To state the obvious, we’re living through some WEIRD times. 2025 rocked almost everyone I know to their core – including me – and 2026 seems to be throwing similar punches.

Until last summer, I’d spent the past 13 years as a career analyst for a major contracting company. I was mostly happy there despite knowing (by their own admission) I’d been underpaid for my skillset for about 5 years. For the most part, I was just happy to have a stable job…. then summer of 2025 rolled around and it wasn’t so stable anymore.

I got DOGE’d. Actually, a vast majority of my team got DOGE’d. We went from absolute stability within a giant of a contracting firm to….. panic.

And BOY, did I panic.

I took every pet-sitting gig I could find on Rover, started training clients in the gym, took random moving jobs using my truck – essentially anything I could possibly do to ensure my little farm stayed fed, I did that. Hell, I very briefly considered selling some very….. unconventional products on Etsy, but after about a month of running myself all over the countryside (and subsequently into the ground), my company hired me right back into my old job – with a tiny bit of a pay bump.

Fast-forward to now?

My contract is facing funding issues. Again.

The company is scrambling to find a safety net for me. Again.

And honestly? After a whole LOT of loss and compounded grief (I’ll let that heartache spill in a later post – and ensure an emotional warning is given up front), I couldn’t be bothered to fight to stay.

Why continue pouring time and effort into building – and REbuilding – a career that can disappear overnight? A career that drains my mind and soul with every product due?

Just…. why?

For the past 5 years, I’ve been unofficially running an animal sanctuary on the farm, funding its existence with the salary from my full-time job. Without that salary, I’m scouring every creative corner of the internet for new ideas to keep the farm afloat.

Follow my frantic journey from corporate burn out to the peace and chaos of animal sanctuary life… because what if it all works out?