Welp - We really did it, huh?
A Confession from a Freshly Minted Corporate America Dropout
I took a long walk down the road to find my “why” and ended up here - a place that “college me” wouldn’t have ever thought I’d go and a place that me a year ago would sit up & ask, what the hell happened? (in a good way, mostly lol) That place, my friends, is resigning and launching into entrepreneurship.
Hi, my name is Kate(lyn) Gallanty and I’m a newly recovering 9 year banker. A Citi Veteran & a Wells Fargo rookie. I have been sober for 13 days (if you count my non-working notice period) and man, I have NEVER felt so alive. There are so many things that I have learned on this journey so far and one thing I appreciate the most is how much freedom I have; in how I dress, what time I “start” work, how I can personally invest my own money, how I title myself (because corporate titles literally are fake news, made up & don’t mean anything - silly but a revelation), how my bio on my website & LinkedIn is written, what my content gets to look like (and that maybe people would want to listen to me?!) and most important, how I spend my time & energy, which have become my biggest currencies.
Freedom comes at a price though. The fear comes in the big moments like you need to literally keep your own lights on. It also comes in small ways, like having an entirely newfound appreciation for what your IT Services partners do for you to make all the systems & things talk nicely to each other (Zoom & Microsoft Office hate me presently but they will bend to my will soon…or I’m going to have to get smarter & more patient)!! Either way, we shall prevail.
In all sincerity, this journey is not for the faint of heart and I get that it’s not for everyone. Maybe for some reading along, you’ve always wondered “what if” or “I’m ready for that change but I have no freakin clue where to start”. For anyone who’s a couple steps ahead of me, please give me a call to impart some needed advice and make me not feel totally insane that I’ve done this. :D
My confession is that I do and also don’t have any clue what I’m doing - but that’s what happens when you ride the roller coaster of building something and the fun in it. I invite you to jump on the ride with me via this blog (or via Substack) - I’ll look to get into the “whys” behind my decision to leave, lessons learned in early entrepreneurship, sharing a bit more of my story and maybe providing tips on how to find your “why” & “what’s next”. If you have some suggestions on what you’d like to see, feel free to drop them in the comments below!
Give us a follow if you want a weekly dose of candid, genuine story telling that may give you a laugh :)
Until next week - you got this kids!
Katelyn
“I want to swim in both directions at once. Desire success, court failure.” - Alan Rickman