I quit being a lawyer to dabble in writing and podcasting. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

• Ling Yah Wong worked as a lawyer for 10 years after graduating from law school.
• She decided to quit her job after she realized being a lawyer just wasn't something she enjoyed.
• Wong dabbled in podcasting and is now working as a personal branding strategist.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ling Yah Wong, who left the legal industry to become a personal branding strategist and podcaster. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified her employment history.

I didn't know what I wanted to study in college. My GCE A Level subjects in high school were mathematics, history, and English literature.

Initially, I thought I would major in English literature because the subject felt easy. I didn't really have to study for it. I felt like I was just reading stories and could get A's.

I took the advice of my school's career advisors, who said that people with my subject combination would usually study law. They told me law was a prestigious field that offered flexibility as well. You could pivot to something else if you didn't like it.

So I thought, "Well, why not just give it a go?"

Working as a lawyer was exciting at first

I started working at an international law firm after graduating from the London School of Economics with my law degree. I was based in the firm's Malaysian office, focusing on intellectual property litigation.

At first, I enjoyed the work that I got to do. Although what I studied in school had nothing to do with the job, I could see the practical impacts of our work. I got to jump on client calls and work directly with senior colleagues and law firm partners. I was given a lot of freedom.

But the lifestyle wasn't something I wanted

My discomfort with the job grew after I better understood the nature of legal work.

For instance, as a litigator, I had to read case law all the time, and I just didn't enjoy it.

I had a colleague who would spend his weekends reading case law. To him, they were like bedtime stories. He would chat about judges he had never met as though they were his best friends. I thought to myself then, "That's just not me. That looks like passion and love."

There's no such thing as vacation in a law firm. It's always business. It's always work. If you do go on vacation, you absolutely have to bring your work laptop. If there is a client email, you must reply as soon as possible. You'd probably be working half a day, every single day of your vacation.

Senior lawyers often told me they were still working those long hours because they genuinely enjoyed the work. But I remembered looking at my boss and thinking, "I don't want to be you. And if I don't want to be you, then why am I here, and why am I working so hard?"

I didn't have a problem with working long hours. I just didn't see myself grinding so hard to do work I didn't want to do.

Going in-house for a change

I wasn't sure if my resentment was toward practicing law or against the long hours I had to pull as a litigator. That's when I decided to work as an in-house counsel for an international conglomerate.

I was lucky to work under a general counsel who gave me exposure opportunities. I got to work on the company's rebranding efforts and participate in leadership conferences.

I was doing so many different things in this new role, and that's when it became clear to me: The law wasn't something I enjoyed.

I struggled to come to terms with this because I didn't know what else was out there apart from the law. I didn't have an answer to that question. It was like a blank space.

All my friends and colleagues were lawyers. There didn't seem to be an alternative.

Listening to podcasts changed my life

I knew I needed to put myself out there and gain new skills. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to create something personal to me.

That's when I discovered podcasts. I remembered listening to a podcast, and realizing that two strangers on the other side of the world felt like my best friends after that episode.

That opened my mind. If they could do it, surely I could do so. I decided to launch my podcast then. I figured I could use the podcast to talk to people, build a network, and figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

I started recording in 2020, during the pandemic. I was still working as an in-house counsel but had a lot more time since I got to work from home.

Doing the podcast was essentially like a second job. I would jump into podcasting after each workday, working on it until 1 to 2 a.m. daily.

Taking the plunge and leaving law

When I first started the podcast, I already knew that I wanted to leave my job. But I couldn't see a path toward it because I didn't know how to monetize what looked like a hobby.

Things changed after I started marketing my podcast on LinkedIn. One of my posts went viral and got almost 700,000 impressions. That was very exciting, and I decided to double down on those efforts.

That's when people started noticing me and reaching out to me. Clients approached me to create content, but I had to say no to projects because I was still a lawyer. I knew there was some kind of potential there, though, and decided to take the risk. I left my job in April 2023.

Frankly, I'm earning so much more now than I ever did as a lawyer. If anything, the past year has taught me that being a lawyer is not lucrative. When you take on a salaried position, there's a cap on your pay. But the sky is the limit when you have your own business.

No regrets about doing law first

I have no regrets about starting as a lawyer first. Part of the reason my clients even approach me in the first place is because I have a legal background.

I wouldn't stand out as much if I didn't have that. And I also wouldn't have as clear an understanding and insight into the people I'm working with.

One thing I wished I had done earlier would have been to start writing online. You have no idea what doors could open to you once you put yourself out there.