This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Heigi Jeong . It has been edited for length and clarity.
People often assume that I quit my six-figure job in product design because of severe burnout or an existential crisis, but that wasn’t the case.
I moved from Korea to Toronto in 2020 as an in-house product designer for a tech company, often creating mobile apps and websites.
The paycheck was great — I was making about $173,000 to do a job that allowed me to have a fairly healthy work-life balance. I wasn’t working 80 hours per week. Most weeks, I clocked about 40 hours, working mostly 9 to 5. Since my income was more than enough to…
