Quitting My Corporate Job (with no plan) Was the Best Decision I Ever Made — 2.5 years in
What I learned and why I’d do it all over again today.
If the 22-year-old version of me was reading this headline (or subtitle), let alone living my life, she would be in complete and utter shock.
Here is probably the series of questions that would run through her burnt-out, naive, yet hopeful brain:
- Why so confident..it sounds a lot like you failed at your dream?!
- How the heck do we make money now?
- What did everyone say?
- What (the fuck) are you going to do next?!
- Wait…lowkey I’m interested…why do I do that?
It’s okay because, rightfully so, these are all still valid questions I find myself asking today. As a two-time job quitter now (as of 3 months ago), I notice even though I’ve overcome the challenge before, the doubts and worries still come around like clockwork.
But this time, I have a plethora of experience to answer all those questions and negate the limiting beliefs without being a fortune-teller.
That’s because quitting my first and only corporate job at the time with just $6K to my name, tons of imposter syndrome, and even more monthly expenses (while not only surviving but thriving), taught me the most invaluable skill that most jobs can’t.
It taught me to trust myself. It gave me a level of confidence, I feel, you can only get from flight-or-fight situations or something scary enough to evoke your primal instinct to survive.
Life Before Quitting
Before 2020, I was sucked fully into the “American dream”. I got a “practical” degree in Supply Chain Management with a double major in Marketing (because I was too much of a pussy to just major in it alone, even though I ADORED it). I did all the clubs and even worked for my campus’s events and activities center for all 4 years.
All in my senior year, I was an Amazon Prime Student ambassador, worked 3 jobs, made Magna Cum Laude, and landed a corporate internship at a global company in Sourcing.
I could finally leave the childishness and play structure of school (so I thought) and work at a real business with real adults. It was everything.
Everything but me.
Good thing I was blinded and drunk off of the fancy Starbucks cafe, the cool campus, team happy hours in the posh town centers, the novelty of different co-workers, and the intriguing, yet uncomfortable bureaucracy and politics of corporate.
For starters, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was an analyst that somehow struggled with basic arithmetic and the concept of photosynthesis. Yet, somehow I worked my way to being a consultant who was coding in SQL?!
Yeah, I know.
The Beginning of the End
Unironically, I began to resent showing and telling when I had no clue what I was talking about, working until midnight on projects I didn’t care about, and feeling like I had two personalities (one for work, and one for home).
By COVID March 2020, I turned into a shell of myself. I was triggered by anything related to work, I had more meetings than I could count, and I lived for vacations, concerts, and the weekend. It’s almost like remote work forced the “fake” out of me.
I couldn’t fake how much I hated the work now that there were no water cooler chats and team lunches.
Creating became my outlet. On YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok, or literally anywhere I could find. It was then that my passion for social media and marketing became too obvious to ignore.
The Turning Point: Death by Values
Conveniently enough, in March 2020, I organized a quarterly leadership event with other “rising stars” where our HR team conducted a values exercise for us.
Everyone went around the table describing their very serious “dignity”, “respect”, and “competency” type values, where I was the only person who uttered words like “creativity”, “fun”, and “authenticity”.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know I was in the wrong place.
In October of 2020, after several attempts at staying at my company to “pay down more of my student loans” or “give it one more year”, I quit without a plan.
And if I was being honest, I quit with a hidden intention of not just returning to my company, but to corporate, ever again.
Life After Quitting
“But you didn’t have a job lined up?!”
I know, everyone at my company was shocked and continued to remind me how much of a mistake this was, especially in the middle of a pandemic.
Little did they know the great resignation was coming (lol).
No, I didn’t, and nor did I have more than 5 job applications sent that whole year.
The truth was, I wasn’t just in the process of quitting a job. I was in the process of finding myself. The free-spirited, liberated, too-authentic-for-corporate-bs, entrepreneur, Marketing girly at heart was making her debut and I didn’t even know it.
I took the rest of 2020 to reflect and build a routine I never really had without 10+ “could have been an email” meetings on my calendar, 0 Teams pings, and no manager assigning me new uninteresting projects.
My Resurrection: Quitting Corporate Made Me Start Life
After 6 months of uncertainty, entering a failed “influencer era”, and dabbling with freelance, I came out on the other end with a wildly insane $6k/month pay bump through social media freelance and a perspective change I thank the heavens for everyday.
To sum it up, these were the unexpected lessons I learned after actually succeeding at this “accidental” venture:
- Out of building your own freelance business, tripling your income, and building a community, quitting was the most successful thing you could have done
- You don’t need as much money and resources to survive as you think
- This is just the beginning and there’s so much more money to be made + opportunities for you to create the life you want
However, I don’t think it was really unintentional or accidental in retrospect. My heart, soul, mind, and body were pushing me toward this from the jump.
It’s why I never admired the lifestyle of my executives. It’s why I would walk into and leave the office in cold sweats. It’s why I always felt like the “personality hire” all the time.
It’s why I couldn’t apply for another corporate job to just have the same damn experience.
There was no other way out than to craft my own career and work for myself.
Life 2.5 Years Later
Not only did I need to take this leap because of my big expectations for myself, but honestly, it’s no one else’s responsibility other than my own.
Here’s the thing. I’d do it all over again…and technically I am.
Over six-figures later, I quit my biggest freelance job to go full on into another journey of self-discovery, entrepreneurship, and growth (one of my other top values).
This time, I can rely on the past as a pillar instead of a crutch.
I say all of this to say that there are too many of us waiting for corporations to live our lives. It’s not your fault. That’s what they all spoonfeed us in business school, and America entirely.
Yes, corporate is normal. It’s safe. It will allow you to do some of the things you like. But if you have a sinking feeling that it won’t be enough, don’t ignore that.
It shouldn’t be for everyone, and it literally can’t. We’re all too unique to shove all of our talents into the same job and same lifestyle.
Before You Detach and Think You Can’t Do It…
I used to watch videos of people who quit and cry because I wanted it so bad. So here I am, as the person who was that person and is now out on the other side.
Quit the job (you can always go back), take the risk (or else you’ll never stop thinking what if), and pursue the life of your dreams (because WHY the hell not?!)!
It too will teach you a level of trust you only develop when you’re truly living.
If you want to keep up with my journey and advice about entrepreneurship, Marketing, content creation, and life, follow me on my platforms or chat with me!
I’d love to get to know you and see what we create together. 😉
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