Ep. 9: How to Know It’s Time to Leave Corporate (Even If the Money Isn’t There Yet)
One day I woke up and realized, I can’t do this anymore. Three days later, I quit. No safety net, no “perfect plan.” Just a deep knowing that it was time.
This episode is about that terrifying, exhilarating moment when the plan you thought you needed collides with the truth you can’t ignore.
I always believed I’d have seven months of savings, a tidy business plan, and all the safety nets in place before leaving corporate.
But real life? Real pivots?
They don’t usually wait for perfect timing.
Here’s the messy, raw truth:
the money wasn’t all there, the plan wasn’t polished, and my head was still yelling “you’re not ready.” But my body and my soul said otherwise.
And when I finally stopped fighting myself and listened, I remembered that success doesn’t come from spreadsheets or timelines. It comes from betting on you.
What You’ll Hear
✔️ Why waiting for the “perfect plan” keeps you stuck
✔️ The sneaky signs your career is misaligned, like fatigue, disinterest, and dreading Mondays.
✔️ How investing in yourself builds the only real safety net you’ll ever need: belief in you.
✔️ The truth about making bold decisions without guarantees, and why it’s the powerful move.
✔️ A reminder that every major pivot starts with one simple, radical act: saying yes to you.
This isn’t just a pivot. It’s a reclamation.
If this episode hit you right in the gut, don’t just sit with it, act on it. Share it with a friend who’s secretly wondering if there’s more to life than their current job.
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You are listening to the pivot point where we unpack the defining moments that shift careers and lives. I'm your host, Laura Dionicio, a founder of Lead Intacct, and my mission is to spotlight the raw real stories behind career pivots, the fears, the hopes. The messy middles and the bold decisions that follow if you're feeling stuck or quietly wondering what's next?
I hope these stories help you see yourself a little more clearly and inspire you to start moving toward your own dream life. Let's begin.
One day I woke up and decided to quit my corporate job. So three days later I put my two week notice in. Now, this is not the way I thought it was gonna go down. Let's rewind back to three years ago. Three years ago. So this would be 2022. I remember thinking as I took this new job, uh, this new job had less responsibilities, it had a little bit more pay, and I was very intentional and mindful of how I was gonna show up and how I could put boundaries within myself and also to the team so that I don't end up burned out again.
And I remember thinking okay, in three years. Because at that point I felt like that was a good enough time to really give this job a go. And I know me, usually between three to four years I like to do something new. So three years ago I told myself, alright, in 2025. I want to have the option of potentially leaving corporate and having a plan in place.
Do you see like the number of words, like I wouldn't even fully commit three years ago to like, in three years I want to leave corporate and give my business a go? No. 'cause at that point, the version of me three years ago was still a little bit cautious, a little bit like plan oriented, even though like to the credit of the me three years ago.
Okay. Much better person in terms of going with the flow compared to three years before that. But in any case, that is not like how this all went about. This was not planned. See, I had it all figured out in my head. I was like, no, no, no. I'm not gonna say that in three years I'm gonna go leave corporate. No, no.
I just, I wanna be like safe, right? I wanna be certain, I want there to be a safety associated with this transition. So I had told myself three years ago, all right, what we need to do, like metrics of success, so to speak, is to have seven months worth of saving. And I put a plan in place on how to do that, like how much percentage to put, so that by the time, and I was pretty good.
I think I had like four months savings. So I'm like, yeah, doable. Three years. Three months worth doable. And then the other part I said was, I wanna make sure that I have a straight up like business plan and like I'm ready to launch. I didn't know what that meant, but I was just like, but yeah, that sounds good.
So that was what I thought was gonna happen, and so what ended up happening is that leading up to that moment of when I finally made a decision, let me tell you, I did not have seven months savings because in the three years since I've decided to invest in myself, highly recommend doing that.
Just because I specifically invested in coaching and other like things that really brought joy to my heart just because I realize now. It doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank that you view as quote unquote safety. If you do not have the belief in yourself and your business and what you have to offer, services you have to offer, if you don't have that identity shift within yourself to know that yes, you've got this, there's no amount of money in the world that's gonna suddenly make you feel safe or better or secure, and I had to learn that the hard way.
