How to quit your job and become a life coach - this is my story!

I used to be rudely awakened by my alarm clock at 6 am every day, only to stumble bleary-eyed onto a smelly BART platform (the subway in San Francisco).

I then had to work from 8 am to 5 pm with minimal breaks and very little time to relax. We technically had an hour for lunch, but most people would work right through lunch, so if I didn't too I felt like I wasn't "pulling my weight".

The company I worked for provided fridges full of free food, so I could leave my desk, go make a sandwich and be back to work within 15 minutes. This was not mandatory but was encouraged.

They also had free kegs of beer upstairs... a lot of us salespeople would stop work at 5, go grab a beer to recharge, then be back at our desks from 6-8 to keep working. Again, I felt like I had to follow suit or else I was "lazy"...

I would come home EXHAUSTED and pass out around 10 pm. I had zero time or energy for my boyfriend at the time, and the job almost cost me my relationship.

BUT they paid us over 100k a month, gave us free food, snacks, coffee, beer, etc, so I would be an idiot to leave, right?!

Me partying after work with coworkers from my old job (partying was pretty much part of the job)

I've started a few small businesses and side hustles over my life, but took the Covid lockdown to fully, 100% tear me away from the corporate world. I decided to try becoming a life coach, since I love helping people and I was looking for a job I could do online.

Now I live a block from the beach in Mexico and I run a successful business doing what I love - helping people reach their highest goals! My Goal Boss business makes about 6k a month - yeah I know it's not the "10k a month" holy grail that most coaches seem to aspire to, but here's the thing:

I have the work-life balance that I had been craving for my entire life.

I work a few hours a day, I never start work before 10 am I usually take Fridays off and go on adventures (last weekend I went to Isla Mujeres, a tropical paradise off the coast of Cancun)...

I use my extra time and freedom to work on my personal goals, which right now include becoming fluent in Spanish, becoming an expert at martial arts, and deepening my spiritual practices.

I don't start work till 10, but I do wake up early! I use my mornings to engage in long and deep meditation sessions, go to the gym and hit the boxing bag, and study that darn Spanish grammar that is the one thing holding me back from being fluent right now!!

I also really enjoy spending quality time with friends, we go out to long lazy brunches or lunches in the middle of the workday. These are the kinds of moments that I'm going to cherish for the rest of my life - when I'm on my deathbed, I'm going to be happy and satisfied with my life. Do you want a lifestyle like this, where you can have the time freedom and location freedom and spend your says doing what you want? Do you want to quit your job? Maybe you want to learn how to become a life coach instead?

A lot of people ask me all kinds of questions, but there are literally just 2 questions I get asked the most often:

1. How do I quit my job?

2. And, how do I become a life coach?

So I want to share my story and walk you through how I did it, step by step. Quitting my job and becoming a life coach is the best decision I have ever made in my entire life. I want to share how I did it, so you can do it, too!

Working at my favorite coworking spot here in Playa, Xinergy Coworking

The last "official" job I had was at a small, family-run solar company. I worked there for years. I had an impressive title (Marketing Manager), I had a lot of freedom to implement my ideas, and I was making lots of money and was on track to buying a house in a few years...

Then Covid happened, and all of a sudden, my amazing job turned into a nightmare. Our entire lineup of summer events got canceled - home shows, county fairs, festivals all over the state... all canceled. These were events that we would set up a booth at, talk to people about going solar, and take down their name and number if they were interested. We would get our leads for the entire year from attending these events.

But since they got canceled and everyone had to stay at home, I was stuck in the office calling old leads. And if someone already said no, it doesn't feel right for me to keep calling them, because I'm not into high pressure sales. But I was being pressured by my bosses to keep calling the same people, over and over, because there was nothing else for me to do.

On top of that, I was getting yelled at by my boss. He couldn’t grasp the fact that there was a pandemic and told me I had to keep filling his calendar up - “No excuses!”

I eventually had to take a leap of faith and leave the company.

There was no giant secret that taught me how to quit my job. I eventually just got to the point where the pain of staying in that shitty job was greater than the fear I felt quitting my job. I was scared shitless to let go of my steady paycheck, of a job I knew that I was good at (which made me feel respected and like I had a purpose every day), and of a company that I knew was going to take care of me.

However, I was pretty certain that if I just took a leap of faith and quit my job, everything would be okay. Here are a few things that helped me come to that realization:

1. I had a good resume, and I knew that in the worst case scenario, I could get another job in the solar industry.

2. I had taken leaps of faith like this before, and things had always turned out okay. At this point, I was pretty certain t hat the universe had my back no matter what I did.

3. I believe that we only get one life, and I believe in living that life to my fullest. It’s one of my greatest values. I knew that if I stayed in my job, I would be being untrue to my values, which didn’t feel aligned.

4. I’ve studied the things that people who are going to die say on their deathbeds, and they almost always regret not taking chances like this. If they didn’t take the chance, they would often be plagued with “what if…?” thoughts on their deathbed.

5. I was also haunted by that story of the banker I had met one day. I mentioned him in another post, but basically, he had been working at the same bank for 30 years. When I asked him if he liked it, he said he HATED it. He always meant to quit, but he got used to his steady paycheck and got in the habit of working there, so eventually one day he just forgot to quit. I didn’t want to work at my solar job for 30 years! I had other plans.

So after thinking all these reasons through, I came to the conclusion that quitting my job was scary as fuck, but not doing it would be even scarier.

I was supposed to come back after Covid, but then I ended up starting my coaching business! It was slow at first, but once I learned how to meet people who wanted coaching, my business started to take off. So after my business took off, I decided not to come back.

Working an Oakland A's game at my old job

Making a big change or transition, like quitting your job, is scary. But the thing about change is that it’s only scary for a little while. After you go through a transition, then you have successfully changed, and it’s not scary forever! You just have to stick with it for a little while until the change is complete. Finding someone to support you through this change and hold you accountable to sticking to the change will help. Find a friend, supportive group, or coach to help you through your transition.

These days, I'm living the life of my dreams in Playa. I have the most rewarding job on the planet - I am literally helping people improve their lives with each workday.

Plus, I get to live a block from the beach, in my favorite country ever, Mexico! And since I create my own schedule, I have plenty of free time to engage in long and deep meditation sessions, train martial arts, have long lunches with friends, and work toward my personal goals, like becoming fluent in Spanish.

Now I would NEVER go back to my old life selling solar - THAT change would be uncomfortable! Now that I've changed into a coach and a business owner, that is my new reality, and I would never go back to being a marketing manager at a solar company.

If you’re ready to take that leap of faith and make a change - even though you may be nervous - I’d love to help.

My Goal Boss coaching program will guide you through this transition and help you create a bridge from where you are now, to where you want to be. Together, we will create a plan to get you there - and then you’ll be supported, guided and lovingly held accountable to following that plan until you’ve fully reached your goal!