I was working twelve hours a day at a corporate job that I loved. I wanted my life back, so I quit, and now I’m a waitress.

This as told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lisa Eder. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I worked my way up for 10 years luxury hospitalityand eventually became a director at a luxury hotel group. It had always been my dream job and I loved my job.

Everything was exciting and no day was the same. There were major VIP arrivals, high-profile events and ongoing challenges. I was consumed by it. The job was a lifestyle, and for ten years it was the lifestyle I wanted for myself.

I loved working 12 hour daysmost days of the week. I enjoyed leading a team of 100 people and six department heads. I liked the responsibility, the pace and the fact that I had to be ‘on’ all the time. But outside of work I didn’t have much life. The job was my life.

Then my husband and I moved from Austria to Australia for work in January 2024, but my way of thinking about work started to change.

I’m not burned out

Australians are generally more relaxed about their work. I saw how much they enjoyed the different aspects of life outside of work, and I found myself wanting the same for my own life.

Slowly I started to wonder if I had done that outgrown my career.

I wasn’t burned out. I didn’t hate my job. In fact, I still loved many aspects of it. It just didn’t feel like it used to for me anymore. I no longer wanted to fit into the corporate box. I wanted something different.

I wanted to have dinner with my husband in the evening and completely switch off the day. I wanted autonomy to decide how I spent my time. I wanted to explore new hobbies and interests that made me feel alive again.

For months I sat with these newly arising desires and tried to figure out what to do with them.

I asked myself what I wanted from life

I worked for years to get to where I was professionally. What would other people think? Had I given up? Was I throwing away everything I had worked so hard for?

At the same time, I asked myself bigger questions: what did I actually want from my life? Who was I now? What were my values?

Throughout the process, my husband made it very clear that I could choose what I wanted. The decision and drive came mainly from me, but he supported it because he understood that I meant it

In early January 2026, I quietly decided to hand in my resignation. I resigned in February and left the company in March. I’d like to say it was easy, but it wasn’t.

I took a job as a waitress

I struggled with who I was now that I was no longer a leader in the world business world. I had spent so long building a professional identity that I wasn’t sure who I was without it. I also had to live with the uncertainty of not knowing what would happen next.

Financially, I had prepared for the transition by saving money to support myself. My husband was also incredibly supportive. But I wanted to earn my own money, so I started working part-time waitress job in a cafe in Sydney.

Unexpectedly, that job was about much more than income. It gave me joy.

I loved being around people, food and coffee. I loved getting my work done and coming home without the weight of a corporate job on my shoulders. I had the freedom to decide what I wanted to do with my evenings, whether that was alone or spending time with my husband.

I also started playing volleyball, running and tennis; sports that I loved before my corporate life took over.

That’s when I started dreaming of becoming a Pilates instructor. I took a course, which I am still completing, with the aim of becoming an instructor.

I have found myself again.

I won’t say I have everything planned. That wouldn’t be fair. But having space in my mind gives me the opportunity to continue asking myself whether my life is aligned with my values ​​– and to make changes if it isn’t.

My journey is my journey, but it won’t be for everyone.

If you’re not willing to do the mindset work – to question your identity, understand your values, and rethink what success means to you – to live with uncertainty and grapple with doubt, then giving up a career in business may not be the right choice for you.

But for me it feels almost unthinkable how different my life looks now. And I don’t regret it.