Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Emily Hayes She knew what she was signing up for when she became a lawyer.
Long hours, difficult clients, and billing pressures are synonymous with the job. However, for Hayes, the intellectual challenge and the opportunity to help people made these sacrifices worth it.
What he didn’t anticipate was how quickly exhaustion would settle down, or to what extent his work would overshadow other parts of his life.
Hayes, 32, graduated from Stanford Law School in 2019. He spent the next two years working at a large international law firm in Redwood Shores, California, followed by a position as a law clerk in a federal district court in Portland, Oregon.
In October 2021, she joined O’Melveny & Myers, a large law firm in Los Angeles, as an associate.
After years of moving between jobs and cities, Hayes was optimistic about this new chapter in his career.
Her colleagues were supportive, the tasks were interesting and the pay was generous. By the time he was 30, Hayes was earning more than $300,000 a year.
However, beneath the surface, routine was taking its toll.
His “breaking point” came in April 2023. Hayes found himself working overtime on a Saturday morning to prepare for an arbitration, just hours after leaving the office at 11 p.m. the night before. He was preparing for an important trial, but his stress and exhaustion had been building for months.
That morning, as he stared at his computer screen, he collapsed. She recalls, “I started sobbing” because someone close to her was going through a hard time and she regretted being in the office instead of supporting him at home.
“I felt like I had to choose between presenting myself to my job in the way that was expected of me or presenting myself to the people I love in the way I wanted,” she says. CNBC does it. “I panicked because of the tension between the two.”
Hayes adds: “Working at a law firm can make your life very unpredictable. You can never have free time in the evenings or log off before 10 p.m. I think you really have to love the work you’re doing to do that.” business. I feel like it’s worth your time.”
At that moment, Hayes made a silent promise to himself: He would find a new job within a year.
Going from law to technology
That spring, Hayes began asking former teammates and colleagues for advice. Through these conversations, he learned about a growing career path within the legal sector: product consulting.
Product advisor roles, particularly popular in Silicon Valley, involve working internally at technology companies to provide legal and regulatory guidance on products and services.
Unlike traditional law firm roles, product advisory positions often combine legal expertise with business strategy. “You’re a little less involved in the law and a lot more involved in business strategy, which is something I’ve always been very interested in,” Hayes explains.
In October, a Stanford colleague mentioned that the tech company she worked for in San Francisco was hiring for product consulting positions.
The job carried two compensations: Hayes would have to move to San Francisco and the base salary was about $220,000 in addition to an annual bonus, starting in his first year, of up to 15% of your total salary, depending on your performance and other company metrics.
This represented a significant pay cut from his law firm’s salary: about $150,000 less than his current income of $370,000 (made up of a base salary of $295,000 and a bonus of $75,000) and $200,000 less than his $435,000 that she would have earned the following year as a fifth-year employee. associated with salary increases and bonuses.
However, the position promised a more balanced lifestyle: a consistent 40-hour work week, the flexibility to work from home two days a week, and the opportunity to consult on cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and computing in the workplace. cloud.
After careful consideration, Hayes decided the lowest salary It was a small price to pay for his well-being and a new start in an exciting new field.
You applied for the position in October 2023, received your offer letter in December, and started your new job in January 2024.
Her colleagues at O’Melveny & Myers were “really kind and supportive” of her decision, Hayes says. To facilitate a smooth transition, he created a detailed list of his ongoing cases and a suggested succession plan for his departure from the firm.
Living on a tighter budget
Adjusting to the six-figure pay cut was “much more difficult” than Hayes had anticipated.
With her previous income, Hayes says she could “spend without much thought or stress,” whether it’s ordering takeout several times a week or making significant payments on her student loans without worrying about having enough money for rent.
Now, earning about $150,000 less than she did a year ago, Hayes says she’s had to pay more attention to her monthly spending and savings, while also taking responsibility for her budget.
Last year, she started creating TikToks to document her budgeting efforts and get advice from other professionals in similar situations.
“I’m really lucky to be able to earn enough to live comfortably,” says Hayes, who adds that her living expenses are slightly higher after moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco. “The biggest change with this pay cut, anything, has been changing the way I think about money: I realized I had to put a lot of thought into my purchases even when they didn’t seem extravagant.”
‘Having that freedom and balance has been priceless’
Now, as he approaches his one-year anniversary at the tech company (which he chose not to name), Hayes says he’s “really happy.”
For Hayes, the $150,000 pay cut was not a sacrifice; It was an investment in your health, your relationships, and your future. In the first five years of his legal career, he often struggled with lack of sleep and stress.
“I couldn’t stop thinking,” he says. “I had trouble falling asleep at night and developed persistent pain in my jaw, but since the moment I left my old job, all those symptoms have gone away… it’s crazy.”
The hardest part of his new job, he says, has been figuring out how to spend his suddenly free evenings and weekends.
“I spend more time with friends during the week, go to Pilates, find new hobbies and bought a sewing machine,” she says. “Having that freedom and balance is priceless.”
