Why Most People Never Quit Their Job and Miss Out on Freelance Freedom And EXACTLY What It Will Cost You [ Freelancing to Financial Freedom ]
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Have you ever wondered if you’ll EVER be able to ditch your corporate job?
If you've been dreaming about freelancing but keep putting it off because of fears around financial stability, benefits, or providing for your family, you're not alone.
Join me on Day 1 of this 7-day series where we will explore why so many professionals stay stuck in jobs they no longer enjoy and reveal the true cost of delaying a career change.
In this episode, you'll discover:
The hidden financial, personal, and mental costs of staying in a corporate role you no longer enjoy.
Why freelancing doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing leap.
How creating your own freelance career can give you greater income potential, more control over your time, and the freedom to prioritize what matters most.
Press play now to discover whether starting a freelance side hustle today could be the first step toward a more rewarding and flexible future.
Connect with Kiri, the host:
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Episode Transcript:
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Kiri Mohan: Welcome back to the show, everyone. I am so excited. We are on day one of what it actually looks like to quit your corporate job, or if you've been laid off from your corporate job, or even been like, hey, I really need to start freelancing, I need to be my own boss, I need to get out of this place.
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Kiri Mohan: And if you even have a corporate background, here we are. We're on day one of what it actually looks like to go through and make these shifts.
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Kiri Mohan: in actually… Trust, that is not good. Let me…
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Kiri Mohan: You know what the fuck I'm doing. Alright.
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Kiri Mohan: Let me pause this so you don't have to listen to me.
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Kiri Mohan: Alright, let's try again.
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Kiri Mohan: Welcome back to the show. I am so excited to do this 7-part series for you, and we're releasing an episode every single day for you, okay? And it's mostly…
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Kiri Mohan: Based on, you know, having that corporate past and shifting and transitioning into freelancing, because most people don't stay in corporate because they love their job, right? They stay because they're afraid to make the leap. And in this special 7-part series, we're gonna tackle the fears, myths, money questions, mindset shifts, all of that that stand between you
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Kiri Mohan: and a successful freelance career. So let's just dive in right now to day one, where we're going to be talking about why most people never quit their job and miss out of this wonderful freelance lifestyle that I've created, my students have created, and exactly what it costs you by staying scared and not quitting. So I think why most people never leave their job
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Kiri Mohan: really is because of three important factors. One, they fear the loss of benefits. This is huge in the United States, not so much for my Canadian and UK counterparts over there, but the loss of benefits in the United States is really big. That means health insurance, 401K, possibly 401 match, dental insurance.
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Kiri Mohan: And even other benefits, like FMLA leave, there's also, you know, short-term disability, long-term disability, there's also, you know, life
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Kiri Mohan: insurance sometimes, if your company's really great like that, and that's a huge chunk to miss out on, so I get that.
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Kiri Mohan: I think number two is that people think they won't have stability. And this is huge, and I get it, right? Like, people look at freelancing as an insecure job option, where it's feast or famine, and you're not going to be able to ever, you know.
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Kiri Mohan: replace your corporate salary, and it's something that you shouldn't consider, especially if you have, you know, dependents that are relying on you, a family, even when you just have to pay mortgage, rent, etc, right? And grocery prices nowadays, oh my god, right?
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Kiri Mohan: And I think that leads also to…
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Kiri Mohan: Number 3? Number 3 is they have a family to provide, where clearly, Ross, I did not really read through this, okay? Let's try again.
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Kiri Mohan: Now, why I think most people don't leave their job, and why they refuse to, and what I think the real cost…
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Kiri Mohan: Now, why people don't lose… leave their job, and they want to stay in their job is, I think, comes down to two reasons. One is the fear of loss of benefits, okay? And that's huge, right? Because here in the US, and this is different in Canada and the UK and other parts of the world, but here in the US, huge one is health insurance that's very pricey to pay for yourself, and most of the time, your employer pays
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Kiri Mohan: all of it, or some of it, for you, okay? Then there's dental insurance, there's also 401K. Sometimes an employer will match your 401K as well, which is huge, the contributions that you make. There's short-term disability, long-term disability, FMLA. There's even sometimes life insurance that you get through your company, if it's really awesome like that. And then, like, some really crazy cool causes.
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Kiri Mohan: like, companies have perks, right? They'll have, like, health and wellness perks, and meditation apps, and all these things that you can sign up for. I remember my husband's company at Microsoft had,
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Kiri Mohan: like,
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Kiri Mohan: online therapy, right, that you could take advantage of as well, and so there's all these benefits, and you think, why the heck would I want to leave? Even if you feel this yearning inside of you, that loss of benefits is a hard thing to stomach, to swallow, and be okay with.
