The Real Reasons Why I Quit My Job
In 2020, more than 2.2 million women left their jobs, lost their jobs, or modified how they defined “work.” I am one of those women, and this is my story.
I was a member of Corporate America and resigned from my C-suite job in June of 2020. I walked away from my generous six-figure salary, my useful health insurance, and the comfortable and rewarding feeling of being at the top of my professional game.
I did this during a global pandemic, even though we are a one-income family with four kids, even though I didn’t have a client or a plan at the time, and despite fears and criticism from others. By most measures, it was not an opportune, logical or predictable move.
So why? Why did I quit my job?
I can best describe it as an existential awakening – with three primary realizations and goals:
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” – Annie Dillard
I want to create a ripple effect for other women
I am choosing a different type of hard for this next chapter
It was a challenging decision. I had been at my firm for 12 years. Many of my coworkers were friends and felt like family to me. There were three tables of them at my wedding, two colleagues were in my bridal party, and one is now the Godmother to my youngest child.
Most innovators would not think running a law firm was riveting. But it was. We were focused not only on moving our firm forward but also raising the bar for the industry.
I helped lawyers develop, be creative, strategic and serve their clients. I like to think that I was helping others feel good about their jobs. I enjoyed my work, was proud of the results, and I have very deep relationships because of my tenure.
When you work for someone else, there are inherent limits – to earning potential, to implementation of strategies that you believe are right and to the number of people you can impact. No matter how valued I felt, I was still a cog in a wheel driven by someone else.
Because I worked my way up the ranks of Marketing & Business Development to lead the function, I also grew to design intentional client experiences. One piece of that was working with the firm’s clients to solve their own business challenges and needs. I would often be pulled in as a strategist or resource to drive a transformation. It was interesting work and the best type of on-the-job professional development. I learned about pricing, manufacturing, lending, retail strategy, product placement, non-profit structures, and the opportunities in all those verticals. I am a well-rounded growth strategist now because of this experience.
Consequently, I have witnessed the outcomes of business success for those clients. And I want to help create more of that success for women. I want to help women leverage their leadership, visions, and platforms to generate opportunities and cold hard cash. When a woman is financially independent and economically empowered, she has more options. She reinvests back into her community and redefines all types of cyclical, systemic and social expectations. This doesn’t even take into account the effects of fewer women in leadership positions.
This has become my life mission – use my talents to help as many women as possible pave as many paths as possible.
Having four kids (ranging from baby to teenager) while holding a C-suite position often felt almost impossible during COVID and quarantine times. My goalposts moved just to try to keep everyone in my home safe and alive. As a co-leader of my household, I helped navigate our constantly evolving needs and big feelings.
I want to be sure this message is clear; I did not quit my job because I was burnt out or because the juggle was too hard. As a working parent, there will always be a juggle and trade-offs. I know this. I choose this. I also am not presuming that entrepreneurship will be an easy path. I am ready at this point in my career journey to choose a different type of hard.
I read that entrepreneurs are not always born; often, they are made, self-made, mostly out of the desire to create something new or different for themselves and the world around them.
This is absolutely the truth for me.
I guess I could have just opened with that.
Thank you for reading my story. I hope that you found pieces to connect with and will follow along on my journey.
