Why am I giving up a career that’s taken me 7 years to build up? It’s a good question and one that has been eating me up inside for months. My salary has given me a pretty fancy lifestyle and a huge amount of financial freedom. I have always prided myself in being a women who could have it all, a corporate job that most people would give their right arm for, 2 beautiful children, a strong marriage and a great social life, but this life has been run on a very carefully planned out schedule with no room for change. When I returned to work after Harry he settled well into his nursery and both sets of parents helped out with childcare too. Lee and I were able to split the drop off and pick ups and our balancing act worked pretty well.There was never a rush in the morning as you just dropped him off whenever you needed and any early meetings were covered by the fact the nursery opened at 7.30am. Now fast forward to today with the inclusion of the beautiful Charley-Rose and things have truly gone ‘tits up’. Now I have 2 children in 2 different locations daily on totally different time schedules, a husband who works away during the week and both sets of parents who through no fault of their own can’t always help me. In true Becci style, I have been gritting my teeth, pretending everything is o.k and totally winging it day by day. There is only so long you can do this for though and slowly but surely the cracks have appeared ( mainly on my face ). Giving up this job will break my heart, I have worked for 7 years with these wonderful people and as stressful as it can be at times I feel like I am walking away from my second family. There is also the money. I work 4 days a week and the money is good. I am going to miss the money nearly as much as the people but I am not going to miss the knot in my stomach that has caused me to get into the shower each night and cry into the running water from sheer exhaustion, wondering how I am going to get through the next day or of late get through another night with a toddler who won’t sleep.
So what now? This is the scary bit. I have just invested £1,800 ( It still makes me want to faint writing it ) on the Creme De La Creme of Social Media Management Courses with Digital Mums ( have a nosy here) , my blog is ticking over nicely enough to give me a bit of pocket-money and I have a few other things up my sleeve ( watch this space ). For the foreseeable future, I am going to be poorer than a church mouse and yesterday I went through my designer handbag & shoe collection to make a bit of extra money ( It was like choosing which child to sell ) but I feel like this is a positive step forward. I am under no illusion that this is going to be hard work and sadly our planned Summer holiday has had to be put on hold because we simply can’t afford it until I have finished my course and set myself up as a Freelance Social Media Manager but we will make do and this summer Fleetwood Beach will our South of France ( Click to see us this time last year ) and I will have fun writing about how to live on a budget ( weeps into her the remains of her expensive bottle of gin ) but sometimes you have to take life by the balls and take a chance. My present life while cash-rich is sucking the soul out of me. Is it going to work? Am I going to regret giving up my fancy job? Who knows? Only time will tell, but I know if I don’t try I will regret it for the rest of my life.
Comment below if you dream of leaving your day job or if you have already left your 9-5 and it’s been the best/worst thing you ever did.
Good for you! Very exciting. I had to comment because I have just pressed submit on my application for the same course today! Eek! Doing it because going back to my old role part time is not an option and I want to generate my own income & spend time with my family. Nervous about the leap too and financial sacrifice, but I feel this is a very positive step for the future. Good luck and see you on the other side in the #DMCollective!
Im on the July course, let me know which one you go on 🙂 I’m Uber excited but well aware how hard it’s going to be. We can hold each other’s hands through the hard bits XxX
I’m on the same course as you! Terrified and excited in equal measure! X
Cool !!! Excited
Totally sympathise with this post. I was the main earner in my house & had a successful career. I’ve managed to go down to three days after my 2nd but in the same role -it’s a tough job & some days I wonder if I should of given it up. Time will tell I guess – follow your heart ❤️
I will be interested to see how you get on with this, I’m looking at doing it too. Well done for taking the leap x
I can relate to this so much as the moment. My job is hanging in the balance – possible redundancy- and whilst I’m trying to be positive and thinking of the things I could do instead, such as blogging full time, the thought of not having a permanent job with a permanent income terrifies me! I’ll be following your success! Please keep me updated! The digital mums course looks fab x
How exciting!! I too resigned from my well paying £2k p/m job after my maternity leave came to an end in October 16. I knew I wanted to stay at home and look after my Son until he goes to school please god as the early years development is so crucial from 0-5 years. Being on smp showed me that our household could survive on very little money each month which helped make the decision to hand in my notice easier. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had to adjust our lifestyle to accommodate the change but in my eyes it is totally worth it for I get to spend each day with my Son. I’ve only recently started to earn via my blog and as of 1st June I am now self employed as a Freelance Journalist / Writer. The digital mums course looks fantastic but cannot afford it atm, here’s to hoping in the next few months please god. I will be watching your journey with great interest. You’ve got this Mama xxx
This must be absolutely terrifying but good for you. Sometimes just making the decision is the hardest part, now it is made you can relax a little knowing that your mind is set. And now you can plan the life that you really dream of. I would love to be able to work at home, or work part-time, but alas we need the money so both of us have to work full-time, at least for now. But who knows what the future holds. I wish you every success with your social media business.
