corporate detox: 1 year as a self employed #grl

It’s almost been a year since I've left my stable, cushy corporate job. 

I was never happy nor truly felt fulfilled there, despite the [false] sense of security it offered me. I didn’t leave with the intention of becoming a creative freelancer, or to even start a business. Honestly, I never thought I had what it took to be a business owner to begin with, so I had always chosen the “safe” traditional route. 

As the daughter of Cantonese-Vietnamese immigrants, it was always instilled in me that my career would result in 1 of 3 options: a career in the medical field, a career in STEM (my dad is a computer science nerd and engineer), or a career in business (preferably finance; and to be clear, not starting your own business because that is seen as unstable). 

However,  I’ve always been creative, and everything I excelled at growing up was in the arts but therefore not seen as important (to my parents). I was never good at math but excelled in reading and writing. I have a core memory of my 6th grade teacher pulling me aside to tell me how great of a writer I was and encouraging me to keep doing so. I remember expressing to my parents how I wanted to be an author, to which my Dad immediately said, “Writers do not make money”.

In that moment, I realized that to my parents

                      success = “stable” 9-5 w/ guaranteed income

                      success ≠ anything but a 9-5 w/ guaranteed income 

To preface, I don’t fault my parents for thinking this way - there’s nuance given that they were always in ‘survival’ mode growing up and had to make the best possible decision to secure their own stability for the sake of their own future. Still, it doesn’t mean that’s “right” or applicable to me and what I want to make out of my own life. I realize that their mindset has engrained itself into my subconscious, despite my doubts about it. It’s something I am still actively unlearning today. Because of it, I have always played it safe. 

I followed the safe path and did everything “right”: I went to college, got a degree in Business Administration (marketing), and secured a salaried job in tech. I remember sitting at my desk and often asking myself how I got there, how I landed such a mundane job and genuinely felt like my work was meaningless. There was always an itch for me to do something, anything other than plug numbers into an excel sheet. I mean, I taught myself how to use the sewing machine and make corsets out of curtains for crying out loud! 

Being self-employed is difficult  because the system is not designed for “creative freelancers”. Being self-employed means you have to pay more in taxes (self-employment tax is 15.3%, not including income tax), and health insurance is daunting. You have to work twice as hard when you work for yourself. But I have learned it is not impossible. I love my job(s)! I own grl curated, a vintage clothing shop (online & IRL pop-ups), and I’m also a freelance website manager and designer for small businesses, such as Soul Real Market as of recently. 

Within this past year, I have learned so much about myself and the reality of choosing to work for yourself. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned since leaving the “safe” route and pushing myself out of my comfort zones. 

1. Self-discipline and consistency 

Self-discipline and consistency are rooted in how much you believe in your vision. Starting a business, freelancing, and generally becoming self-sufficient is hard and it only works if you continue to show up and hold yourself accountable. It took a while for me to find my footing, but I now follow a rigid schedule as if I had a “regular” job. When I first started selling vintage, I constantly got into my head, 

“Am I wasting my time?”

“Am I naive for thinking I could do this?”

"Can this become a stable income for me to live off of?” 

“Am I delusional?”

There were days when I was paralyzed by my thoughts and couldn't bring myself to do anything.

“I realized over time that I had 2 choices: put 8 hours of work into grl curated (i.e. sourcing, mending, repairing, cleaning, and photographing clothing to list, vend at markets,etc) OR put 8 hours into applying to roles I couldn’t care less about on LinkedIn and play it safe.” 

I decided to clock in for myself and to see how far I could take both my shop and freelance career. With time, discipline, and consistency, I started to see results. 

2. Exploring Career Paths

I was talking with a fabulous friend of mine, JH (brilliant visionary) and he told me how important it is for me to explore and not just stick with /one/ thing. Specifically, he was telling me to not just box myself in as “just a fashion grl.” It was a nice reminder of the importance of being multifaceted, and that my 20s are for exploring different passions. I have multiple passions: sustainable and vintage fashion, community building, website design, writing -the list goes on. For me, self-employment has been a great tool for self-discovery, exploration, and confidence.

 I found myself designing an entire website for Soul Real Market, a popular flea market in Southern California earlier this year. My previous role in corporate was a Site Operations Coordinator (TLDR; I was the point person in coordinating online promotions for all of these big corporations). I have a strong background in website management and have always loved front end website design (I learned how to code HTML/CSS at age 12 so I could have the cutest Tumblr blog possible). 

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/2b824d_fd68994885974aa898487cfbba890e07/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

 Looking back, I love how I was able to explore this path, while simultaneously operating grl curated and contributing as a newsletter writer to the Rambutan Round Up. I initially took the job to have two incomes because it made me feel more secure. But with time, I realized how much I loved building and maintaining websites to uplift and spotlight small businesses and makers. Not only that, but I was good at it when given creative control. 

3. Learn from your community  

One of my favorite aspects of owning a small business is being able to connect with other curators, makers, and customers. Although grl curated started off primarily operating online, I do monthly pop-ups at markets all around the Bay Area. I love meeting people who share the same passions as me and are succeeding at it. It made me feel like I can do it, too (and I am proud to say that I really am!!). 

I started to regularly sell at markets because of my dear friend Anh (owner of a2rchive). I have learned so much from her and am grateful of how she’d always invite me to pop up with her even though I was a newer seller. When I first started doing pop-ups, I had NO idea what I was doing. I bought the smallest and worst racks, and was still figuring out how to source efficiently and how much inventory I needed. It felt intimidating, especially because of how saturated the vintage scene was. I learned so much from not just Anh, but other curators and makers I’ve befriended along the way. With time, my booth set up got better and my inventory tripled. With every pop-up, I made improvements and saw better outcomes. One of my favorite market memories was when I made $800 in one day (Wardrobe Project Flea). It was a milestone indicating that my hard work is paying off, and that I am proving to myself that my vision for grl curated IS possible.

4. DO IT SCARED  

I was scared for a very, very long time, even long before I quit my corporate job. And sometimes I still am. Even now. But I have realized that the time will pass anyway, so why not just do it? I also remind myself that it is a privilege to have the freedom to even try working for myself. Being able to build something for myself makes my life feel meaningful everyday. Some days, I feel like I have no idea what I am doing but I do it anyway. 

When I worked a traditional 9-5 job, I felt like I was dreading the weekdays and scared of how my life would look if I continued to climb the corporate ladder. When I work for myself, I am scared of failing. Either way, fear is inevitable, but reflecting on how much my life has shifted in a year, I am really proud of myself. 

My days do not feel meaningless; I love that I get to find cool vintage pieces, repair them, and ultimately give them a second life. My focus with grl curated is meant to provide accessible vintage to all, and seeing customers fall in love with the pieces they purchase from me is incredibly fulfilling. On the flip side, I love working with small business owners to build their dream website and to be able to positively uplift their business in that way. 

Most importantly, I’ve realized that “job stability” is nothing but an illusion. The current state of the job market is proof of this - you can experience instability with any job (i.e. tech corporate layoffs increasing 62% in 2026). If you’ve ever thought about taking the leap to work for yourself, whether through freelance or by starting your own business, I’d say do it! It is liberating to become self reliant in this way, to spend your days doing work that feels fulfilling and having the freedom to choose your schedule. It is not easy, but if you have a clear vision and goals to work toward, everything just might work out in your favor :) 

“I’d rather work 10x harder for myself than work to make another rich man richer.”