Leaving a 9-5 job is a dream many of us have. For about 6 months, I was stuck in the routine of a multi-hour per day train commute in New York City, a traditional 40 (but really 70) hour work schedule, feeling uninspired, confined, unappreciated and more. I was so young, but I knew there had to be another way – a path that aligned with my passions and allowed for true freedom, even if I were to work ‘more hours’ than I did for someone else. A lot of people have been asking me how I did this, so I finally decided to write it all down. I want to stress before you read: everyone’s journey is different. There’s no right or wrong way to do this. This is just my story.
The 9-5 Grind with a brutal commute mixed in
My journey began like many others. I graduated from Villanova University, enjoyed my summer, and started interviewing in August for a ‘good paying’ job at a real estate portfolio management company in New York City. I started at the end of August 2013, working a standard 9-5 job, commuting almost 2 hours a day into Manhattan from Long Island to save money. My days were really 7am until 7pm, being on call 24/7. I had standard benefits and limited vacation days that I had to earn. I had zero equity. I was limited on the amount of money I could earn. Calling in sick was frowned upon and my boss was an awful narcissist.
I found it very hard to make time for wellness or any outside activities given the limited time I had at home. I was also battling what I didn’t yet know was chronic pain from endometriosis, hence my fear of a negative reaction when calling in sick or even requesting to work from home.
The repetitive routine of clocking in, working through endless emails, being assigned tasks outside of my scope, working for a narcissist, and counting down the minutes until the end of the day and week was draining. I knew I needed a change, but the security of a steady paycheck and benefits kept me tethered to the desk…. Until it didn’t.
The Turning Point
While I was single at the time, shooting for my independence, the turning point came when I realized that no amount of financial stability was worth sacrificing my happiness and potential. I didn’t even enjoy the work I was doing. I met my husband Albert on Twitter the week I started the job, and so he was following along this journey from 1,000 miles away as my ‘friend’ (we were not yet together at this point).
I started to feel an increasing sense of discontentment and a longing for something more fulfilling. I attended a marketing summit in the city where I was acquainted with an older and wiser mentor who was on one of the panels for the event. Everything he said inspired me. This was the type of person I wanted to learn from. I was eager to leave my current job and change industries – I just didn’t know how or what that would look like. I was an inexperienced 21 year old female straight out of college with minimal real world experience.
After the event, I scheduled a coffee session to meet with this man to discuss my options and learn more about the direction I should embark. We discussed what I genuinely enjoyed doing after heavy evaluation of my college years, to discover that it was social media and copywriting. I had earned a Panhellenic PR Award for TriDelt at Villanova due to starting and growing the social media channels for the chapter, I was Social Media Chair for multiple years, and I worked in dining services writing nutrition articles and posting on social media for Villanova Dining Services.
At this time, social media for businesses was just becoming a thing, and it was an opportunity to get in on the ground floor. My mentor at the time told me about VaynerMedia by Gary Vaynerchuk, which was up and coming, as well as a few other companies who were working in the organic social media realm. I was blessed to have the opportunity to take meetings with them, but I chose not to take positions there given my ongoing health journey. It was clear that staying in the 9-5 grind was not going to lead to the life I envisioned for myself.
Taking the Leap: Planning and Preparation
Before making any drastic decisions with the existing job, I began planning my exit strategy. I consulted God, my mentor, and my friend (now my husband) on a proper direction to take this. I realized that my passion for social media could be turned into a viable business on my own.
The key was to ensure I had a solid plan in place. In order to be financially stable, I was interviewing for other companies within my industry and the plan was to work on building a social media consulting business in my ‘spare time’ on my commute on the train, and on evenings and weekends, to build it into something where I could eventually leave 9-5 altogether.
I knew that it was going to be a sacrifice for me, but anything worth having is worth sacrificing for. I had been asking God for a sign and I thought it was going to take more time than it did: I took an interview on Wall Street so that I could change companies to keep myself afloat while building my social business, and the final question of the interview was if I was willing to do something that compromised my morals in order to close a deal. I walked out of the room and never looked back. I decided I was going to leave this industry regardless, but I was planning to wait until my holiday bonus arrived prior to leaving for good.
The Big Leap: Leaving the 9-5 Behind
By December, things in the office were getting worse by the day, and everything came to a head all at once. I decided a pitiful bonus was not worth my extreme stress and anxiety, and came to the conclusion that I was no longer willing to put up with some boss deciding my worth as a professional. Everything came to a head and I parted ways with the company that day.
What would normally be someone’s worst nightmare, was an incredibly exhilarating experience for me. I felt free, because I was. The next day, I flew to Miami for Art Basel and met Albert in person. Over the weekend, we had hours of thoughtful conversation and watched endless videos of Simon Sinek and other iconic marketers’ lectures outside of attending Art Basel events. I felt refreshed and inspired after that trip, ready to start something new.