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Kiri Mohan: And I think number two comes down to they think they aren't going to have stability, and they have a family to provide for. It's one thing when you're by yourself, and you can kind of figure it out on your own. It's another thing when you have dependents
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Kiri Mohan: you know, in the form of children, even a dog sometimes, right? And you've got a mortgage or rent, you have a partner and a spouse, and then you also have to think about rising gas prices and rising grocery prices and all the payments on things you have to make. It's… it's a lot, and so I think people don't leave their job primarily because of those two factors, even if their mental health
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Kiri Mohan: is suffering, even if they're struggling to even find joy in their work. They think, well, they kind of got me roped into it here, right?
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Kiri Mohan: Now, here's what the real cost is, I think. You could be possibly making less money.
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Kiri Mohan: in your corporate job. And I totally 100% mean this, because I was that person. I thought that the corporate job would eventually have me making
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Kiri Mohan: like, at least $175,000, $200,000, and I slowly began to realize that that was not the case.
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Kiri Mohan: Sorry, my daughter interrupted me at summer vacation, and now I don't know where the fuck I was. I know I was possibly making less money, and then I paused.
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Kiri Mohan: Now, one of the… I'm starting over, clearly. Now, one of the big costs, I think, is
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Kiri Mohan: People are afraid that…
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Kiri Mohan: I think one of the things is people are worried that they will not be able to make as much money as they currently make in their corporate job, and I definitely had that fear. I thought that when you're working for an employer, they dictate how much you make, and they're gonna be the ones that
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Kiri Mohan: easily give you the money over the years, right? But let me tell you there's a cost to that, because
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Kiri Mohan: when you start your own freelance business, you're probably going to make more money. Yes, I'm dead serious. You get to call your rates, you get to figure out your offers, you get to figure out exactly how much money you're going to make, so your income is no longer
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Kiri Mohan: capped, right? It doesn't have, like, any kind of glass ceiling anymore for you to try to break through, or any ceiling. Sometimes it's a cement ceiling, right? You actually have the chance to increase your income and make way more if done strategically and the right way.
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Kiri Mohan: A huge cost, I also think, of staying in your corporate job is your mental health. I had a student once who actually left because it was a toxic workplace, two students, actually, and the relief of finally doing it…
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Kiri Mohan: outweighed all the fear of the loss of benefits and the stability and all of that. Like, their mental health
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Kiri Mohan: was just this feeling of freedom, and that's a huge cost, I think, when you're in a toxic workplace, and you're a place where your opinions don't matter, where people don't care what you have to say, then you're just a cog in the wheel, your mental health is just… ugh, right? I think another cost that people see is that
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Kiri Mohan: there is… this…
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Kiri Mohan: control that they have in their life when they're working for an employer, right? With the corporate… and it sounds like that doesn't make sense, but it…
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Kiri Mohan: It feels like, okay.
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Kiri Mohan: My days are planned out for me, I know what I'm going to do, I come into the office with a set plan, and this means that this… there's some kind of control to it. But let me tell you, you actually have less control, because you have everything being dictated by someone else. So.
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Kiri Mohan: There's… you're thinking in your head there's some control, but there's not.
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Kiri Mohan: This is a huge cost of working in a corporate company, is that there's less control, and less control for you to figure out what exactly you're gonna be doing with the rest of your life, because it's always being dictated by someone else. And sure, you think when you're walking in sometimes, like, oh, this is all planned out for me, this is nice, but then where does your life go? What choices do you have?
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Kiri Mohan: where is it gonna Matter in the long run if you don't take that leap, right?
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Kiri Mohan: I think there's a huge cost of missing out on important life moments when you work in a corporate company, and I know a lot of the women, and I'm speaking to you guys, and even to some men here, it's like, they all can say, like, the amount of children's activities that they missed.
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Kiri Mohan: And of this live moment of growing up and seeing their children grow up is huge, and it's really sad. And when you're able to
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Kiri Mohan: Create your own business, and your own freelancing life.
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Kiri Mohan: You have the choice to attend your children's activities. You can go in the middle of the day and see their little inventor project, like I did. That's what I'm thinking of. I did that, I think it was, like, 11 a.m. randomly this year. And that's a choice that you can make, and that's something that you don't have to miss out on. On the summer vacations, you can have that time to be spent with them, even though I promise you, literally.
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Kiri Mohan: 10 minutes ago, my daughter just walked in and asked me to make her lunch, and I told her to go away because I was recording a podcast, but I'm still around for those important life moments, like making a lunch and talking to her about lunch, and catching up on her day and whatnot.
