Lessons from a Quitter

We're usually sold on the idea that once we achieve x, y, or z then we'll finally be happy, but that isn't always the case. When Annie saw her mom's experience as a lawyer, it was cemented in her mind that she must follow the same path. It wasn't until she landed her dream job at her dream company that something didn't feel right. Despite everything looking picture perfect on the outside, she coul...

I love Dawn's story! Did you know that you could even be a professional crafter?! I didn't. And, actually, neither did Dawn. She started out her career in the corporate world and ended up leaving when she had her second child. She had every intention of going back to work when her children were in school.   But because her daughters had special needs, Dawn needed to stay at home much longer. When...

Typically, on this show, we feature stories of people who have quit their careers and started over in a completely different field. I'm so excited to talk to Nicole on this episode to show that you don't have to do that. If you like the field that you're in but want something more, be it flexibility, more money, more ownership etc, it is time to think outside of the box.   Nicole started out her h...

One of Steve Jobs' most popular quotes is "You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."   Nowhere is that principle proven truer than in John's life and career. He grew up the son of immigrant farmers and saw first hand the hard work, sacrifice, and struggles his parents had to go th...

The goal in life is to be happy, right? Well, maybe not. Today on the show, we have the incredible Dr. Zelana Montminy, a clinical psychologist and reformed happiness researcher. Dr. Zelana used to focus on how people could be happier in their lives but she quickly found, through her research, that the more we obsess over happiness in our society, the more people are unhappy. She saw that the peop...

So many mothers face the tough decision of how to balance their careers while raising kids. It is often the catalyst for big change whether that be a new business, deciding to quit and stay at home or shifting your goals in your current career. On today's episode, I got to talk to Allison about how the birth of her son started the beginning of her journey into entrepreneurship.   Allison spent muc...

Montine Blank has done it all. From the corporate world to entrepreneurship to transformational coaching, Montine has a vast array of expertise that she utilizes in helping her clients create a meaningful, fulfilled life.   With an MBA, Montine started out at a large management consulting firm before deciding that she wanted a different future than that path provided. Her jump took her down a succ...

Erin spent 22 years climbing the corporate ladder and climbed her way right up to the very top as CEO of PayFlex, Inc., a large healthcare financial company. As the CEO, Erin was in charge of overseeing 1000 employees and over $2bn in financial assets.  In late 2018, just when things were getting really good, Erin decided to exit the corporate world after 22 years and go down a path less traveled...

Jen is an all-around rockstar! She started her career as a lawyer and practiced civil litigation at a prestigious law firm. Then, she "saw the light" and left to start her own business and pursue more creative endeavors (and she's never looked back!)   She is now the President & Founder of Jeneration PR, a Public Relations & Social Media Marketing firm specializing in promoting beauty, baby & life...

Jena is a wife and mom who taught 5th grade for 6 years until she realized that her career as a teacher no longer fit with her life.  Without knowing what she wanted to do next, she just started by putting herself out there as a virtual assistant. When one of her clients needed her to learn Pinterest management, Jena discovered her love for lead generation and Pinterest strategy. In just 2 years,...

Ali Boone is a lifestyle entrepreneur real estate investor, author and speaker. Ali has literally defined non-conformity when it comes to her career. Ali left her corporate 9-to-5 job as an Aerospace Engineer, despite the "dream job" status that came with it, to follow her passion for being her own boss and creating true lifestyle design. She went from being on food stamps in her first year of ent...

  We all care what other people think, even if we pretend like we don't. A healthy relationship with other people's opinions is actually needed. It teaches us what works in communities and what doesn't. It keeps people accountable to each other. However, so many of us, myself included, let the obsession with what other people think run amok and control our whole lives. We've been raised to be nice...

You might already be familiar with Elie Mystal from his frequent appearances as a political analyst on major news shows or his considerable body of work on Above the Law and other news publications. It is often easy to look at Elie's success and assume that he had a straight, easy path out of law into journalism. But what you may not know is that Elie walked away from his 6-figure legal job at a p...

