Work Matters: Lola's Story
I had to face the hard truth that corporations would never give me what I needed.
It was not a surprise to my big blended family and close friends when in 2021, I completely crashed and burned. The job had finally gotten to me.
CURATED FROM AROUND THE WEB
- in The Burnout Journal.
“Stories of Women Redefining Success: Because success can happen your way.” By Susan Doerksen Castro on Medium.
“Tapping into Anti-Hustle Culture: There has to be more to life?” By
in Rent Free With Ella.
What happened? I could no longer deal with the overwhelming workload, the lack of autonomy, the lack of creativity, the stress, the worry and the loneliness. I was on the leadership team of a hyper-growth tech startup in Washington, D.C., and I was working endless hours. The harder I worked, the more work there was to do. I couldn’t sleep. My health suffered. My depression got to the point where some days I was barely able to get out of bed.
So I did what most people would not do in that situation - I left the startup without a plan. There I was, an independent thinker, a neurodivergent woman of color and a proud GenXer who had always forged my own path, suddenly questioning everything about my life and my choices. Even though I had faith in the universe and believe everything happens for a reason, I was terrified.
The first thing I did was get a puppy. (Best.🐶 Decision.🐶🐶 Ever.🐶🐶🐶)
Next, I turned my attention to rethinking everything from how to spend my time, to my health, to what to want. I started a deep dialogue with myself, and leaned hard on the intelligent and counter culture women in my life. I worked with coaches, counselors, and spiritual guides. I read books, listened to podcasts, journaled, meditated, and traveled. I sifted through my values, assumptions, skills, talents, bad habits, weaknesses. I truly left no stone unturned.
In the years before my crisis, I had worked in the tech sector, focused on building software for nonprofits and the government. Before that, I was dedicated to improving nonprofits and philanthropy, and even spent some time building civil society in the developing world. In my youth, I made sure to study hard, earn undergraduate and graduate degrees, and launch a career. Implicit was the promise that if I worked hard, I would have what I needed in life. But I just hadn’t found how to make any of my jobs work for me. After decades of working in these companies, I was starting to realize that my struggles weren’t because of me (well, not most of them.)
I had to face the hard truth that corporations would never give me what I needed. My old career was no longer going to be useful in advancing my life. The biggest question I faced was — what could I do to earn a decent living that would give me freedom and support my well being? At that point, I hatched a plan to build towards my own independence.
I’ve taken my distinctive point of view on life and the world, and turned it into an important endeavor to help other women leave the corporate world. I’m not an expert, but I am walking the same path, and want to share what I’m learning as I go, in the hopes that it’s useful to others.
life after burnout, women redefining success, neurodivergent entrepreneur, leaving tech stories, anti-hustle culture