What happened was, in my mind, so it was 2025, right this year, and in my mind I'm like, shit, I don't have the seven month savings. So I guess that means that it's not gonna be this year, but something happened within me where like my heart, my soul, even was just like, no I'm feeling that the time to end this wonderful.
Fantastic corporate career has come to an end, but internally I was fighting it, right? So the conscious mind was like, no, we must not be ready. We must not be ready 'cause the money's not there because the plan in place isn't there for my business, et cetera. We must not be ready, mind you. And it's kind of, you know, I gotta laugh at myself a little bit, you know, with Grace.
Looking back now, I don't really know what I meant by that because. By the beginning of this year, I have coached, I don't even know, like many clients, and most of my clients are repeat clients, right? Like, so I don't know what I was waiting for as, as far as like evidence that my business is doing well, I had a contract position with my wonderful mentor to come in and teach mindset.
Related things to her life Coaches. Like I have been on stages presenting my own material, so like I'm not really sure what I meant by that. I say that, but I know, and this is what I mean, when you can have all the money saved up, you can have all the content, the plans in place, but if you are not feeling inside that you are ready for it, that you're fully committed, it's not gonna matter.
So anyway, going back to earlier this year. There was conflict within me, but I was not letting myself be honest about it. It was like my heart knew it's time. It is time. But my mind was like, you're not ready. You are not ready. So what ended up happening is that I. Consciously and intentionally because I am a self-aware person.
I've been doing this for like a really long time. I noticed that my energy was starting to get low at work, so then I did dive deep, like, how can I make this better? What can I do? To really lean into the things about my job that I enjoy. So I did that. I did that. I got to the point where I started leading this project that I was passionate about.
It was like a side project. I put boundaries in place with my meetings meaning, like if it was a meeting that I didn't really need to be at, rather than attend it out of obligation and then like. Scroll through my email or multitask, which by the way is not a thing. Nobody can really multitask. I just didn't attend.
And so I got to the place where work was meaningful. Again, I was a lead in a project, but in a different way. Like I was in a lead such that I was asking for support, receiving support, and not on the road to burnout. And all my meetings were meaningful. I felt connected, and yet. Even so it didn't seem to be enough.
Like I still felt incredibly tired at the end of the day. I still was just unmotivated, really. Aside from the passion project, like my main job was just like my interest was no longer there. I was starting to do the bare minimum. Things that used to interest me and make me want to have a side chat with somebody who was an expert in their field.
Like I didn't feel those compulsions anymore. When I would have career related conversations with my manager, honestly, like really great manager. I just was not like that feeling that I was used to of like, yes, let's do this something new. I just was like a dud, like a candle where the wick is gone. There was just nothing.
There and it just seemed to get worse. And I remember thinking, okay, there must be something else that I'm doing wrong. There must be something maybe I can start to schedule shorter meetings. May I can, I can still fix this. I think there, there must be something. Maybe it's my mindset, maybe, um, I don't know.
Like I just kept trying, kept trying. And one day I just. I stopped and looked around and I'm like, what am I doing here? This is not good. If I keep going this route, I'm probably gonna go into like a depressive state. 'cause that's happened, honestly, like that's happened to me.
And I'm like, I'm not doing that. I'm self-aware enough to know that I'm heading in that direction and that that is not a direction I wanna go. So I decided to take the day off. Took a sick day off. 'cause it is true. I wasn't feeling well. And the moment I sent that notification to my team, to my manager that, Hey, I'm, I'm not feeling well I'm taking the day off.
The amount of joy that ran through my body was, I can't even describe. It was just like palpable. Like I could feel it. And mind you, the night before I hadn't really slept because. I just was so not looking forward to the next day that literally I didn't sleep until four or five in the morning.
Like I could see the sunrise, and I remember in that moment I'm like, okay, something is seriously wrong. I need to take the day off because I know why I'm not sleeping. It's because I really so badly don't want it to be the next day. Taking the day off was like the greatest gift I could have given myself because despite only having slept for like four hours.