Shinah is a whiskey-loving, curse-word slinging, Harvard-trained former corporate attorney who left everything behind to find her passion. Shinah spent her entire life on the straight, "proper" path. She went to an Ivy League college, then a prestigious Law School, then worked her butt off as a corporate attorney for a big international law firm. But, after one too many days of uninspiring work an...

What stops a lot of people from quitting careers that they don't like is that they don't know what else they would do. Well, today's guest, provides an excellent example in how to develop your passions on the side while still working in your day job.   Joanne Bourgault is a dentist based in Saskatoon, Canada. When she found herself unfulfilled with her current work, Joanne began working in the onl...

For most of us risk-averse, type-A personalities, walking away from a multiple 6-figure career to pursue an entirely different career is a HUGE, scary step. Most can't muster up the courage to even take that jump. But to leave such a "successful" career to just travel around the world with your family would make most of our heads explode. What if I can't get a job when I get back? But what will we...

Well, there is nothing better to start the New Year off with than an episode all about how to get financially independent so that you can do what you want! I'm so excited to have the incredible Paula Pant on the show today to do just that!! As she likes to say herself, Paula is unemployable. She quit her job more than a decade ago, has traveled to more than 40 countries and refuses to work for any...

Anna Lundberg is the founder of One Step Outside, where she helps people around the world build businesses and create a lifestyle that allows them an unimagined sense of freedom, flexibility and fulfilment. But that's not how she started her career. Like most of us, Anna began by climbing a traditional corporate ladder at Procter & Gamble as a brand manager. In her 7 years with the company, she wo...

Merry Christmas!!! Happy Holidays friends!!   Thank you so much for tuning in to the show. I can't tell you how much it means to me! We're almost at 6 months and already have over 10,000 downloads! I'm honestly so grateful to be able to do this podcast and I can't thank you guys enough!!   While I usually only do interviews, I wanted to take this holiday episode to talk a little bit more about the...

At this point, we've all heard about digital nomads and remote living. There is a huge movement of people who are forgoing the traditional lifestyle in exchange for freedom and travel. But, because of the rise in popularity, there is a huge framework built around the digital nomad lifestyle with freelance websites, co-working spaces, shared housing, blogs, books, etc.   Just 4 years ago, the digit...

If you've listened to the podcast, you've heard me say (a million times) that you can make a living doing what you want if you take the time to think outside of the box and take advantage of the resources on the internet. Well, my guest Kelly Nugent is the perfect example of someone who did that (and basically proves me right...so there).   Kelly Nugent is an actor, voice actor, comedian, internet...

Today we have our first novelist on the show!! Mamta Jain Valderrama received her bachelor's degree in journalism and worked as a healthcare reporter. She went on to get her MBA from USC where she was considering starting a company based on medical tourism. But in her research, she realized the huge issue with black market organ trafficking schemes and realized that she couldn't contribute to such...

Ep. 22:  Lawyer & Interior Stylist- How Sara Rezvanpour Rose created her dream job as Creative Counsel at the Jungalow   Have you ever felt like you want something more but you don't know what you should do? Well, if so, this is the episode for you! Sara Rezvanpour Rose is a unicorn full of inspiration and provides so much wisdom for anyone stuck in a career they hate. Though she may not know it,...

Happy Thanksgiving, folks! This week we're going to do something a little different and, instead of an interview, I'm doing a solo episode. We'll be back with another inspiring interview next week.  I wanted to take this week, because of Thanksgiving, and talk about how a gratitude practice is the easiest way to change your life. That might sound like hyperbole or exaggeration but it's not.  Now b...

Drew Morgan is a stand-up comic, writer and actor.. Drew and his two comedy partners, Trae Crowder and Corey Forrester, wrote the Liberal Redneck Manifesto and tour the country for their WellRED comedy tour. His comedy draws upon his upbringing in rural East Tennessee as well as his experiences living in Australia, Boston, Miami, and New York.   But before becoming a comedian, Drew was a public de...