Two years after leaving corporate, I found myself scrolling through my own LinkedIn profile on a day I was doubting a path I had once felt deeply aligned with. Then a message from someone I hadn’t spoken to in fifteen years landed in my inbox and made me reflect on a question I didn’t know I’d been carrying myself.
It’s been more than two years now since I became a full-time yoga teacher. Back in my corporate days, I was told that if you aren’t on LinkedIn as a professional, do you even exist? So I kept my profile. Recently though, I went back to it and scrolled through my own timeline, from an observer perspective. And from a corporate lense, my path looked exactly as expected: fluent in several languages, roles at big companies, relevant certifications and promotions every couple of years… And then, there suddently one reads: yoga teacher 👀
I paused and wondered: What do other people think when they look at my LinkedIn profile?
Why would I care you might asked? Well, we all have phases, don’t we? Moments we are fully confident and others where we are more prone to doubt. Usually every two years, I like to pause and check in with myself to see where I stand personally, financially, professionally, etc. and whether anything would require changes. Since I started my full-time yoga teacher path, I’ve mostly felt confident in my journey and considered my corporate experience a safety net. Something that, if I ever wanted (or needed!), I could always go back to. Until that moment.
Here I am, looking at my own professional timeline on LinkedIn, and… Two years away from the corporate world suddenly felt… A lot. Was it too long? Could I really go back if I wanted to? What story would people tell themselves about why I left?
And if I were to apply for a corporate role again, how would I tell my story?
Two days after I asked myself these questions, someone I went to high school with, someone I hadn’t spoken to in about fifteen years, reached out to me on LinkedIn (in French, the below is +/- a translation of it):
“A bit direct,” he wrote, “but after looking into your journey, one question keeps coming to mind: from Associate Director at IBM to yoga teacher… for many, that must feel like a scary leap. How come?”
My first reaction?
Wait what? That’s nosy 🫨
My second? Well, not better than the first!
I knew it. People must find this weird. Suspicious, even 😰
And underneath that, a deeper doubt: have I jeopardised all the hard work my younger self had put in? I know I know, a bit dramatic. But honestly, don’t we all go through such phases and thoughts? Now, I know, I read his message through a rather negative lens because I was already questioning myself when I got it. And yes, his message stayed with me. So I took a day to journal about it and let me tell you one thing:
The career change didn’t happen overnight.
It wasn’t sudden. It definitely was neither a YOLO moment nor heroic leap. Transitioning from a corporate career to teaching yoga full-time isn’t like flipping a switch. The fears felt very real to me: fear of leaving a stabile and predictable income, fear of failure, fear of not being “enough”. And beyond fear, I also wondered how my friends and family would react, whether I wasn’t “too old” for such moves?
Still, the transition showed up quietly, in small, deliberate steps. It took me about a year of self-reflection (and a few coaching sessions) to take the leap. And even then, the courage didn’t come all at once. I prepared for it.
Courage needed practice.
That’s what I ended up telling my high-school acquaintance. And it turned out… he wasn’t being nosy at all! That was my own projection, shaped by the doubt of the moment. In fact, he shared afterwards that he felt inspired and was quietly considering a career change himself.
What I shared is that stepping into a new version of yourself isn’t a one-time act. It’s a practice (like yoga). Some days feel empowering; others feel awkward and uncertain. But each step matters. And it is not because you took the chance to try something different that you aren’t allowed to doubt (and talk about it!)! We’re all human after all (yoga teachers included 😉).
If you’re standing at the edge of your own change, wondering if you’re ready, know this: the leap itself isn’t what makes you courageous. It’s the small, consistent acts of showing up, learning, reflecting and trusting yourself along the way.
Oh and if you’ve read this far and are still wondering whether two years away from the corporate world are “too long”… I don’t know. I think it’s a matter of perspective. What do you think?
For paid subscribers, I’m sharing what those “small steps” actually looked like in practice and how trust slowly replaced certainty.