I quit Merrill Lynch to start my own business. Leaving a 7-figure income and cushy corporate perks was hard, but I don't regret it.

Chad Willardson.

Tom Pellicer, Rowco Media, LLC

• Chad Willardson left Merrill Lynch in 2011 to start Pacific Capital, a wealth management firm.
• Industry changes post-Great Recession and corporate bureaucracy drove him away from Wall Street.
• Now he runs multiple businesses and doesn't regret leaving the comforts of corporate life.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Chad Willardson, a 45-year-old entrepreneur, investor, and author in Orange County, California. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2011, I left my job at Merrill Lynch after nine years to start Pacific Capital, a wealth management firm for entrepreneurs with at least $10 million to invest.

It was not easy to leave the comfort of my corner office, corporate perks, and awards and recognition at a big Wall Street bank. I was a high performer and earned over $1 million a year by my late 20s.

However the changes in our industry after the Great Recession changed much of our day-to-day work. The bureaucracy and slow-moving corporate mothership eventually frustrated me to the point that I questioned how long I could keep working there.

At the time, I was being recruited by other top banks

I considered going somewhere like Morgan Stanley, UBS, or Goldman Sachs, which offered major signing bonuses. It would've been a lot of money for me at the time, but trading one corporate Wall Street uniform for another one across the street didn't feel like the right long-term move.

I was tired of wearing a suit and tie and being told what the big company wanted to push on us. It was time for a drastic change. I felt like I needed to take a bigger leap and start my own thing, but I had no idea how to start a business.

I packed up my stuff and walked out with my assistant on a Monday morning. It felt like a major risk as a married 32-year-old with a big mortgage and a growing family. I didn't know how I would make it — I was just determined that I eventually would. My wife was also very nervous, but she believed in me.

I was under a lot of pressure when I started my business

I signed a lease on an office, hired a few employees, and had many expenses with zero revenue. I used my savings, borrowed against my house, and opened up a business credit card — I scrambled to figure it all out.

I spent all my time contacting potential clients via phone calls, emails, and postcards, walking business to business, and posting on social media — just like I had done in 2003 when I started as a rookie at Merrill Lynch.

The big advantage I found of being on this side of the industry was I could completely design the services around my ideal clients rather than trying to find clients to fit into the box of what a big corporation wanted. I started by targeting entrepreneurs with at least $1 million to invest.

I was profitable by the middle of 2012. I now have a team of 20 full-time employees and four part-time employees. One major upside of entrepreneurship I underestimated was the opportunity to build a great culture and teamwork within the firm.

There's no such thing as an average workday for me anymore

The Willardson family.

Oxanadia Photography

I now have an entrepreneurial coaching business. I also cofounded a sports complex in Southern California in 2019 and a fintech company dedicated to helping kids and teens gain financial education in 2021.

Every day is unique. I travel a ton, both for work and pleasure, so I work from wherever my family is. I don't go to the office much anymore, though most of my team chooses to go into the office. My team and I also fly all over to see clients and potential clients.

Try to start your entrepreneurial journey as a side hustle before making the full leap

Starting Pacific Capital as a side hustle wasn't possible for me because the securities brokerage business is a very strict industry that almost allows zero other activities besides your full-time employment. But in most situations, starting your business as a side hustle is possible. This approach allows you to validate your business idea, understand your market, and build a customer base with less financial risk.

I also recommend you identify your niche and leverage your current skills and passions to solve a specific set of problems for that niche. My target market is a very small subset of the population, and specializing in this market gives us a very distinct advantage over most financial advisors who are generalists.

Once you have a target market, build your online presence. I've consistently engaged on LinkedIn for years, and it's paid off. I've hired more than a dozen people through LinkedIn and have attracted new business there, too.

Your people are your most important asset. One of my biggest mistakes was holding on to a toxic employee in a key position for too long because he was very intelligent. I tried to justify the damage to the team culture and chemistry because he was talented. Be very careful with who you hire because that will make or break your future.

