How I Quit My Job & Rocketed to Six Figures Consulting

Every night I tossed and turned thinking about how to get through the next day. When the alarm went off as the sky grayed with daylight, I could barely drag myself out of bed and down the stairs for my shot of brisk, highly caffeinated tea to jolt my brain into action. My husband jokingly told me I was bad at sleeping because I needed more practice.

I felt like I was bad at everything. Despite working my way up to senior management (twice) and completing a PhD in medical science, I felt everyone was unhappy with my performance, most of all me.

At the medical communications agency where I’d been promoted to management, I was overlooked for my next promotion. I had no upward path. I felt stuck in a job with nothing more to learn. Despite being praised for my success at hitting my Fortune 500 pharmaceutical and biotechnology client’s goals and building strong relationships with physician Key Opinion Leaders, interactions with my boss and senior management felt like a daily run through a minefield. This wasn’t how I pictured my career in college when I powered through science-heavy courses and got into one of the top medical universities in the country.

I was on my fourth company in ten years. Two of my employers closed. One in bankruptcy and another after mass layoffs and a distressed sale, forcing me to change roles quickly.

I delayed starting a family into my early 30s to build my career, but finally we’d prioritized us and started our family. Now my elementary school-aged son let me know daily (and loudly) that he wanted out of his after school program. I was the only parent at my company much of my time there, a status viewed as career limiting.

One day, after yet another sleepless night, I realized things had to change. Making change was on me. That night, I took my first step to entrepreneurship and began writing a business plan to launch my own consulting firm because I knew I could succeed.

I spent 6 months absorbing everything I could about industry needs and consulting by attending national association conferences, reading industry journals and business textbooks, and working with a SCORE (Society of Retired Executives) mentor who provided general marketing and business management advice. Every night I polished my business plan. As the date I’d chosen to quit got closer, I registered my new company with my state to form a separate legal entity to protect myself and my family. My launch started to feel real.

I was invited to author and publish my own articles in industry journals and chosen to speak at conferences. Standing on stage sharing my industry insights as a Thought Leader was intimidating but exciting. I also met industry people for coffee and reached out in person or through LinkedIn to build my network.

A couple of months before my quit date, I landed my first moonlighting consulting job using the approach I crafted late at night.

As my quit date grew closer, pressure built. I was squeezed breathless inside a lava-filled mountain of doubt. My family worried. They worried about how we’d pay our bills because I provided a large chunk of our income. They worried about how we’d get health insurance. They worried because half of every small business launched in America fails in 5 years.

My brain felt like it was bench pressing worry dumbbells with more piling on day after day as I worked from early morning to late into the night doing it all: caring for my family, keeping up with my more than 40 hours a weekday job plus becoming a woman entrepreneur with my startup. I’ve got to tell you, it was tough. Sometimes I look back and wonder how I found the resilience to keep going.

When Quit Day arrived, I walked into my supervisor’s office and handed in my resignation. I was free.

I rapidly executed my consulting business Launch Plan crafted at an old desk in my spare bedroom over my 6-month planning phase. That month, I stood on stage at a national association conference and shared my methods for solving hard problems like how to facilitate cross-functional collaboration in our biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

That presentation led to an offer to present my startup’s solutions to a large pharmaceutical firm. Two months after my company launched, I closed my first 6 Figure contract with a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company using the approach I’d developed in that spare bedroom. In my first year, I earned three times the salary of the job I quit.

Today my consulting company has been going strong for close to 2 decades. I’ve worked with 17 global biopharma firms. Because only 25% of new companies last 15 years, I’m proud to be among the few who succeed at launching and running a startup.

Most media stories are Instagram perfect, glowing tales of startup founder success that leave out the gritty doubt, pressure, and exhausting hours. I believe in transparency. Yes, the doubt and stress are intense. But if you create your company with intention, using a carefully designed plan, and put in the many hours of hard work, you too can build a financially successful 6 Figures in 60 Days consulting firm.

#womenentrepreneurs #biotechnology #pharmaceutical #careeradvice #careerchange