Leaving My Lucrative Career

Many of you have asked me how I found the courage to leave not only my steady, but very lucrative career. Well let me tell you the decision wasn’t an easy one. In fact it took me almost 3 years to come to the decision to quit. I had worked as a Northern California sales rep in the surf industry for over 12 years (literally since I was 18 years old). I had grown in my profession and at one point was handling a territory worth $2 million dollars in annual sales and making 6 figures. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely loved my job , the people I got to work with, and the experience I gained was something I will forever be grateful for.

However, after about 8 years at one company I began to loose passion in what I was doing. It just wasn’t exciting for me anymore. Every time I heard my email notification on my phone go off it gave me a stomachache. Not to mention the pressure of getting more sales, traveling like crazy, hitting my goals, and having my performance publicly measured up against my colleges on a day to day basis was causing me so much stress. I was literally, physically becoming ill over it.

Quite honestly, the only thing holding me back from leaving was the money. I was making an extremely good amount and walking away from that, knowing that I possibly may never make that kind of income again was not an easy thing to do. The term “money doesn’t buy you happiness” was never more true in my entire life. For almost three years I struggled with this daily. I would ask myself often , “what advice would you give a friend in your position?”. My first thought was always so easy “LEAVE! why would you ever stay in something just for the money???” Honestly though it wasn’t that simple. I had a family to think about, we had a lifestyle we had become accustom to affording. If my income went away, how in the hell would we make it all work?

Welp quite frankly, I think I had been putting out enough energy of wanting to leave that the universe dealt me a “push come to shove” scenario and my decision was made for me. The company I was working for decided to restructure the sales team and I was going to be given A LOT more work and travel for not nearly enough money to justify staying. It was at that moment, Mark and I decided enough was enough and it was time for me to move on.

The fear of leaving all of a sudden just went away because I knew my time in that career had expired. I will always be forever greatly to the companies I got to work for: Hurley, Matix, and Roxy/Quiksilver. All of these companies were where I grew up, where I learned about myself, and how to be a successful sales person. I wouldn’t trade my time or the relationships I made at these companies for the world.

And you know what, it was all okay in the end. Sure we had to adjusted our lifestyle and spending but we made it work. I can honestly say it was  hands down the best decision I made in my life. It lead me to this blog and to all of you. So my advice to anyone not happy in their career, EVEN if it is a lucrative one: trust the journey and know that when the timing is right you will know, and when you do decide to leave…I promise, you will be okay.


This post is not sponsored, it’s just straight from the heart

 

Hi! I’m Erika and I live in Sonoma County with my high school sweetheart and two kids. Follow along to find home inspiration, delicious recipes, and the inside scoop on all things wine country.

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2 Comments

  1. 4.6.19
    Janet A. said:

    I am at that point in my life right now. I only work part-time and have a toddler at home. I decided to stay home with her up until she was one and a half. I needed the income but now that I am one year into working just this part time, i’m not feeling it anymore. I wish I can just quit and stay home with my baby girl. My husband supports me 100% and he always tells me, if you don’t want to work now, don’t worry about it you can stay home with our daughter. Something tells me that I need to stay working though. I live in Sonoma so we aren’t that far away. I would love to attend one of your meet and greets soon.

    • 4.8.19

      Awe! Follow that mama gut of yours babe! It won’t steer you wrong. You will know when the time is right to go back to work. Would lov to meet you at a meet and greet soon too! Enjoy that babe of yours! xo