Alice Kim quits finance career after burnout starts 18-month break

Alice Kim quit her six-figure finance job in New York last March after a decade of 80-hour weeks, sleepless earnings calls and a health scare that doctors linked to chronic stress. She walked away with no job lined up, telling her boss she needed to reset or risk becoming someone she no longer recognized.

The exodus from demanding careers has accelerated since the pandemic, with layoffs and burnout reshaping white-collar ambition. A 2023 Deloitte survey found 77% of professionals had experienced burnout at their current job, and 46% said they’d leave their employer within two years if stress levels didn’t change. Kim’s story mirrors others who traded prestige for presence: a 2022 Harvard Business School study showed nearly one-third of mid-career professionals take extended breaks to reassess priorities. Kim’s breaking point came after a week of 14-hour days during quarterly close, when she stared at her screen and realized she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten a meal without checking her phone.

Kim spent the first six months surfing in Costa Rica and Portugal, trading spreadsheets for sunrise sessions and saltwater therapy. She slept when tired, surfed when the waves were good, and freelanced remotely on weekends to cover basic costs. By month nine she started a surf-and-skills retreats business, blending financial literacy workshops with dawn patrols. She now earns about half her former salary but says her hours are flexible, her stress is gone and her sleep is deep. “I didn’t realize how much I’d missed being present,” she said. “Money buys less than we think.”

Kim’s story highlights a quiet shift in what success looks like. Employers once measured loyalty in face time; now many professionals measure it in mental clarity. She still consults part-time with a fintech startup and is writing a short book about redefining ambition. “I’m proof that quitting can be a strategic move,” she said. “The real risk isn’t leaving—it’s staying too long.”