Post by @sundaskhalidd

It’s been exactly 2.5 months since I left my job at Google. It took me three years to make that decision. I was scared of so many things: money, discipline, losing the structure of my day. For the longest time, I genuinely believed entrepreneurship wasn’t for me. And I’ll be honest: being on your own isn’t easy. There are still tough days when I question everything and wonder whether I made the right decision. But not once in the last 2.5 months have I wished I had stayed. I spent 12 years in big tech, first at Amazon and then at Google, eventually working my way up to principal. A 9-to-5 is not a bad thing. It gave me stability, incredible opportunities, and a career I’m deeply proud of. And here’s another truth: I would never glamorize quitting your job without a plan. Leaving Google may have looked like a big risk from the outside, but it was a very calculated one. Over the years, I prioritized saving and investing, and I built enough financial security to know that even if entrepreneurship doesn’t work out, my family and I will be okay. I also recognize that having that kind of safety net is a privilege, and it’s a big part of what gave me the confidence to leave. So my advice is not that everyone should quit their job or become an entrepreneur. It’s to become financially literate, invest consistently, and build as much freedom into your life as you can. That freedom may eventually help you leave a job, stay home with your family, take a career break, or simply feel less anxious about your future. For me, it gave me the confidence to finally try something I had been thinking about for three years. What does career freedom look like for you: building your own thing, growing within a 9-to-5, or something in between? #9to5 #corporatelife #entrepreneur #girlswhocode