My 6-figure consulting job wasn’t fulfilling. I quit to start my own business when I realized dream company doesn’t necessarily mean dream life.

AJ Eckstein is a former consultant and the founder of Creator Match. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with AJ Eckstein, a 25-year-old former management consultant and the founder and CEO of Creator Match from Austin. It’s been edited for length and clarity.

I interned at the Walt Disney Company the summer after my junior year of college. After long days, I’d return to my apartment and dedicate myself to case prep to pursue a consulting career.

I practiced over 100 live cases, working with friends and participating in virtual mock interviews. My commitment paid off during recruitment — I secured interviews with several top consulting firms.

I accepted an offer with a base salary plus a bonus that was almost six figures.

I spent 3 years in consulting

As my first full-time job out of college, I wanted to be part of a large and dynamic workplace. It seemed like the perfect place to kick-start my career, and it was.

I was promoted twice and worked on five big projects. The culture never felt overly corporate or excessively “fratty.” There was a strong sense of camaraderie, a supportive atmosphere, and a work-life balance that allowed me to pursue side projects.

After a few years, I felt like I was renting my brand rather than owning it

I was taught to aim for a “dream company,” believing that success hinges on landing a job at a big-name firm. I eventually realized that I should strive for a “dream life,” with a job as a vehicle to achieve it.

My job stagnated, and my personal growth slowed. Career advancement followed predetermined tracks based on performance. My progression was tied to the standard pace, even if I surpassed expectations.

I realized I never wanted to stay at one company for decades because I thrived on change and the excitement of new roles. This made me question my sense of self-worth, which was heavily tied to a company where I was merely an employee.

When I started, my self-worth was high, buoyed by the excitement of a new career. As the years passed and my fulfillment waned, my sense of self-worth plummeted, too.

I wanted more control and greater upside potential, even if it meant facing the possibility of lower lows. I wanted to live my own dream rather than someone else’s.

My decision to leave was influenced by a combination of factors

I’d been working on a project for a year and a half when the client had layoffs and outsourced my consulting duties, leaving me “on the bench” between projects.

I also began to feel frustrated with my role and felt capable of much more. Drafting emails for managers and building decks for others to present became tedious — especially when I wanted to be the one presenting to clients.

Compensation was another factor. The increase from the previous year wasn’t substantial enough to make me want to stay.

Simultaneously, I was gaining traction with some side projects. I was doing my own Creator brand deals on LinkedIn and starting to help Creator friends monetize their brands, which is how the idea for my company, Creator Match, was born.

I finally quit in April 2024

The hardest part about giving my notice was informing my manager, who I’d built a strong relationship with and even surfed with one weekend. Leaving felt like getting divorced from someone I admired and respected.

I reminded myself that I wasn’t leaving him — I was leaving the company to pursue a dream. We stay in touch, and he has fully supported my decision.

I live a very frugal lifestyle and have been saving since day one to build a safety net

I’ve been working on Creator Match for five months and still haven’t received a salary. I’m living off savings and my LinkedIn Learning courses.

The startup journey can be lonely. Your social battery depletes, and you may lose friends who don’t understand your dedication to work, like missing a Saturday party for business.

Meanwhile, seeing competitors raise money makes you question if you’re on the right track. As of now, I haven’t raised money and am not interested in raising.

Imposter syndrome can creep in daily. Sometimes, I wonder whether quitting my stable 9-5 job was the right move, but I’m as invested as possible.

Failing isn’t an option. On average, I work 12- to 15-hour days during the week and 4- to 6-hour days on the weekend.

Here’s my advice for others who want to leave stable jobs to build a startup

Surround yourself with mentors who have taken risks and built their own ventures. My friends who left corporate roles to start startups mentored me through the decision to jump.

Don’t wait until everything is figured out — it might be too late. Leaving a stable job is risky, but so is staying when you feel unfulfilled.

Ask yourself what your larger career and life goal is. For some, it could be a career in the same job with stability. I knew every day I stayed at a company was a step backward from where I wanted to go.

Assess whether you thrive in stability or chaos. I got annoyed by only owning 1% of a massive client project. I wanted to be the person who took the game-winning shot, whether I was the hero or the laughing stock, and now I make every decision myself.

I miss a few things about working 9-5

When you work in a 9-5 job, you get to log off. When you work for yourself, you’re always on call if something goes wrong, and you’re thinking about your business even when you’re not actively working on it.

Still, I have no plans to return to a 9-5. I’m an adrenaline junky and seek thrill, adventure, and risk — a 9-5 corporate job just didn’t cut it.