Member-only story
With $6,000 in the Bank, I Felt Like a Millionaire
Freshly divorced in late 2009, I was an independent mom of an 8-month-old and 4-year-old, working as a Senior UX Manager for a large/well-known eCommerce company. I had an $80k salary, health, and many other big company benefits that looked good on paper.
By contrast, I had a one-hour commute (each way, if traffic was good). Daycare was a requirement for my girls because work + commute = 10–12 hours/day every M-F, not counting the ‘after-kids-bedtime’ time it took to catch up on the actual project work and dozens of emails deposited to my inbox while stuck in almost back-to-back daily meetings.
The first year was great but after two years, it wore on my soul. I barely saw my kids, and while I was grateful to earn a decent income, I felt I was reaching a cap on my growth opportunity at this company. It was time for a change.
With two young kids, a $1200/month mortgage, and another $1200 to maintain my health insurance via COBRA, I was scared, but I was also miserable. Staying put didn’t feel like an option.
In June of 2011, with $6,000 in the bank and just enough belief in myself that I could figure something out that would allow me to own my time and maintain the comforts of my salary, I gave my two-weeks notice.