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Kiri Mohan: Another big cost, and this kind of goes into mental health, is the corporate pettiness and drama. Oh my god, what a life suck out of you, right? And it's not even sometimes the pettiness and the drama, it's the constant interruptions of people needing your time and coming to your cubicle or office, if you're lucky enough, and
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Kiri Mohan: asking so many questions, and then getting pulled into the drama of so-and-so with so-and-so, and they're not doing their work, and I wish that they would just follow up with this person so I could get this done, and it's just so much noise.
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Kiri Mohan: And that is so draining sometimes, especially for people like me, who are an introvert, and I know there's some of you out there who are introverts as well, and, like, being able to work by yourself and not have interruptions is just so gratifying, and it feels so good.
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Kiri Mohan: So, let's take a look at, like, the solution. And when you go out to freelance, which, obviously, the point of this episode and this podcast is saying, like, yeah, you go out and you freelance, and…
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Kiri Mohan: That cost that's weighing you down, like, making less money than you would think you would, mental health, the corporate pettiness and drama, the less control that you have over your life and missing out on important life moments, that's all a huge cost on your long-term mental health.
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Kiri Mohan: your long-term life plans and goals, all of that, even income goals, right? That's… that's a big cost, okay?
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Kiri Mohan: This is exactly what it's costing you by not freelancing, alright? Now, the solution when it comes down
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Kiri Mohan: to freelancing, is it's… Okay, right?
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Kiri Mohan: to work your corporate job and freelance a little bit on the side. I encourage you to do that. See if you like it. Build it as a side hustle first, right? It's… I think sometimes people think it's all or nothing, right? Either I go out solo and I start freelancing with nothing, or I'm going to stay completely in…
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Kiri Mohan: Shit, Ross, I just hit something on my desk. Or I'm going to stay completely in my corporate job.
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Kiri Mohan: That doesn't have to be the case, right? You can start freelancing today.
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Kiri Mohan: And while you're working full-time, and I have students in my program who do this, actually, right now, there are two students in my program who are full-time.
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Kiri Mohan: Workers, and they are also doing
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Kiri Mohan: this as a side hustle and trying to build it up. Now, they both want to go full-time, but you can start off by just trying it out, right? And saying, do I like this? Is this for me? Let me build a side hustle. And you might build it to a point where that's what you want. You just want, like, one or two clients that you can do work for and earn, like, anywhere $400 to $1,000 extra a month, or even more, right?
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Kiri Mohan: And then I want you to know that, like, if you decide to take the leap and go freelance full-time, all those costs that I talked about, that's a real drain, you could leave that behind in that corporate life. Make more money, have more time on your hands, and be genuinely happier.
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Kiri Mohan: like, of course this is what I want for you, right? And at the end of the day, it comes down to you having more control over your life. You getting to make choices in your life. And this is something I talk about a lot in my social media, like, freelancing to me isn't so much about freedom and flexibility, it's about choice. It's about saying.
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Kiri Mohan: hey, I'm gonna decide how I run my day, and if that means I'm not going to be making lunch for my daughter right now as I record a podcast.
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Kiri Mohan: And spending that time with her, that's my choice, but I could if I wanted to, right? And that choice is so important to our lives in order to be happier, right? If you want to freelance and work 60-hour weeks and make, like, a million bucks, go for it. Be my guest. You're the one that gets to make that decision, though, not someone else.
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Kiri Mohan: Alright? So, I hope this kind of helps you think about it, because if you can make more money.
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Kiri Mohan: In freelancing, you don't have to worry about the loss of benefits, because there's so many options out there for you, right? You'll have that stability, you'll be able to provide for your family and pull your own weight, and you'll be able to be there for those important life moments, and be more present in a way that you never thought you'd be able to.
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Kiri Mohan: And so the cost here, right, if we want to recap that, is you're probably making less money in your corporate job, your mental health is taking a toll, you're getting pulled into pettiness and drama at the office.
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Kiri Mohan: You have less control than you actually think, and you're missing out on important life moments. If you're considering freelancing, remember, it's not all or nothing. Just make a job, start off small, and see if this is something you want to do, and you might realize
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Kiri Mohan: That you are missing out on so much freedom, so much choice in your life, and that is a bigger cost, and the pros far outweigh the cons.
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Kiri Mohan: Stay tuned, because tomorrow we're going to be going into corporate habits that are going to kill your freelance success before you even start, so I want you to stick around for that. If this episode resonated with you, if you're saying, yes, this is me, I need to learn more, I need to understand more before I make the jump out of corporate, there is a link in the show notes for you to sign up.
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Kiri Mohan: to talk with me. It's completely free, and I would love to know more about it. So, until tomorrow.
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Kiri Mohan: I will see you then, and keep flourishing.
