A lot of stories about transitioning from corporate life to your own entrepreneurial startup are told as though they were overnight moves. It goes something like this: You’re in a work situation that’s increasingly untenable, you reach a point of burnout, and you feel compelled to leave everything behind to work on your big idea. Suddenly, you’re your own boss.
That’s not my story.
After more than twenty years working in advertising and marketing, I left my corporate job to co-found Dear Flor with my husband. We started the business in January 2022, just as I was transitioning from an advertising agency role to a senior-level B2B tech marketing job.
When we began, we had no idea if Dear Flor – the first independent, Filipina-owned company making infused gummies with Filipino flavors – would go anywhere, but we used our off-hours and weekends to brainstorm. We thought about the kind of company we wanted to build, the products we wanted to make, and the cultural impact we hoped to have. It was time well spent in clarifying what this business could mean for our family and for the Filipino American community living in the diaspora.
From campaigns to culture
I spent so much of my career at one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. Starting at Young & Rubicam – RIP – I moved to WPP corporate, then VML, which became VMLY&R (and is now VML again). Much of my work was with consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, helping to build their brands and voices across global markets.
What I loved most about it was learning about people – how they lived, what they cared about, and what persuaded them to act. I loved fighting for bold, strategic creative ideas that could drive market impact and give my clients a competitive edge. As a client services executive, I knew how to read a room, manage a P&L, and lead teams.
I was giving 110% to the job, and on paper, everything looked right – I was leading big accounts, working with brilliant clients, and managing incredible teams. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was leaving more and more of myself behind. I was rising, but not on my terms. The role demanded I lean hard into org design and operational efficiency (things I do well), but I’ve always thrived in chaos and ambiguity. I love storytelling and having space to interrogate, dissect, and debate complex problems. And I was doing those things less and less. Eventually, I realized I couldn’t keep leaving that part of me behind.
There was also the unspoken truth that I couldn’t ignore. Despite my work performance, I would never have a machete sharp enough to slice through the bamboo ceiling, the seemingly invisible barrier that prevents Asian Americans from advancing to top leadership positions in corporate America.
So I started Dear Flor.
It didn’t happen overnight though.
Dear Flor grew in weekend bursts and late-night brainstorms – but it was steady. Although I was sleeping less than I’d been used to, working on something of my own was a kind of fuel that kept me energized.
By the time I walked away from my senior-level corporate job, my husband Brian and I had already built the foundation for the new company – our name, our mission, our branding, and our first line of products.
Not a pivot – a recalibration
It’s easy to describe the shift from corporate life to founder life as a pivot, but I wouldn’t call it that. For me, it was a reset. A recalibration.
I brought everything I had learned during my career with me when I launched my new venture – campaign thinking, team-building, and revenue accountability. In the process, I let go of what no longer served me: the illusion that the only way to succeed was by climbing someone else’s ladder.
People often ask how I find balance in the chaos of entrepreneurship. But I think the real magic is in the transition itself. I didn’t leap into this impulsively. There was no “oh shit” moment and no crisis that forced my hand. I stepped into something I had already been building – something that was mine. It was something that had always been in me.
Here’s what I know now that I didn’t know then: We have the tools. We’re experts at what we do, and we can use these tools. For ourselves – not just for our day-to-day work. You don’t have to blow it all up to start building something new. You already have the tools and experience – you just need to use them on yourself.
Start small. Start while no one’s watching. Start with a side project, a newsletter, a prototype – something you can confidently claim as yours. It just might be the very thing that brings you back to yourself.
If and when the time comes to step into that next chapter, you won’t be stepping out of your career. You’ll be stepping into your calling.
