I Quit my $150K Job to Climb Without a Ladder

I finally claimed my own independence on July 4th 2025. A stable salary, free lunches, free healthcare, fully-sponsored business trips every other month: I gave them up to take a bet on myself, outside of the safety net I used to thrive in.

My first goal: make $1,000 in 90 days. Before quitting, I had been building an app for Jiu Jitsu athletes. After days of perfecting it, I finally launched it on Reddit. I braced myself for criticism, but I got worse: crickets. Visitors left within seconds. Every polished interface I made counted for nothing. I had mistaken motion for progress. It reminded me how easy it is to fool yourself into feeling productive without actually moving the needle. Nobody needed the app I had worked so hard on. It was a classic rookie mistake of building before selling.

In a job, you deliver what's asked. Out here, you prove why what you deliver matters. I needed to start with the people first, not the product. I pivoted to helping financial advisors: they'll talk to anyone, and maybe they'll pay to make even more money. I booked calls, applied lessons from sales books and podcasts, and earned my first $200+ in monthly recurring revenue with a simple AI cold-calling tool. Not much, but I got a hands-on lesson on craft and distribution: a good product isn't enough without the right people seeing it.

I soon started reaching out to business owners. At first, I doubted myself, wondering if I was merely freelancing. Soon, the line between freelancing and building a company became clear: ownership. Freelancers, like employees, still trade their time for money; I built assets that I owned. At my old job, I spent hours building products I no longer benefit from. Now, every project I touch belongs to me. I get to keep the upside beyond a single contract. Each hour I spend now builds leverage beyond the day itself.

I ultimately hit my 90-day goal. It wasn't life-changing, but I got a glimpse of what matters: owning your outcomes, testing ideas quickly with people, and creating leverage. That's why I started defy.work — a place to share experiments, small bets, and the lessons they produce. To question what it means to work, to quietly own your craft, and to see how effort compounds when it belongs to you. Quitting wasn't easy, but stepping off the ladder let me carry the weight of every choice, climb on my own terms, and take control of my time and impact I create.