Confessions of An Ex-Corporate Hamster

I quit on February 29th, 2024.  My last day as a corporate hamster was on Good Friday, March 29th.

For almost 28 years, I was a diligent, reliable hamster, scrambling faithfully along an invisible moving platform called the Corporate Ladder.  I didn’t recall when it finally dawned on me that this Corporate Ladder is really a series of hamster wheels.  At the right place and at the right time, the wheel’s operator would light up the pathway to let one lucky hamster advance to the next level, a bigger and shinier wheel.  I moved up a few times.  Feeling ever grateful and appreciated, I ran harder, investing more time and energy to chase after the next elusive opening until I chose to walk away from it all.  After telling my boss “I decided to resign.” I felt immense relief and bliss.  No more wasting time on rounds of meetings where decisions would take months to make, break, and remake.  No more having to deal with a non-urgent issue being blown out of proportion.  No more struggling to find resources for the never ending top priority projects.  As a matter of fact, every time I told a colleague of my decision to leave, I felt a boost of self love.

For the record, I do not regret being a corporate hamster.  It’s part of growing up.  Adulthood.  I attained essential business skills and acumen.  I became confident and I felt accomplished.  Thanks to the steady flow of paychecks, I managed to save, invest, and enjoy life.  It’s wonderful.  Yet there’s this low burning discontent simmering in the depth of my subliminal mind, telling me it’s time to get off the corporate hamster wheel for good.  I hesitated, not ready to take the plunge.

I would like to say that there’s this one defining, life altering event finally propelling me to quit, but that would be a falsehood.  The truth is, I was doing a regular perusal of my finances one day and simply concluded that as long as I continue living modestly, I would be okay not having a corporate job.  I have financial freedom!  

After coming to terms that I can afford to quit, I decided to start a blog on financial literacy.  Nearly two thirds of my time as a corporate hamster, I worked for a leading credit card company cultivating robust and effective collections strategies to recoup as much as possible from customers in debt.  Over the years, I reviewed many cases, solidifying my belief that a healthy mindset in finessing money is a surefire way to keep us out of future financial trouble.  Schools don’t teach practical lessons on personal finance.  We are pilots without GPS and serviceable maps.  This blog is my passion project.  I hope it will be read by many.  I hope it will be beneficial to many.  Getting there will take time, and that’s fine.  I am committed to the cause.  This is my way of giving back to the community, and I am all in!