I've grown my net worth to over $50 million by taking risks

One key trait of successful entrepreneurs is going all in on opportunities when most people are paralyzed by fear. For example, when real estate was in a downturn from 2007 to 2009, I aggressively borrowed to invest in underpriced properties.

My personal real-estate portfolio grew to include everything from duplexes and apartment complexes to skilled nursing facilities and car washes.

Follow the wise counsel of Warren Buffett: "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful." My biggest leaps in net worth have always come when I took big chances while others stood still.

Entrepreneurship is not the only path to success

To become wealthy, you invest your income into assets that will grow in value over time and eventually pay you an income or a large lump sum. You don't have to be an entrepreneur.

What you don't see behind the scenes of entrepreneurship is a ton of failure, doubt, and hard times. There's a reason most businesses fail within the first five years. You must be fully invested and committed to succeed because it will likely take longer, require more sacrifice, and cost more money than expected.

I have zero regrets about leaving Merrill Lynch to become an entrepreneur. Had I stayed at a big Wall Street bank, I never would've been able to start my other businesses. I also don't wish I left sooner because I needed those nine years to learn and prepare. I believe I left at just the right time.

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Modi's Russia visit shows India isn't worried about making the US mad

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

• In a move likely to anger the US, Modi is visiting Russia.
• The move signals strong ties between Delhi and Moscow, and shows the world India is pursuing its own agenda.
• Modi is aiming to correct the trade imbalance and address China's Indo-Pacific activities.

In a move likely to anger the US, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Russia on Monday for his first bilateral trip after winning a historic third term in office.

Modi's two-day visit to Russia — where he is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin — is significant in that it signals strong ties between Delhi and Moscow. It also shows the world that India is not afraid to pursue its own agenda.

Vinay Kwatra, India's foreign secretary, told reporters in New Delhi that issues between Russia and India have "piled up" and "need to be addressed," per Bloomberg.

Russia's relationship with India goes back to the Cold War, and trade between the two countries has grown since Russia started the war in Ukraine. India is a major buyer of Russian oil. Russia is also India's biggest arms supplier.

Kwatra underscored that the two countries' trade relationship has remained "resilient."

Still, Modi's trip will "rankle many Western observers," Ved Shinde, a researcher and contributor to Australia's Lowy Institute think tank, wrote in a note on Wednesday.

"Since the Ukraine war began, India's purchase of cheap oil from Russia has been seen as profiting from troubles in the heart of Europe," Shinde added.

Modi's visit to Russia will make the US look bad

Just like Putin's visit to supply-chain hot spot Vietnam, India's engagement with Russia isn't a good look for the US, as it comes while Washington is isolating Putin's regime.

The US has raised "some concerns" about India's relationship with Russia with New Delhi, Kurt Campbell, the US Deputy Secretary of State, said last month.

However, Washington acknowledges that India's ties with Russia are different from its ties with the US.

"We have many areas of alignment, but it is not surprising that there would be areas where we've had perhaps different perspectives, views, historical ties," Campbell said about America's relationship with India.

India, for its part, is looking to balance its relationship with the world's key powerbrokers — the US, Russia, and China.

"There are different degrees in India's multi-alignment. Make no mistake — the United States and its allies are more consequential for India's future than its relationship with Russia," wrote Shinde.

India needs to leverage its historical ties with Russia to secure its economy and security, so Modi isn't just in Russia for a goodwill trip.

Reducing the trade imbalance

A key agenda item for the visit is to reduce a huge bilateral trade imbalance, said Kwatra.

India imports about $60 billion of goods a year from Russia, but Russia buys less than 10% of this amount from India, per Bloomberg.

Modi may also touch on China's activities in the Indo-Pacific region, said Kwatra.

India is trying to manage its relationship with China, which has been testy since a border dispute in 2020. Modi skipped the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kazakhstan last week.