Building My Own Path
Starting my first business came with challenges, but it also offered unparalleled rewards. I was now for the first time in months, in control of my schedule, my work environment, and my goals. Every day was an opportunity to build something from the ground up and pursue my passions.
I began pitching the concept of social media for businesses to doctors offices and real estate offices. Very few were doing organic social media at this time, so I took on more and charged less in order to prove the concept.
While this was happening, I got a puppy (Ceili the Puppy), who I made an instagram account for and decided to experiment, which turned into a life changing experience with a community of approximately 80,000 people, with experiences ranging from New York Fashion Week, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, PetSmart and more.
I invested time in creating a solid business plan and built my first business by word of mouth. Slowly but surely, I began to see the fruits of my labor. The initial struggles were worth it, as I began to experience the freedom and fulfillment I had always dreamed of.
The Journey Continued
Fast forward a year and a half later, my health was deteriorating and I was living in significant pain 24/7/365. I planned on having surgery surgery for endometriosis, and let go of all of my clients and projects in order to heal. Once again, I trusted God, because it was devastating for me to go into this direction, but my agony really left me no choice.
On July 9, 2015, I had excision surgery for endometriosis and my life forever changed that day. I was clinically diagnosed with deep infiltrating endo, and everything I had experienced for 10+ years was validated. When I made a full recovery, I felt the best I had ever felt in my entire life physically and emotionally.
The summer ended and I was ready to get back in the saddle when I received a call from the Church that the Pope was coming to Cuba, Washington DC, New York City and Philadelphia: they needed help with social media. As a Catholic, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I could not pass up, and the timing was perfect, so I said yes and worked in the office of the Archdiocese of New York, preparing and wrapping up the Papal Visit on a two month contract.
It was this experience that immediately opened my eyes to the magnitude of the power of social media and I was eagerly craving another viral project and opportunity. I joined a WeWork, which was popular at the time (2015) and reconnected with a friend from high school who had a marketing agency but was looking for an independent contractor to help his clients with organic social media. We did a lot of great work together, including making rainbow bagels go viral and land on the Super Bowl for free – full story and further reading HERE.
In addition to my work with my friend, I did social media marketing for another DUMBO (Brooklyn) based marketing agency within the WeWork there and made awesome friends and mentors at that location.
I joined a networking group of powerful and influential people in the social media marketing space and collaborated with awesome people on powerful projects in the tri-state area.
Moving to Florida
The next year, 2016, I felt a stronger call to move to Florida to be closer to my boyfriend (my now husband, Albert). I relocated to Jupiter, where I lived in a house as a live-in ‘nanny’ to earn extra income while I still ran my social media business.
When my brief time as a live-in nanny was up, I had to very quickly find my own place. Since I was very new to the area and did not have friends yet, I didn’t even have time to find a roommate. Moving with Albert was not an option for multiple reasons. I was able to secure a blessing of a condo for 10 months, but had to work overtime in order to live. It was truly a sacrifice as I was on a strict budget and could barely even afford furniture.
I am sharing these photos to show that anything worth having is worth fighting for – don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 20.
Obtaining my Real Estate License
The moving experience along with previously doing social media for brokers and brokerages, taught me that I could do real estate. I obtained my real estate license in the state of Florida to bring in ‘spare change’ by doing a couple rentals a month and some sales, while I focused on social media. Little did I know, real estate would be a huge part of my life in addition to social media.
As years went on, I ended up living in Jupiter, Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale and multiple places in Miami, giving me an unmatched knowledge of the geographical area, given how often I was driving up and down the South Florida coast. This put me at an immense advantage for selling real estate.
Influencer Marketing
As the social media industry for businesses continued to evolve, I ventured into the area of influencer marketing, matching influencers with my clients that aligned with their brand. This allowed me to build another service and create meaningful relationships with other people in the space. It gave me great joy to do this, that I even managed one of the influencers for a while. It is very much a heavy part of my day-to-day, even now!
Pandemic and My Real Estate Career
In 2020, the pandemic took the entire world by storm and the level of uncertainty businesses were experiencing was beyond anyone’s imagination. As the pandemic continued, my social media business took a massive hit, as it was among the first of many budget cuts for my clients in order for them to survive. At that point, I doubled down on real estate, becoming an expert in the space, and obtained my brokers license during the quarantine. A broker is more advanced than a real estate sales associate, and can open up his or her own office if they choose, manage agents and have more real estate knowledge and experience.
It was a once in a lifetime opportunity in a different fashion, as many people were flocking to Miami and other parts of South Florida from New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and more in order to experience a different style of living, so I went all in and was successful.
I used my experience in social media in order to leverage my real estate business: obtain real estate clients and help as many people relocate as I could. Believe it or not, my outlet of choice for this was Twitter, now X, as many people in tech are active there. In addition to that, I was able to obtain significant press coverage as a relocation expert in Miami including The New York Times, NBC News, and more. All of this was possible due to social media.
