How I Dropped Out of Corporate Life and Moved to the Tropics (And How You Can Pursue Your Dreams, Too!)

Many years ago, I burned out of corporate life and became my own boss, moved to the tropics in Mexico and never looked back.

If you are looking to shift that path of your life and align with your purpose, I hope sharing my story inspires you.

Today I found this photo. In 2001, I was working at Trader Publishing (Trader Interactive). This photo brings back so many great memories. Everything was right with this company - I was given so many opportunities. At 23, I was running a 7-person in-house markeing creative department. I don’t look back on any of my other corporate jobs this fondly. This was the very beginning of search engine marketing and digital media, so I still use many of the skills I developed to this day. I was trusted and encouraged to be creative and thrive.

However, I knew even this early on in my career that corporate life wasn’t for me. I set up a screensaver on my computer with a photo of a tropical beach and dreamed of having a freelance career, maybe copywriting, where I could live in the tropics and work from anywhere. This was AGES before digital nomading or even working remotely was a thing. But it was just an intuitive vision that I trusted.

I earned a master’s degree and made my way up the corporate ladder, working through some Fortune 500 companies after this. My pay increased rapidly, but I knew I wanted a different kind of life.

I would go out to lunch some days, look at all the people around me who weren’t at work: moms with their kids, people shopping or dining who were not in business clothes. I would wonder, “How can someone take a jog at 2pm on a Tuesday?” The only life I knew had me chained to a desk from 8am to 6pm Monday-Friday. I desperately wanted to see what life was like to be freed during work hours.

I decided to take a lot of gaps when I was switching between jobs. It was the only way I could figure out to travel and see other parts of the world with the standard 2 weeks of vacation a year “benefit” that corporate America offers.

It was between my contract job at Norfolk Southern Corporation and my full time employment at ADP (Automatic Data Processing) - both in the Fortune 500 - that I took a couple months off to travel to Costa Rica and eventually to Mexico where I did a yoga teacher training immersion.

After getting my 200-hour yoga teacher certification, I went back into corporate life starting my job at ADP. But I was forever changed. I continued my yoga studies and practices on evenings and weekends, connected more spiritually and practiced daily the techniques I now teach. The more I grew, the more I was prepared to take a leap into new opportunities.

I was working on manifesting big shifts, and I was ready to leave my job. Out of the blue one morning, I got a call that I was laid off. There was no explanation, it took less than 5 minutes and every work project that was so important that I had to balance my life around it, immediatley evaporated into thin air. My corporate email was deactivated, I could no longer message colleagues and a thick energetic cord was severed, setting me free. I was grateful and relieved, and elated that I was given a 6-month’s pay severance package. I had actually visualized all of this coming together for me in my manifestation practices.

I remember going to a cafe after that call and sitting with a friend to process the shock. “Wow,” I thought, “so this is what it’s like to go out to coffee at 3pm on a weekday!” I loved it!

Once I left my “stable” corporate life, I never looked back. None of this was easy. I didn’t just spin around in sparkles and pick up a surfboard, which you might believe if you saw my Instagram. I’m breezing over how I navigated divorce during my spiritual path to explore yoga or how I repaired my house from a natural disaster, lost my dog to cancer and was treated for cancer myself all in the same year I got laid off. Those stories are rarely ones I share because they do not define who I am.

My story is much bigger than a few hurdles in the path. I took risks, made big investments (I gave up my home to travel and turned it into an Airbnb), and followed my deep desire to learn new ways of life.

I’ve been living in Sayulita, Mexico for 7 years. I am living that tropical screen saver dream that this 23-year old in the photo made her vision! I did all of this on my own, though now I’m in a loving marraige with my soulmate.

I teach mindfulness, offer mentoring and help others live their lives with intention. I co-founded a yoga school, I train others in Reiki. I share what I love and am able to help others discover their untapped potential. Importantly, I am no longer stuck in an office Monday through Friday and can do whatever I want during those grueling work hours—usually thats surfing or hanging out at the beach!

If you want to make shifts in your life, but you are not sure where to start…maybe you are afraid, you feel stuck, tied down by responsibilities, maybe you just don’t believe you can, I hope my story inspires you. Take a moment to realize that you, too, can choose the kind of life you want to live.

My coaching and meditations on Aura can get you started, and here’s a 30-day FREE pass.

If you are ready to make big shifts, check out my 1:1 sessions and life-changing yoga teacher immersions trainings.