There's also the matter of Russia's ties with China.

At the summit last week, Putin said Russia's relationship with China is in the "best period in history."

Modi now needs to cozy up to Putin to counter China's advances.

"The reason for the time-tested stability in India-Russia ties is to maintain a continental balance in the Eurasian heartland. That is, to balance China," wrote Shinde.

"Or to put it another way, don't go around making new adversaries when there are already two open fronts — China and Pakistan," Shinde added.

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A day in the life of Robert Rivani, a 34-year-old real-estate mogul with $750M in deals who left LA to invest in Miami

Robert Rivani has bought and sold more than $750 million in real-estate deals.

Shumanev Production

• Mohawked real-estate investor Robert Rivani moved from California to Florida in 2022.
• Rivani, who dropped out of high school, went on to transact over $750 million in commercial deals.
• He described a typical day in his life in Miami, from intermittent fasting to trying to never drive.

Robert Rivani got a taste for business flipping shoes as a teenager in his hometown of Los Angeles.

At first, he said, he sold his own Air Jordan and Nike shoes to just afford other shoes, but when business took off, he was making $10,000 a month before he could legally drink. He dropped out of high school in the 11th grade. At 18 years old, Rivani said he was approached to sell his shoe collection for over $150,000 and he took it.

"The hustle came young because my family wasn't wealthy or rich by any means, and I wanted to be able to afford nicer things in life," Rivani, now 34, told Business Insider. "The only way for me to go about getting that done was by making it on my own."

He started working in property management, helping run buildings in Los Angeles, and has stayed in real estate ever since. He specializes in buying more dated buildings, from restaurants to offices, and revamping them.

"I consider myself somewhat of an artist when it comes to designing the properties," he said. "Painting a building a certain way or making it more aesthetically pleasing, from the facade or the landscaping, and then being able to have tenants buy into the vision. It was an amazing thing to turn around these dilapidated properties into something special or unique."

Rivani left California in 2022 to make his mark in Miami, where he's grown his real-estate portfolio.

His investment group, Black Lion, has a portfolio of restaurants, office buildings, and mixed-use buildings in South Florida totaling 500,000 square feet of space owned.

His hospitality real-estate investment firm has completed $750 million in transactions, he said.

In April, he paid $62.5 million for a building in Miami Beach with stores at its base and offices above. He plans to renovate the interior and exterior and rebrand it at The Rivani. So far, West Elm and Williams Sonoma are retail tenants.

"To buy my own office building at 34 years old for 60-some-odd million with no investors or no partners was a huge milestone in my career," Rivani said. "It was a dream of mine since I was a kid to have that and then also have the building named with my last name."

Robert Rivani posing in front of his former Beverly Hills mansion.

1Ten Media

Rivani is also known for his California home — a Beverly Hills castle inspired by "Harry Potter" and "Game of Thrones," including a $50,000 replica of the latter franchise's iron throne — which he sold for $22 million in 2023.

Rivani now lives in a 9,000-square-foot mansion in Miami. He let Business Insider take a peek inside a typical day, and described how he sets his life up for success.

5:30 a.m.

Although Rivani left California for South Florida, he still sticks to his West-Coast rituals and wakes up around 5:30 a.m. or 6 a.m. While working in California, he still had properties to worry about on the East Coast, so he had to be up early to stay efficient. Now it's just a habit.

"I get anxiety if I sleep until 8 a.m. or 9 a.m.," Rivani told BI. "I feel like I'm missing things. I feel like I'm being disrespectful."

6 a.m.

Once awake, Rivani immediately spends 30 minutes to an hour catching up on emails he didn't get to the night before and researching current market trends. He also takes time to meditate and visualize what's ahead in the day.

Around 7 a.m. every morning he has tea with his wife, Krystal.

Rivani and his wife, Krystal.

Anna Orsborn

"I can't stress how important it is to have a healthy, stable marriage when you're trying to do what you do in real estate because you're always so busy 24/7," he said. "I make sure I spend quality time with her in the morning."

