I got laid off from Google, then found out I was pregnant. Going from DINK to self-employed has felt like the wild west.

Tech Insider : Travel, Business, Economy
head shot of a woman outdoors
Shanon Morris.

Stacy Foster

How I taught myself to code, quit my consulting job, and started an AI robotics firm by age 25

Tech Insider : Business
Oscar Brisset
Oscar Brisset used to work at BCG.

Courtesy of Oscar Brisset

I bought a blueberry farm at 55. It wasn't what I expected, and I'd do things differently if younger, but I have no regrets.

Tech Insider : Business, Travel
Harry Jone with his wife
Harry Jones (left) with his wife Susan (right).

Courtesy of Harry Jones

I quit fast-paced journalism to care for my sick mom. My experience in both led me to become a celebrant at funerals.

Tech Insider : Business
A woman in a green-and-blue patterned dress holding a brown folder.
Journalist Mandy Appleyard, who worked in the UK, the US, and Asia, became a caretaker for her sick mom. She later switched careers to preside at funerals.

Courtesy of Mandy Appleyard

At 49, I quit my lucrative tech job in Texas for a quieter, happier life in Tuscany. I lost 42 pounds in the process.

Tech Insider : Business
A woman in a red halter-neck dress, wearing sunglasses in Italy.
Angie Smith left the rat race in Texas for Tuscany in the fall of 2023.

Courtesy of Angie Smith

At 48, I left my teaching job in Virginia and moved to Italy. Now I run a business with my husband in Tuscany.

Tech Insider : Travel, Business
A woman wearing a pink apron.
After 25 years of teaching kindergarten, Linda Meyer was ready for a change and moved to Tuscany.

Provided by Linda Meyer

I'm a 6-time surrogate who wasn't fulfilled in my finance career. I quit to start a surrogacy agency and make more money now.

Tech Insider : Business, Economy, Environment
head shot of a woman in a New York sweatshirt and red glasses
Angela Richardson-Mook.

Courtesy of Angela Richardson-Mook

I spent decades in a stressful job that paid $30,000. At 53, I left to become a mailman and nearly tripled my salary.

Tech Insider : Business, Sports
A man wearing glasses against a background of photos on the wall.
Jim Lexa quit journalism after 30 years and now works as a mailman, earning over twice his previous salary.

Courtesy of Jim Lexa

I ran a successful brick-and-mortar business for decades. I shut it down in my 50s to reinvent myself and my career.

Tech Insider : Business
Susan Teresa posing
The author ran a photography studio.

Courtesy of Susan Teresa

An MBB consultant-turned-mountaineer says she saw more gender bias in the outdoors than in corporate America

Tech Insider : Business, Environment
Sunny Stroeer sitting on a rock in the mountains.
Sunny Stroeer said she uses the skills she developed in consulting both as an athlete and a business owner.

Sunny Stroeer

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