I felt the most energized I've felt in a long time. Didn't need coffee, had tremendous joy, was suddenly like high energy and that's when I just couldn't lie to myself anymore. I was just like, if I feel this good taking the day off. When physically I should be a wreck right now. Not having much sleep, something is wrong with my day to day, and I got real serious with myself.
And at this time, I am fully supported through private coaching, which I highly recommend. Not doing this journey by yourself. I've done that too. I don't necessarily recommend it'll take you longer. Asked for support, had them reflect things back to me, and then just got so, so honest with myself. I was like, okay, what is actually the right step for me right now?
Letting go of any fears of any previous plans? What do I want? And I knew, I was like, okay, it's time. So I drafted my resignation letter that day. Two days later set up, a one-on-one with my manager, and I just said it. I'm like, before I turned in my formal two week resignation, I just wanted to let you know this is happening.
And the more I spoke about it, the more excited I became because here's what happened. I was really, really honest with myself, and then I just made a decision to say yes. To me, did I have a plan at that point? No. Did I have the money in the bank? Not what I was planning. Did I have already like clients lined up?
Nope. But I just knew. I'm like, I cannot, it got to the point where I just, I could not live that way anymore, and I decided, no, this is it. I'm doing it. And I know it was the right decision, not because these things magically showed up for me. Like suddenly, oh, he won $10 million. No, but because every time I talked about it, I felt really good.
I felt excited. I felt an expansion in my body. And guess what? Ever since I said yes to me. All these ideas that I've had, oh, yes, let's do a masterclass. I would love to be of service in this way. Oh, that's right. The leadership stuff that I cared so much about. Let me bring that back.
All these ideas have come back and because I fully decided to go all in on me to put my faith and confidence in me, it was like a remembrance. Like, wait a minute, wait a damn minute. I have been here before. Now, granted, objectively speaking, this is the biggest risk, biggest pivot to date in my career.
However, it doesn't negate the fact that these feelings that I'm having, the bigness, the like uncertainty, the having to bet on me, that kind of thing. I've been here before, and every time that I've done this, I have succeeded. And looking back to all my other pivots where this felt like the same way that it does now, I also didn't have a plan.
I didn't necessarily have the amount of money that I thought I needed or wanted, and it all worked out. Like support came to me via two unexpected job offers. Like the time when I wanted to move from Southern California back to New York, or when I lived in upstate New York and I decided I wanted to move down to New York City, one of the first apartments that I went to check out was the one I ended up getting.
I didn't plan that. I was planning like a longer lead time, and so. All this to say it is not about the logistics of things like maybe it's not about you leaving corporate. Maybe it's about you moving across the country. Maybe it's about you pivoting to a different segment in your field. It's not about already having the job or already having the connections or already having that perfect resume.
Or already having the money in the bank. It's about making that decision and shifting into the person, the version of you who believes in you, has faith in you, and just fully trusting that you've got this, you will figure it out. And then just going from there. So if you are going through something like this, or maybe you don't even recognize that.
Like your soul and your heart's like crying out for like, please, let's do something different. But if you resonated with what I said about how I felt, you know, like just uninterested low motivation, you're not showing up the same way you used to. You feel incredibly tired at the end of the day, then please book a 20 minute call with me and let's talk.
Allow me to support you through this transition because truly you don't have to go through this alone. You can, and again, I've done it. It's a lot more painful and it takes longer that way, but really you don't have to. And if you are ready for some free stuff related to this, download my Heart Aligned Career Transition starter at www@leadinta.com.
And remember. To proceed as if success is inevitable, no matter what that looks like for you. All right. Bye for now.
All right, friend. That's it for today's drop. If this episode hits something deep, don't just sit with it, act on it. Share this with a friend who needs to hear it, and then head to www.leadinta.com to grab your free heart aligned career transition starter, or book a free 20 minute call with me. I'm here when you're ready to stop feeling stuck and start moving toward what you really want.
Catch you next time.