8 a.m.

Rivani usually hits the gym in the morning for about an hour.

"I'm a big, big believer in going to the gym at least four to five days a week — or at least staying active, whether that's hitting weights or playing paddle or tennis or physical therapy to keep my body," he said. "As I've gotten older, I've realized that without your health, there's no wealth."

9 a.m.

Rivani leaves his home in Miami to his office in Miami Beach — which can take up to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Even that 45-minute drive is valuable time, so his personal assistant or wife drives while Rivani texts and takes calls.

"I'd rather not text and be on phone calls," he said. "A lot of the good old residential brokers do, and I see them on their phone. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

10 a.m.

Rivani is a believer in intermittent fasting and has his first meal, usually a protein shake, at 10 a.m.

His next meal won't come until dinner.

"I'm a big fan of intermittent fasting, so that's why I decided to drink tea versus other drinks because I fast for 14 to 16 hours every single day," he said. "I won't eat any food or have any special breakfast routine."

1 p.m.

On Mondays, Rivani is usually slammed with a gauntlet of meetings from the legal team, to the construction team, to designer meetings, so he's usually in the office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Throughout his meetings he'll meet with his legal team and go over the status of pending deals. Meetings with the construction team checking in to see where they're at with bids on new projects and ensuring current projects are on track. He'll have interior design meetings to go over renderings for projects and help with furniture selection.

However, he's a little more active every other day of the week. Tuesday through Friday, Rivani meets with tenant companies, potential vendors, and contractors.

Rivani has the luxury of having restaurants, including Delilah Miami, as tenants and can host multiple meetings in one location instead of bouncing around Miami.

Rivani posing in an all-red outfit.

Michael Timzil Nio

"I'll set back-to-back meetings at one of my restaurant properties where I'll just have people coming there," he said. "So I try to be as efficient with my time. I'm never lapping the city to go to a meeting and going to another meeting — that's just an inefficient use of my time."

7 p.m.

About 65% of the time, Rivani eats dinner at home, he said.

"My wife loves to cook, and if I decide to eat out too much she'll kill me," he said. "On the weekends, that's when we're going out and having dinners. I'll be having dinners much later than that, unfortunately."

After dinner, Rivani winds down by watching TV for about an hour — he's on his third watch of the History Channel's Viking-age drama "Vikings," he said.

Rivani said that because of the nature of the job, he's still fielding calls up until bedtime.

"There's no cutoff," he said. "There are times when I'm talking to people right up until bed. I had a really bad habit where I would leave my phone on at night. But now it's on silent and I don't pick up anyone's call. Once it gets to 9 o'clock-ish, my phone just goes on silent and time's up."

9 p.m.

It's time for bed.

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Ed Sheeran branded the whole of London as 'sketchy.' The millionaire pop star is said to own more than 20 properties there.

Ed Sheeran.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images

• Ed Sheeran branded the entirety of London as "sketchy."
• Sheeran made the comments in an episode of "This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von."
• Sheeran reportedly owns more than 20 properties in London.

Ed Sheeran branded the entirety of London as "sketchy" in a recent episode of Theo Von's "This Past Weekend" podcast — despite the pop star reportedly owning more than 20 properties in the UK capital.

Asked about the most dangerous part of the UK, Sheeran, 33, said: "Here? I'd say every area of London. Literally, every area is sketchy."

"The nice areas are sketchy, the bad areas are sketchy. But you just have to not do stupid shit," he told Von. "If you wander around with, I dunno, like a Louis Vuitton duffel bag and a 200 grand watch, you are going to get robbed."

"But just don't do that," he added.

According to the website crimerate.co.uk, the crime rate in London over a 12 month-period ending April 2024 was 106 crimes per 1,000 people.

The site says that Hackney in east London is the city's most dangerous borough based on Crime Risk Scores, which it says are calculated by taking the severity of crimes into account, while the safest borough is Richmond upon Thames in the southwest of the capital.

