Escaping Corporate America

Quitting my job was the best decision I made

February 2019, Atlanta, 3-hour subway commutes, coldness in the wet air of this southern city, painful high heels, plain-looking “professional clothing”, exhausted brain, work emails beeping, spreadsheets, never ending meaningless meetings and tasks in this concrete jungle with shiny windows where everyone is trying to survive. Except here in corporate America, the rules of the jungle were molding me into a robot who didn’t think for itself, and lived for the jungle master - the corporation, the boss, the “whoever” had authority over me. What’s more depressing in life than having to ask others’ permission to stay fed, warm, and happy - just basic human needs? “Is this what I struggled so hard for?” I asked myself, “Is this why I came to America at the tender age of 16, without family, money, anything? A place where I struggled so hard and love so much, the land of opportunity? Is this really the ending to my story?” I thought of the 13-hour flight from my small hometown in China to JFK, the 16-year old girl who tried so hard to adjust to the American way of life on her own. Is this her compensation for all that she’s been through? “I didn’t travel 7000 miles for this.” I said to myself.

You need “cushion”? Are you crashing?

Reality of life reminded me that I did not have enough cushion needed to make a jump into the world of entrepreneurship. I had living expenses, my husband just came out of college with no job offer on the table yet, a couple of rentals just started to profit but far less money than what I would need to cover rent and food. The savings I had was mostly invested into real estate, and what’s left wasn’t enough to sustain me for months until my business takes off. I sure had no cushion, but guess what? I decided that I didn’t need a cushion to crash into, because I wasn't planning on crashing!

I went into my boss’s office and gave my two weeks notice one week later. With the same conviction, passion, and confidence as I had when I was 16, I set out to become what I’m meant to be- an entrepreneur. It took some serious persistence and creativity to break through the initial barrier to entry into the mobile home park investing business, but these two things are exactly my specialty. 9 months later, I now have 47 units and counting, a growing private equity firm, and most importantly - a happier self.

A question to ponder

Are you super excited to go into work tomorrow morning? If the answer is not a “heck yeah!!” Then quit your job. I mean it.