I quit my 6-figure consulting job to take a gap year. I felt guilty at first, but it's the best decision I could've made.

• Kym Wootton quit her six-figure job at a consulting firm to take a gap year.
• She said she was "emotionally wrapped up" in her job, but decided quitting was best for her.
• Wootton plans to use her gap year to write a book and spend more time with her sons.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kym Wootton, a 42-year-old from Boulder, Colorado. Insider has verified her employment with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Before I quit to take a gap year, I'd been working since the day I turned 15 — I worked throughout high school. Sometimes I had two jobs. I did the same when I went to college, and I got my first office job as soon as I graduated.