Sheeran's apparent reserves about London's safety haven't stopped the singer from investing in the city, however.

The MailOnline reported in 2022 that the Grammy-award-winning artist had built up a portfolio of 22 properties in London, including two spots in Covent Garden in the city's West End.

Nevertheless, Sheeran spends most of his time residing on a 16-acre estate in Suffolk, in the east of England.

The lavish estate reportedly has a barn that Sheeran renovated into a private pub, as well as its own chapel — where the singer even added a crypt.

A representative for Sheeran did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

While Sheeran is now one of the biggest names in music, he started out as a struggling artist who spent some nights sleeping rough in London as he attempted to make it big.

Writing about the early days of his career in his 2014 autobiography, "Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey," Sheeran recalled: "There was an arch outside Buckingham Palace that has a heating duct and I spent a couple of nights there. That's where I wrote the song 'Homeless' and the lines 'It's not a homeless night for me, I'm just home less than I'd like to be.'"

Per the book, it was while performing at a local homeless shelter that Sheeran met a sex worker and drug addict named Angel, who inspired his debut 2011 single "The A Team."

The song catapulted Sheeran into the limelight, and he has since gone on to amass a fortune of around £300 million (roughly $384 million), according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2023.

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This soccer star who came from nothing has been funding universal basic income in his hometown for years

Former Liverpool star Sadio Mané financed his own UBI-style program.

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

• An elite soccer player has funded a universal basic income program in his hometown for years.
• Sadio Mané said he gives roughly $76 a month to all residents of a "very poor region of Senegal."
• The ex-Liverpool star has financed a school, a hospital, and other infrastructure in Bambali.

YouTube star Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson recently donated $200,000 toward a universal basic income program in the Ugandan village of Karamoja. A top soccer player who grew up desperately poor has funded a similar initiative in his African hometown for years.

Sadio Mané, who played for top clubs like Liverpool and Bayern Munich before transferring to Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr last year, revealed in a 2019 interview that he gives 70 euros ($76) a month to every resident of a "very poor region of Senegal."

He likely meant the village he grew up in, Bambali, which has about 2,000 residents. The exact details of Mané's giving aren't public, but if he hands the equivalent of $76 a month to 2,000 people, that would cost him about $152,000 a month, or $1.8 million a year.

The monthly stipend is roughly in line with Senegal's monthly minimum wage of $88, per Statista. Mané reportedly earns more than $40 million a year tax-free at his Saudi club.

Sadio Mané plays in an Africa Cup match this year.

Visionhaus/Getty Images

UBI usually refers to recurring cash payments made to all individuals in a population regardless of their wealth, with no restrictions on how the money is spent.

The idea has gained momentum as a poverty-reduction tool in recent years, and the likes of Elon Musk and Sam Altman have touted it as a useful response to the mass job losses they expect artificial intelligence to cause.

Here's what Mané told Canal+ Sport Afrique in 2019, as reported by Ghanaian news site Nsemwoha: "Why would I want 10 Ferraris, 20 diamond watches, or two planes?" the multimillionaire said before describing his childhood.

"I was hungry, and I had to work in the field. I survived hard times, played football barefooted. I did not have an education and many other things. But today with what I win thanks to football, I can help my people," Mané said.

"We built schools, a stadium, we provide clothes, shoes, food for people who are in extreme poverty. In addition, I give 70 euros per month to all people in a very poor region of Senegal which contributes to their family economy. I do not need to display luxury cars, luxury homes, trips, and even planes. I prefer that my people receive a little of what life has given me," he added.

Mané, whose father died when he was seven, donated almost $350,000 to build a school in Bambali in 2019, then another $500,000 or so in 2021 for a hospital.

He's also financed the construction of a post office, gas station, rolled out 4G cell coverage, launched programs providing free laptops and sportswear for children, and offered cash grants for top students.

