Ashley Couto, a former COO, quit her high-paying job due to overwhelming stress and anxiety. After years of overwork, she wanted a better work-life balance and took a new fully remote role. Now, she earns less but enjoys a happier life, living with her aunt and saving for retirement.
Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, on a flight back to Montreal after my 10-day luxury trip to Paris in 2023, I realized I needed to quit my multiple-six-figure job as a Chief Operating Officer at a coaching company. I spent my entire trip worried and bothered by Discord notifications from my team about trivial things. Stress and not having time to cook for five years, while I pulled 60+ hour weeks, added 20 pounds yearly to my body.
I cried almost daily and got so anxious that my tongue and hands regularly went numb. My entire life had become work, and I didn't want to live that way I wanted to be a person who slept eight hours a night, had hobbies, and paid attention in conversations with the people I cared about. It's been over a year since I quit, and I'm still in therapy, unpacking the mental and emotional damage from that job.
I only stayed for as long as I did because I thought that was as good as it would ever get for me. I had to take a drastic pay cut after I quit, but I don't regret it When I left, recruiters weren't chasing after me, even though I have 20 years of marketing and design experience, including in director and C-suite positions. My degrees are in art history and journalism.