Why I'm Quitting My Six-Figure Job

“I love my job, I love my job, I'm so lucky to be here, I love my job.” It used to be true. The work, the people, the culture, the learning opportunities, at one time, everything was pretty good at the office. You see, I love numbers and data – they’re my comfort zone. They help everyone make sense of the world, but especially me. Because of that, my job in information & technology struck a balance between challenge and interest. Not only that, but for the first time in a long time, I was around people who kind of thought like me. That’s the beauty of finding work that falls within your natural inclination. I walked into a team culture of people who were witty and liked to joke around but were uncompromising when it came to logic and accuracy. My people! The only problem with loving your job is that once you know what it feels like, it's hard to go back.

After a year of corporate bliss, Covid hit. Along with all the stress and uncertainty was the isolation of no longer having those impromptu conversations with coworkers. Almost at the same time, the IT department adopted new efficiency strategies. Our work became more rigid at the same time water-cooler talk disappeared. Not ideal. Fast-forward a few years of masks and virtual meetings, and some of my coworkers had moved on to other jobs. Things weren’t the same when we returned to the office, but I still loved my job… right? At this point, I had a lot of ownership over my work. I interviewed people and mentored newcomers. So, even if I wasn’t grinning ear to ear every day, it felt like my problem to solve. Then I got a new boss*. The interesting thing about corporate hierarchy is that you can have plenty of ownership but no actual power to do anything. It all depends on your boss.

With that, I entered the era of not loving my job. Soon thereafter, I completed my master’s degree in analytics. Put simply, I studied methods of using data to guide decisions. Since absolutely no one came to me for company decisions, I couldn’t use my degree, even though I worked with data. I thought I might excel at combining leadership and analytical ability, and I was tired of waiting around for someone to agree.

Outside of my day job, I had been toying with the idea of becoming a business owner for a few years. I thought I would buy an existing business and keep an office job. This was during the time I was courting my now-husband, Erik, so I would share ideas and talk about my search for a business to take over^†, but nothing really found that middle ground of excitement and practicality for either of us. Years passed without action until one day we were having dinner at Olive Garden, looking at the lack of construction over at the old Crossroads site and talking about what might be built there. This was during the national closing of Joann (may she rest in peace), so I was just brainstorming about opening a fabric store called A Cut Above. To my astonishment, Erik didn’t hate the idea! Here we are, nearly a year later, and a whole world away from who I used to be.

At the cross-section of needing to consider a career change and having a decent business idea, A Cut Above Fabric was born. Now, whether this is a good idea or completely foolish, I cannot say. The fantastic and scary part is that you are all going to experience this with me. This is also my first foray into mixing career and hobby, which I would typically advise against to keep some peace in one’s life. So, either this career change represents massive personal growth, or I’m experiencing my midlife crisis entirely too early. It could be both.

I’ll never pretend to have all the answers, but I think about the interns I've mentored who feel so much pressure to choose their life direction before they even turn 20. Maybe this is inspiration for all of us that a career doesn’t have to be a ladder; it can be a climbing gym free-for-all.

*I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the wonderful bosses I had before and even after the one mentioned here, some of whom I still call friends.

†There’s always a froyo shop for sale. I don’t know why, it’s just a fact of life.