Between the infrastructure projects and his UBI program, Mané appears to have plowed several million dollars into his hometown over the years.

Al Nassr didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

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Elon Musk mocks Mark Zuckerberg's big hydrofoil swag moment, says he prefers to work instead of having fun on yachts

"May he continue to have fun on his yachts. I prefer to work," Elon Musk (left) said of the hydrofoiling video that Mark Zuckerberg (right) posted to Instagram and Facebook on Independence Day.

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images; @zuck via Instagram

• Elon Musk has weighed in on Mark Zuckerberg's latest viral stunt.
• The Meta CEO posted a video of himself hydrofoiling while wearing a tuxedo. Musk wasn't impressed.
• "May he continue to have fun on his yachts. I prefer to work," Musk said of the video.

Mark Zuckerberg may have wowed his fans with a badass video of himself hydrofoiling on Independence Day, but Elon Musk certainly doesn't seem impressed.

"May he continue to have fun on his yachts. I prefer to work," Musk wrote in an X post in response to the video.

Zuckerberg went viral on Thursday after he posted a video of himself surfing on a hydrofoil to Facebook and Instagram. In the clip, the Meta CEO can be seen waving an American flag and taking sips from a can of beer, all while dressed to the nines in a tuxedo.

"Happy birthday, America!" Zuckerberg captioned his post.

Representatives for Musk and Zuckerberg didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)

This, of course, isn't the first time Musk has thrown shade at his tech world nemesis.

In June 2023, Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cage match following reports that said Meta was building an X rival.

Zuckerberg initially agreed to the request but brushed aside the proposal after months of back and forth. Musk, however, hasn't forgotten about the fight.

"If only Zuckerberg were as tough (sigh). I've offered to fight him any place, any time, any rules, but all I hear is crickets," Musk said in an X post on May 15, a day after Zuckerberg celebrated his 40th birthday.

Zuckerberg isn't the only yacht-owning billionaire that Musk has accused of being a slouch.

In 2021, Musk made a similar remark about his fellow space baron, Jeff Bezos. The SpaceX CEO told the Financial Times in an interview then that Bezos should spend more time on his rocket company, Blue Origin.

"As a friend of mine says, he should spend more time at Blue Origin and less time in the hot tub," Musk told the outlet.

Bezos, it seems, paid no mind to Musk's zinger and has gone on to enjoy some hot yacht summers.

To be sure, Musk is no stranger to yachts.

In July 2022, he was seen lounging on a yacht in Mykonos, Greece, with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and his fashion designer wife, Sarah Staudinger.

Haha damn, maybe I should take off my shirt more often … free the nip!!
(already back in the factory btw)

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2022

"Haha damn, maybe I should take off my shirt more often … free the nip!! (already back in the factory btw)," Musk wrote in an X post on July 18, 2022.

That getaway was a rare moment for Musk, who's famously said that he hates taking vacations.

Musk once came close to dying in 2000 when he contracted malaria while vacationing in South Africa.

According to Musk, the trip, which took place after Peter Thiel ousted him as PayPal CEO, was the first real vacation he took. It's also worth mentioning that Musk got booted from PayPal while on his honeymoon with his first wife, Justine Musk.

"In the last 12 years, I only tried to take a week off twice," he said in 2015. "The first time I took a week off, the Orbital Sciences rocket exploded, and Richard Branson's rocket exploded in that same week."

"The second time I took a week off, my rocket exploded," Musk said.

"The lesson here is, don't take a week off," he added.

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3 high-earners share when they knew it was time to quit their 6-figure jobs: 'It was literally driving me to the edge'

Marsell Gorska Gautier/Getty Images

• Three high-earners quit six-figure jobs to prioritize their mental health.
• They struggled to manage high-pressure workdays and lack of support.
• They found new careers that offer flexibility and better work-life balance.

