This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Hali Mo, founder of Hali Home Bakes, a San Francisco microbakery specializing in laminated pastries. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
When I graduated from Stanford in 2018 with degrees in economics and computer science, I did what I thought I was supposed to do. I joined McKinsey as a business analyst, then moved into design consulting before becoming a product manager at a startup. On paper, everything looked right: good salary, clear career progression, prestigious companies.
After five years in corporate America, I realized I was waking up every day dreading work. I turned 29 and thought, “I don’t want to live like this.”
I quit my job, planning to take a year off — not to become a baker, but simply to figure out what actually made me happy.
That decision eventually led me to pastry school in Paris, a microbakery that started in my apartment kitchen, and a completely different life than the one I’d imagined for myself.
I followed the path I thought I was supposed to
Growing up, I never had a crystal-clear dream job. Consulting appealed to me because it was practical.
After two years at McKinsey, I moved into product management for a startup. I thought changing roles might solve the problem.
It didn’t.
The work itself wasn’t fulfilling for me. Every morning, I’d wake up dreading the day ahead while feeling guilty because I knew I was fortunate. I had stability, a good paycheck, and a career that made sense from the outside. Walking away from that felt almost irresponsible.
Eventually, I realized I needed to stop asking what looked impressive and start asking what actually brought me joy.
Pastry school in Paris changed everything
Baking was my serious hobby for years. If someone had asked me for one bucket-list item, it would have been attending pastry school in France.
So in early 2024, I quit my product management job and moved to Paris. I loved being a student again. After years of working, it felt like such a privilege to ask questions without worrying about performance reviews or promotions.
I started posting videos about pastry school. Those videos unexpectedly took off on social media, and by the time I returned to the US, I had an audience that gave me the confidence to ask, “What if I tried selling pastries?”
I moved to New York, where my partner lived at the time, bought a tiny convection oven and a countertop dough sheeter, and started baking under a cottage food license.
My first preorder sold just 40 pastries.
For the first few months, selling even a dozen boxes felt difficult. But gradually people came back, word of mouth spread, and social media continued to grow. By spring, I realized this could actually become something. By fall, I was consistently selling out pop-ups with lines of customers.
It felt like every small success gave me permission to keep going.
Starting over in San Francisco
Katherine Li/Business Insider
Then my eight-year relationship ended. Suddenly, it felt like every part of my life was starting over.
Personally, I was rebuilding after the breakup. Professionally, I was leaving behind the customer base I’d spent months building in New York.
I moved back to San Francisco in January and essentially started from scratch. Fortunately, I knew much more than I had the first time around. Within months, I rebuilt my customer base and found a commercial kitchen that could support the specialized equipment I needed.
Now I’m producing around 400 pastries each week and plan to expand to 1,000 with the help of a part-time baking assistant I’m looking to hire.
The trade-offs are real — but so is the joy
Running your own business comes with freedoms I never had in corporate life. I love setting my own schedule and building the kind of workplace culture I want.
But there are trade-offs.
There is no paid time off. If I get sick, there are no pastries to sell and no income. I pay for my own health insurance. I haven’t had employer 401(k) contributions, and in my first two years as a business owner, I couldn’t contribute to a traditional retirement account because I wasn’t paying myself enough.
Starting a small business also means funding your own runway. You’re spending money long before you’re making much of it.
I think the biggest mindset shift has been believing in myself
When I first started the bakery, I was half in and half out. Part of me assumed I’d probably end up going back to corporate. That hesitation made me pass on opportunities and avoid investments that would have helped the business grow.
Now my mindset is completely different. I believe this business will succeed because I believe in my product and my ability to make it succeed.
I don’t think everyone should quit their corporate jobs. Some people genuinely love traditional careers, and that’s wonderful.
But if you’ve done the introspection, you have the financial runway, and you know deep down that your work is making you miserable, don’t be afraid to take the next reasonable step.
Life is too short to wake up every morning with a sense of dread. I feel incredibly lucky that now, when I wake up, I feel joy instead.
