"I quit!" Three workers share their stories

The decision to quit your job can be a tough choice to make. There’s a lot to think about—and it can sometimes lead to sincere regret. But saying “I quit” can be liberating, too, as it can lead people to discover their best selves. Carolyn Smith, Jenna Clarke, and Ben Anderson all quit their jobs—and are now living better lives because of it.

Jenna: ‘I was done with being treated poorly’

I was an administrative assistant at a law firm in New York City for about three years. It was a pretty good job but some of the people I worked with weren’t very nice. I was often ignored at social occasions, and usually spent my lunch hour alone. Plus, I was never asked for things nicely—I was always told what to do.

I knew from the beginning it wouldn’t be the best job for me in terms of my mental health. I was constantly worrying that the lawyers I worked for didn’t like me or were upset with my work. I didn’t often receive feedback—positive or negative—so it was difficult to gauge what they thought of how I was doing. But I held onto the job for a few years: the benefits were great and the commute for me was short and easy.

The day before I quit was a particularly bad one. A co-worker had called in sick and another one was out on her honeymoon, so it was just me doing the administrative tasks for the day. I could hardly keep up with the work logs. I stayed late to finish and no one in the office seemed to notice. I didn’t receive a single thank-you for the insane amount of work I did that day: zero appreciation. I almost cleared out my desk and wasn’t going to come back, but I ended up returning the next day. That’s when I quit.

“I stayed late to finish and no one in the office seemed to notice. I didn’t receive a single thank-you for the insane amount of work I did that day: zero appreciation.”

In the morning, after eating the breakfast I picked up for him on my way to work, my supervisor reprimanded me for scheduling a meeting at an inconvenient time. He said I needed to screw my head on straight. Maybe if he had brought up the topic with me nicely things would have been different, but when I heard his harsh tone, I knew what I had to do. I was done being treated poorly. I told him that I was burnt out from all the work I was doing and that I was shocked at how nonchalantly I was treated around the office. “I’m going to take my skills elsewhere,” I said. He looked at me and shrugged, and I knew I had made the right choice. I grabbed a spare tote bag and packed up my desk things—photos, pens, notebooks. I went home and immediately began applying for new jobs.

Ben: ‘It was a spontaneous decision’

I quit a remote job in advertising in 2020, just after the movie Soul came out. That movie really affected me. It shows how important it is to embrace all aspects of your life and not just identify yourself by the job you have. I’ve always been a creative person, which led me into advertising, where I could brainstorm new ideas and share them with the world. But I guess I wasn’t as happy there as I thought I would be—even though I always identified myself by my job. I never said, “Hi, I’m Ben, I like hiking and cooking and I have a dog,” it was, “Hi, I’m Ben, I work in advertising.”

“I guess I wasn’t as happy there as I thought I would be—even though I always identified myself by my job.”

One day near the end of 2020 I was sitting in my home office—my company transitioned to working remotely because of Covid-19—working on a project. I wished I was outside taking a snowy walk with my dog, or writing something that was important to me, or even visiting my family. Basically, I wished I was doing just about anything else. I was surprised by my sudden urge to quit, but I also knew it was a feasible option: I had savings to fall back on. I nervously clicked out of the project I had been working on and messaged my manager to see if we could talk. A little while later, he told me to give him a call. He was surprised, too. I gave him my two weeks’ notice, but he said I could just resign immediately since the holidays were approaching. It all happened so quickly. These days, I am job hunting and making sure to appreciate the little things in life, just like in Soul.

Carolyn: ‘I wanted to make sure I had thought it through’

I worked in marketing and communications at a senior level in the Midwest. In early 2021, I was promoted to senior vice-president—it was about a year into Covid-19. It was the pandemic dragging on as long as it did, compounded by the fact that I’m a working parent, that led to my resignation. I have a toddler at home, and my husband works in healthcare, so it was really challenging to juggle my position while also trying to keep my sanity in the rest of my life. I was part of a smaller agency that didn’t really have the infrastructure in place to support its senior staff during a public-health crisis. I was taking on a big role that I might not have been expected to do at another business.

“It was the pandemic dragging on as long as it did, compounded by the fact that I’m a working parent, that led to my resignation. I have a toddler at home, and my husband works in healthcare, so it was really challenging.”

I reached the end of the year with a promise to myself that I would start to assess what else was out there. But in order to do that, I felt I had to rip off the Band-Aid and distance myself from my role, giving myself the mental space to recover from the burnout I’d experienced in 2021. I didn’t make a rash decision, though. I wanted to make sure I had thought it through. I spent the holidays working up to that moment, and on the first Monday of 2022 I finally quit. It was stressful to quit because I am, by nature, a people-pleaser. I’m very ambitious and success-oriented. So it felt like acknowledging a failure.

“I felt I had to rip off the Band-Aid and distance myself from my role, giving myself the mental space to recover from the burnout.”

I was working remotely, so I called up my boss to tell him the news. He’d been my manager for about five years, and we had a great rapport. He took it very well: he was gracious and professional and supportive. I stayed at the job for a few more weeks before handing it off. And a couple of weeks later, I knew that I had absolutely no regrets. Quitting felt like a really big weight was lifted off my shoulders. Plus, it led to a new path for me. I became a freelancer for the place I used to work for. Now I am self-employed. I’m in control of how much work I take on and what I can say no to, while still working in a field I love.

Photo: Welcome to the Jungle

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