Katrina x #fromtheheart
Such a brave thing to do especially as you were obviously so happy at your work, when you were actually there but the logistical and practical part of doing it all with two little people to take into account can certainly tear you part, and wear you down. When I returned to teaching last year, I found the stresses of getting everyone out the door each morning so stressful, I wanted to cry every day. And then after they had ended their school days I had loads of work to do, so even though we were all at home, I couldn’t give them the time they needed and it just didn’t work. It must seem terrifying what you’re doing but also exciting. Designer handbags though very nice, aren’t as important as your sanity. Good luck! #postsfromtheheart
I walked away from my job as a Teacher last July. Although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss my colleagues and the social interaction a job brings, it was absolutely the right decision. My anxiety levels last year were horrendous. I had the knot in my stomach that you talk of every morning. In the end I had to concede it wasn’t worth it. Now if I do ever go back to work I feel it will be for the right reasons, on my own terms.
Well done for taking the leap!! I have no doubt you won’t regret it!! #postsfromtheheart
I wish I could relate but I left my job in education (nothing fancy or well-paid) for a mundane job in retail. Granted we scrape by but I’ve never regretted choosing crap pay for zero work stress in favour of time with my family. It doesnt last long and because we’ve always lived on a budget lifestyle, its not ever been a drastic change as such. The only downside to this is not having money to go on holiday or dine out pre-child, or enough money to fix things in the house. I your heart, if it feel right then you’ve made the best decision ever as money cant buy you time with your littles xx #postsfromtheheart
Hooray! I knew that you were going to do it – it was just a question of when. No going back now! You will totally be able to restock the bags and shoes in the future. For now it’s head down and Aldi beans for tea – but who doesn’t love Aldi? 😉 #postsfromtheheart
This post could have been written by me 18 months ago! Giving up my career was terrifying and exciting in equal measure. I miss the money every day but the lack of money is totally outweighed by the fact that I can pick the children up from school every day, I can go to all their school performances and assemblies and I can be there to enjoy the school holidays with them!
#postsfromtheheart
Oh bless! Hard decision but sounds like all the right reasons. Exhaustion is pretty hard to cope with and something has to give eventually. I hope your course and blog continue to go well and keep us updated! Thanks for hosting xx
It’s a big step that you’re taking, but one it sounds like you’ve thought through. And the important thing to remember is that your previous 7 years were not a waste and you’re not throwing them away – they’ll still be there on your CV if you need to change course again. I wish you all the best of luck (and wish I could do the same!!).
#PostsFromTheHeart
Such a hard decision but an amazing adventure for you all! I am filled with admiration at your ambition to forge a career that works around your children, good luck lovely! xx #postsfromtheheart
Going freelance & leaving my 9-5 is the best thing I ever did – but working from home isn’t easy though! I’ve effectively got 2 full time jobs – mum & journalist/blogger! #postsfromtheheart
This was me exactly this time last year! I was July 2016 cohort and set myself up freelance in April this year. Good luck and keep smiling! It’s hard work but worth it and financially I’m already earning almost what I did in my fancy corporate role but I can work when suits me and be there for my two little ones x
Thanks for commenting 🙂 I really can’t wait to start now. I know it will be hard work but i am well prepared for it
Becky, that sounds incredible. I imagine you have had to work hard to market yourself once you took the leap, in order to bring in the work. No mean feat. Do you mind me asking how you went about doing that? Are they businesses already looking for social media assistance? Or are you proactively seeking out businesses which don’t use it, or don’t use it to their advantage, so you have to sell the idea to them and explain what ROI they can expect from it? Thank you! ☺️
Hey Kerry , I don’t start the course till next week !!! I would imagine it will be a bit of all 3. I will use the course work i do on the course as part of my CV to attract clients. As I already blog and have had a lot of interest in this post companies have already been in contact to say they would like to discuss working together. I will have to market myself but I have a lot of experience of that already so I feel comfortable doing it. Thanks for your comment
Hi Kerry, this may sound incredible but I haven’t actually had to market myself at all and don’t even have my own business pages! Through the network of graduates I applied for a 3 day marketing manager position (heavy focus on social media) which I got and then my other 2 clients were through local connections (a gym and a restaurant). Each client is different and what I offer them is different too!