A viral TikTok is highlighting the nontraditional ways people are successfully making a living these days. It’s all thanks to Caitlin Kurzman, who just graduated with a master’s degree and was curious about job options beyond the corporate 9 to 5.
“I feel like society tells us that after college you have to be unhappy from 9 to 4 to pay the bills when there are other options that can still pay the bills and make you happy,” she explains. So she posted a TikTok asking people who quit working in the corporate world what they do for a living now. It’s gone viral with over 3-million views and more than 10-thousand comments from those who’ve found happiness in non-corporate jobs. These are some of the most interesting responses.
- “Commercial fisherwoman in Alaska. Hard work for three months and then I play the rest of the year.”
- “I waitress full time AT A DIner and I make triple what I did in healthcare.”
- “Quit my 9-5 as a teacher to write cartoons. Took some time, but I wrote 10 episodes of ‘Mickey Mouse Funhouse’ and a few others on Disney Junior too”
- “Bartender. I make $4300 ish every two weeks! Not counting cash”
- “Quit my 9-5 accounting career to join aviation. Worked as a flight attendant for a year, company gave me a scholarship for their pilot program, currently working towards becoming an airline pilot”
- “I have a cleaning business, I work roughly 25 hours a week and I make more money than I ever made in corporate America. I couldn’t be happier”
- “Paranormal investigator and ghost tour business owner”
- “Hubby and I left 9-5s and bought a bread route. We work early mornings delivering bread and we love it!!”
- “Quit my job at a bank and now I run a greenhouse and take care of plants all day”
- “I’m a party princess performer in the DC area and it pays GOOD”
- “Had a crisis, wrote 2 books, opened a business. Is it way harder? Yeah. Am I way happier? Also yes”