Why Mid-Career Women Are Trading the Corporate Ladder for Something They Can Build Themselves
Mid-career women are leaving corporate jobs in record numbers to build careers they control. They're trading the corporate ladder for freelance work, startups, and portfolio careers that offer more freedom and less risk. This shift is driven by broken promises of job security and a desire for true ownership over their work.
The Broken Promise of Corporate Climbing
Channing Martin lost her job as global chief diversity officer when her company was acquired. She realized corporate systems weren't designed to support her goals. "These corporate systems and structures aren't designed to do what I want to do," she says. Many women share her story. They did everything right—worked hard, climbed the ladder—only to find the promised power and security never came.
Erin Grau, co-founder of Charter, spent years at the New York Times believing hard work would fix structural problems. "A lot of us in my generation have been fed this corporate feminism that if you just work hard, you can have it all," she says. She learned it wasn't true.
Women Have Stopped Betting on Their Employers
The data confirms this trend. Deloitte's Women @ Work 2025 report found only 5% of women plan to stay with their current employer for more than five years. Nearly 40% expect to leave within two years. The top reason? Lack of advancement opportunities.
Cate Luzio left banking after a mentor asked if she could have the impact she wanted inside one company. "I couldn't go as fast as I wanted," she says. "I was prohibited from speaking my true voice."
Why Staying Became the Riskier Bet
Job cuts are rising. Employers announced 1.2 million cuts in 2025, the most since 2020. AI-driven layoffs are increasing, accounting for 16% of all cuts in 2025. Neha Ruch, founder of The Power Pause, says women are making a healthy emotional separation from companies that don't have their best interests at heart.
They're Building Something They Can Own
Women started 44% of new businesses in 2025, up from 29% in 2019. Gen Z women are leading this charge, with their share of new businesses jumping from 38% to 47% in one year. Independent professionals earning over $100,000 per year have increased 86% since 2020.
Toni Ronayne started the C Society, a collective of fractional chief executives, after feeling "disposable" during a job search. "Fractional leadership provides a certain level of autonomy," she says. "You get to choose who you work with. There is far less risk to balance multiple clients than investing all your eggs in one basket."
Treat the Anxiety as Information
Women who navigate this shift successfully use discontent as a signal, not a flaw. Breana Teubner, co-founder of TYB, pays attention to "a friction... a dissonance" as the first sign something needs to change. Simi Shah, founder of South Asian Trailblazers, has a low tolerance for work that "feels misaligned to what I felt like was my higher calling."
Channing Martin helps clients with two questions: "What is your purpose in this season?" and "What are you really afraid of that's blocking that?" Naming the fear often reveals a path forward.
Plan from A to B, Not A to Z
Teubner recommends an A-to-B mindset. Instead of mapping the whole journey to Z, focus on the next concrete move. Three conversations next week. One skill to test. "When you break it down like that, it actually isn't that scary," she says.
Jessica Gioglio built her fractional practice on the side while still employed. "If you build the foundations over time, it will be a lot easier to step into that when the leap finally comes," she says. She advises building business development skills while a salary still covers the risk.
Redefine the Metric Before You Move
Neha Ruch left a job she wanted and had to invent new measures of progress. She chose network, impact, and learning instead of title or salary. Jordan Taylor, co-founder of Medley, measures success by "the level of ownership" she has over outcomes. Naming what you actually want turns restlessness into a test you can run before deciding to leave.
These women chose harder, less certain paths. But they traded security for control. As Simi Shah says, she is done compressing herself to fit a single title. They are rewriting the terms of work on their own terms.
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