Six-figure salaries can come with extremely demanding workloads and higher stakes. This can feel unmanageable without a supportive work environment, and in some cases, employees are left to choose between their paycheck or their mental health.

Business Insider spoke with three high-earners who left their six-figure jobs to save their mental health. They each started their careers eager to make a splash in their industry, but were quickly disillusioned by the high pressure, exhaustive workdays, and tough feedback.

When their mental health plummeted, they were forced to quit.

Jean Kang was overwhelmed by her company's 'hustle -culture'

Thirty-one-year-old Jean Kang initially loved the perks that came with her six-figure salaries at her different jobs in Big Tech.

"I was spoiled with tech benefits in every role — great pay, free food, remote work, gym memberships, massages, and more," Kang told BI.

Despite the unique perks, Kang said that she felt immense pressure to overdeliver and outperform competitors — a virtue of the 'hustle culture' that dominated her workplace. Kang said she struggled at the realization that she'd given her life for a job that was ultimately just making big companies more money.

After a mass layoff in 2023 forced her to acknowledge the fragility of her job, Kang saw an opportunity to leave Big Tech for good. She said she'd been juggling a few side hustles after work and finally took a risk on herself by leaving her $300,000 paycheck to become a full-time content creator and career coach.

"My biggest fear was failing, but I knew I'd regret not betting on myself and could always land another job after I tried this," Kang said.

She was happy to share that her anxiety and 'Sunday scaries' disappeared once she became her own boss. She felt liberated to work a flexible, remote job.

"I now choose what projects make me happy and don't give myself too much pressure to succeed. I work 30 to 40 hours and some weekends now, but not because I have to — I want to."

Eric Yu suffered from panic attacks at work for six months

Twenty-eight-year-old Eric Yu told BI that he spent his first two years working at Facebook as a starry-eyed recent grad excited to be pursuing a career in tech. But, as the novelty faded, anxiety took its place.

Long work days of intense coding turned into long nights of worrying about what needed to get done. He stayed late to finish tasks but still faced tough criticism from engineers. He told BI that his overwhelm manifested into panic attacks — which continued for six debilitating months.

"I was at the lowest point in my life. Every day felt like a grind: I didn't know what I was doing or why I was still working," Yu said.

It wasn't until his boss seriously questioned his work output that Yu made a pledge to himself to quit tech. Yu quit his job after brainstorming alternative income streams with his then-girlfriend (who became his fiancé), Wanda, and settling on house hacking.

"I know it sounds crazy to leave a $370,000 job, and staying at Meta for the rest of my life would have ensured financial security, but I knew it wasn't right for me."

He's now making passive income from real estate and using his extra time to explore what he really wants in life.

A former McKinsey employee had to go on mental-health disability leave

A former McKinsey employee, who chose to be anonymous due to privacy concerns, told BI that he knew his associate role would be tough. Still, he was willing to stick it out to sharpen his analytical skills. He didn't expect, however, the all-consuming nature of his work.

He told BI that there was a lack of mentorship, exceptionally high standards, and mean coworkers, all wrapped up into gruesome, 16-hour shifts.

"And it was pedal to the metal — I didn't leave my desk, forgot to eat, and dropped tons of weight," he admitted. "I barely remembered to go to the bathroom. I only remembered to get up when I noticed my dog looking at me sadly."

After a year, he reached his breaking point.

"It was literally driving me to the edge. I just couldn't do it anymore. I was crying more and taking anxiety medication at a higher dosage than I had ever needed before joining."

Despite his $200,000 salary, he decided to take a three-month mental health disability leave.

His time away from work only confirmed the severity of his condition when he found it difficult to take care of himself or even leave his home. He decided to quit McKinsey to focus on his mental health.

A year after quitting, he shared that his mental health improved, and he was ready to reenter the workforce.

"As I look for a new job, I'm looking for companies that care about their employees, value inclusivity, and treat everyone with respect."

If you quit your job due to mental health concerns and would like to tell your story, email Tess Martinelli at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com.

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