About 2 years into the pandemic, I was itching to expand my client portfolio in the social media realm once again and had the bandwidth to do so.
Social Media Revived
When I was experiencing this predicament on growing my social media business again, it was the end of 2021 into the beginning of 2022. I prayed for a sign, and that sign was that my health was deteriorating once again.
This event forced me to evaluate how I handled things in my marketing business in the past – I had failed in a very important area: branding myself and automation. I had such viral projects in 2015 and 2016 that the whole world was talking about, but no one knew who was behind it. While I still did well, I realized that was an extremely missed opportunity for me.
Now that I knew I needed to brand myself better, I asked myself: what was that supposed to look like? I decided to stop caring about looking so curated and polished on my personal social media account in order to see what resonated with people. In addition to my real estate work, I shared my health journey, I shared my faith, I shared memes and my life with Albert and Ceili. While all gained traction, it was really my health and infertility journey that resonated with people most – as I was learning, having trial and error, and sharing food and products I was trying in front of everyone.
Suspended
As I continued to share more about my health journey and diving more into the ancestral wellness realm, I ended up getting suspended on Instagram for something I had posted, which led to the realization that I don’t own any of the content I am sharing on social. This inspired me to learn how to code my own website. In about a month, I launched my website and weekly newsletter ‘The Weekend Edit’, which aligned with the lift of my suspension on Instagram. It was important for me that all of the things I share on social media live in a place that I own.
While I found it critical to launch my site, I would never give up social media, as I call it a ‘tool in the toolbox’ and very much a passion of mine.
Affiliate Marketing
Since it costs money to run a website, I started to venture into the idea of partnerships with brands I align with and had been publicly trying on my page in order to simply fund the website. It was very important to me that I would help save the customer money while the commission would fund the site. So for many of the partnerships, I currently opt for discount links and codes on products/snacks/etc that I personally use or take myself or can vouch for.
My first ever and longest standing partnership is the biocell collagen, which has been a blessing to me in so many ways because it truly transformed my skin/joints and has had such a significant impact on my life. You can see the list of partnerships and discount codes and links here.
The beautiful thing about affiliate marketing is that everyone wins – the customer saves money, you are financially thanked for the referral, and the business gains a new and hopefully loyal customer for life.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE AN INFLUENCER OR USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO DO WELL WITH AFFILIATE MARKETING! I want to be clear that in addition to sharing my friends and family links on social media, I actually share a lot in person, just like I share my favorite movie (Legally Blonde!) or favorite local restaurant. Most recently, I was at a hair salon and the woman in the chair next to me complimented my hair, so I told her about Biocell beauty and shared my link with her, where she purchased and got the corporate discount on the spot. Helping people save money while getting healthier is a true passion of mine. One also does not need a website or a lot of followers in order to do well in this field.
Starting with the intention of just funding a website, to now being my #1 revenue generator, I have learned so much along the way through affiliate marketing that I have mentored both men and women on this subject for the last 3 years now. It’s been such a game changer for me and if you want it to be for you – please reach out and let’s have a conversation.
Non-profit Involvement
In addition to all of these projects, as my entrepreneurship journey continued to grow, I decided to get heavily involved with multiple non-profits. When you give back, you grow as a person. In addition to the great work that these nonprofits do, it is so important to have a sense of community and socialization when you are either working for yourself, or working remotely.
Embracing Entrepreneurship
Embracing entrepreneurship meant learning to navigate uncertainty and stay motivated, saving for less than desirable months. I established a routine that works for me, set achievable goals, and continuously adapt to new challenges.
One of the biggest changes was learning to balance work and life on my terms. I now have the flexibility to spend more time with loved ones, travel, pursue hobbies, and explore new opportunities – work as much or as little as I want. I can fly to Abu Dhabi at the drop of a hat with 24 hours notice. I can travel whenever or wherever I want. I can work from the couch while sick and not have to shamefully ask permission to call out. I can fly to see my family whenever I want. If God grants us children, I can be home with them and still earn an income by working from home.
It’s a liberating feeling to be in charge of my own destiny, even though I choose to work more hours than I ever worked at a 9-5.
Final Thoughts
Leaving the 9-5 eleven years ago was an incredibly transformative experience that reshaped my life. It required careful planning, courage, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty. But the rewards of living life on my own terms and building something meaningful have made it all worth it.
If you’re considering taking the leap, remember that it’s possible to create a life that aligns with your passions and values. It might be challenging, but with the right preparation and mindset, you too can find the freedom and fulfillment you seek.
Are you ready to leave the 9-5 behind and start your own journey? The first step is believing in yourself and taking action. Message me, let’s talk! Hit the contact on my site or send me a DM on instagram. The path to entrepreneurship is full of possibilities, and your dream life is within reach. You got this!