10 Things I Wish I'd Known Before Leaving My Corporate Job to Follow My Calling

I left my corporate job with £400 in my bank account, a half built soap business and absolutely no plan.

Looking back there are things I wish someone had told me. Not to put me off — but to help me do it with a little more grace and a little less terror.

If you are sitting in a job that is draining the life out of you and dreaming of something more — this one is for you.

1. Get clear on your finances first

I left with £400 and a prayer and while that worked out for me I wouldn't necessarily recommend it!

Before you leave get really clear on your numbers. Here's what I'd suggest:

Work out your minimum viable income. Sit down and list every single monthly outgoing — rent or mortgage, bills, food, car, insurance, subscriptions, everything. Add them all up. That number is your minimum viable income — what you absolutely need to earn every month to keep the lights on. Knowing this number takes some of the fear out of the unknown because the unknown becomes a little more known.

Work out your pricing from there. If your minimum viable income is £2,000 a month and you want to work with 10 clients — you need to charge at least £200 per client. Simple maths but so many people skip this step and then wonder why they're not making enough.

Look into what support is available. When you first go self employed in the UK you may be entitled to Universal Credit to top up your income while you build. It's worth looking into — there is no shame in using the support that's there for exactly this reason.

Open a business bank account now. Even before you leave. Keep your business money completely separate from your personal money from day one. It makes everything so much simpler when it comes to tax.

Set aside 20-30% of everything you earn for tax. Put it in a separate savings account and don't touch it. Future you will be very grateful.

2. Save up a buffer if you can

Even a few months of living expenses in a savings account will give you breathing space in those first wobbly months of self employment. You won't have to say yes to every client out of desperation. You won't panic every time a quiet week comes along.

I didn't have this and I really wish I had. Learn from my mistakes 😄

Even saving a small amount each month from now builds up over time. Set up a standing order the day you read this — even £50 a month is a start. Every little helps and it sends a powerful message to yourself that you are serious about this.

3. Set a departure date — and mean it

This was the one thing I did right.

July. I'm leaving in July. That's it.

Having a date gave me something to move towards instead of just away from. It made the decision real. It stopped me going round in circles indefinitely.

Pick your date. Write it down. Tell someone you trust. And then work towards it with everything you have.

Your date doesn't have to be next month. It could be six months away, a year away. But having it in your diary changes everything — suddenly every decision you make is in service of that date.

4. Check if redundancy is an option

I turned down redundancy when it was offered because I was so frozen with fear I couldn't think straight. I beat myself up about it for years.

That money would have given me a financial cushion and funded my business in those early days. If redundancy is on the table where you work — seriously consider it. Don't make the same mistake I did.

It's also worth checking your contract for any notice period requirements, garden leave clauses or restrictive covenants that might affect what you can do immediately after leaving. Know your rights before you hand that notice in.

5. Start your business on the side — even in small ways

You don't need to have everything figured out before you leave. But start. Make the first soap. See your first client. Set up your Instagram. Write your first blog post.

Every small action builds momentum and momentum builds confidence. By the time you leave you will already have begun — and that changes everything.

For a holistic business specifically:

• Get any qualifications or training you need while you still have a salary coming in
• See a handful of clients in the evenings or at weekends to start building experience and testimonials
• Start creating content about what you do — educate your future clients before you even have any
• Set up a simple website — it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to exist

6. Start marketing before you leave

I know this feels scary. You might not want your colleagues to know what you're planning. But building an audience takes time and the sooner you start the better.

You don't have to shout about it. Just begin quietly — share what you love, educate your future clients, show up consistently. Plant the seeds now so that by the time you leave there are people already waiting for you.

Some practical starting points:

• Choose one social media platform and show up there consistently — Instagram and Pinterest work beautifully for holistic businesses
• Share your own journey — people connect with real stories far more than polished content
• Start building an email list from day one — social media followers are borrowed, your email list is yours
• Tell people what you do — word of mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools there is

7. Work on your money mindset

This one is so important and so overlooked.

The fear of not having enough money will follow you into your business if you don't address it now. I see it all the time — women who leave their jobs and then undercharge, give too much away for free and constantly feel like they're not making enough.

When you own your own business money isn't always consistent, especially to start with. There's. no one pay day, having some tools to help you manage any quieter periods will serve you VERy well. 

