit, and the development end of the business shut down.”

So Starmack has been hit hard twice in less than five years by the economic woes of the country. But despite that, she remains upbeat and positive.

“I’m hopeful,” she said. “I’ve been in this situation before. I’m feeling hopeful that I can spend some time looking for something that’s really right. Crying and feeling bitter is not going to help me. I believe in working and working hard.”

She doesn’t expect to get any serious job offers until the new year. Meanwhile, she and her singing partner Chris Bryant are doing more performances around town as “Ro-Duo.” And she’s planning on spending a very low key Christmas with her daughters.

“We’re going to lay low this year, and do a low-key gift exchange,” she said.

But from the clarity and determination that literally shine from her dark blue eyes, it’s clear that Starmack is not going to be deterred by this latest round of bad luck.

“I’ve got to have a reason to get out there and feel good about it,” she said. “And I do. Every single day.”