Start reading about money mindset. Work with flower essences for abundance and self worth. Do the inner work around what money means to you. Your relationship with money will shape your business more than any strategy.

Some books that helped me enormously:

• You Can Heal Your Life — Louise Hay
• The Big Leap — Gay Hendricks
• You Are a Badass at Making Money — Jen Sincero

8. Do your inner work — the fear will follow you if you don't

This is the one most people skip. And it's the most important one on this list.

Leaving the job doesn't make the fear go away. I thought it would. It doesn't.

The fear of not being good enough, not being worthy, not deserving success — that comes with you into your business unless you actively work on it. And it will show up in ways you might not expect — undercharging, giving too much away for free, saying yes when you mean no, constantly feeling like you're not doing enough.

Here's what I'd suggest:

Work with flower essences. They are one of the most gentle and profound tools I know for shifting the emotional patterns that keep us stuck. Larch is the essence of self belief and confidence — it was the first essence I ever took when I was too scared to leave my corporate job. Mimulus is for known fears. Elm for overwhelm. A bespoke blend made specifically for your transition can be truly transformational. 🌸

Book a Reiki or energy healing session. Fear, self doubt and years of conditioning live in the body and the energy field — not just the mind. Talking about it only goes so far. Energy healing gets to the root of it in a way that nothing else does.

Look at your Human Design. Understanding your energetic blueprint — how you are designed to make decisions, work and show up in the world — is one of the most liberating things you can do. So much of the fear and self doubt comes from trying to operate like someone you're not. When you understand your design you can stop that.

And here's what I know from my own experience — when you work from your true self rather than your self image everything gets so much easier.

I spent years in my business trying to prove myself. Trying to be the best. Working harder than I needed to, pushing when I should have been flowing. That's classic enneagram type 3 — the achiever — always performing, always striving, always measuring worth by results.

When I finally began to release that self image and started showing up from my authentic self rather than the version of myself I thought I needed to be — things began to flow. Clients came. Opportunities arrived. The struggle didn't disappear but it became so much lighter.

You cannot build a soul led business from a false sense of self. It simply doesn't work. But when you strip that away and build from who you truly are — that's when the magic happens. 

Start a daily spiritual practice. Even ten minutes a day — meditation, journalling, pulling a card, sitting quietly with an essential oil. Building a daily practice strengthens your connection to your own inner guidance so you can hear it above the noise of the fear.

Get support. You don't have to do this alone. Find a therapist, a coach, a healer — someone who can hold space for you through the transition. The women who make the leap most gracefully are the ones who ask for help.

The inner work is not a luxury. It is the foundation of everything. Build it now and your business will be built on something solid. 🌸

9. Be grateful for where you are right now

I know this is hard when you are miserable and desperate to leave. But that job paid your bills. It kept a roof over your head. It funded the early days of your dream even if it didn't feel like it.

I used to bless everything — my colleagues, my boss, the building, all of it. Not because I loved being there but because gratitude shifts your energy. And your energy is everything when you are building something new.

Try this — at the end of every working day find three things to be genuinely grateful for. It doesn't matter how small. It shifts something. 🌸

10. You will never feel completely ready. Leap anyway.

This is the most important thing I can tell you.

There will never be a perfect moment. There will never be enough money saved, enough clients lined up, enough certainty about what lies ahead.

The leap is always taken before you feel ready. That's what makes it a leap.

I cried and cried on my last day. I was full of fear. And then a butterfly flew in through the window flew round the room and flew out again and in that moment I knew I had been sent a Sogn to say — this is right, everything is going to be fine. Even when it's terrifying. Especially when it's terrifying.

The messy leap is still a leap. And fourteen years on — here I am. Doing what I love, working with vibrational tools to help women transform, helping other women find their purpose and take their own leap into work that truly lights them up.

You can do this. 🌸

Ready to take your leap but not sure how to get there?

She Rises is a 12 week 1-1 journey combining Reiki, crystal healing, flower essences, essential oils, Human Design and yin yoga — everything you need to clear the fear, find your purpose and take the leap into work that truly lights you up.

You don't have to do this alone. And you don't have to do it the messy way I did — although if you do, know that the messy leap is still a leap 😄🌸

CLICK HERE to find out more about She Rises