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 this job. But for Hayes, the intellectual challenge and the chance to help people made these sacrifices seem worthwhile.
She didn't expect how quickly burnout will emerge – or how much her work will overshadow other parts of her life.
Hayes, 32, graduated from Stanford University Law School in 2019. She spent the next two years working at a large international law firm in Redwood Shores, California, and then served as a legal clerk for 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 work and cities, Hayes was optimistic about the next chapter of her career.
Her colleagues were supportive, the assignments were engaging, and the pay was generous. By the time she was 30, Hayes was earning over $300,000 a year.
But beneath the surface, the grind was taking its toll.
Her “breaking point” came in April 2023. Hayes worked overtime on a Saturday morning to prepare for the arbitration, just hours after leaving the office the previous evening at 11 p.m. She was preparing for an important trial, but her stress and fatigue had been building for months.
That morning, staring at the computer screen, she broke down. She recalls: “I started sobbing” because someone close to her was going through a difficult time and wished she was in the office instead of supporting her at home.
“I felt like I had to choose between showing up to work the way I was expected to and showing up for the people I loved the way I wanted to,” she says. CNBC Do it. “I panicked because of the tension between them.”
Hayes adds: “Working in a law firm can make your life so unpredictable. You can never count on having free time in the evenings or logging out before 10 p.m. I think you really have to love your job to be able to trade – without sacrificing your time, feel worth it.”
At that point, Hayes quietly promised herself that she would find a new job within a year.
Moving from law to technology
In the spring, Hayes began reaching out to former classmates for advice. Thanks to these conversations, she learned about a developing career path in the legal industry: product consulting.
Product advisor roles, particularly popular in Silicon Valley, involve working internally within technology companies to provide legal and regulatory guidance on products and services.
Unlike traditional law firm positions, product advisor positions often combine legal knowledge with business strategy. “You're a little less involved in the law and a lot more involved in the business strategy, which is something I've always been really interested in,” Hayes explains.
In October, a friend from Stanford mentioned that the tech company she worked for in San Francisco was hiring for product advisor positions.
The job came with two compromises: Hayes would have to move to San Francisco, and the base salary was about $220,000 plus an annual bonus starting after the first year on the job up to 15% of her total compensation, depending on her performance and other company metrics.
This represented a significant pay cut from her law firm's pay — approximately $150,000 less than her current earnings of $370,000 (consisting of $295,000 base salary and $75,000 bonus) and $200,000 less than $435,000 dollars she would earn next year in the fifth year involves salary increases and bonus.
However, the position offered a more balanced lifestyle: a steady 40-hour workweek, the flexibility to work from home two days a week, and the opportunity to advise on cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
After careful consideration, Hayes decided lower salary it was a small price to pay for her well-being and a fresh start in an exciting new field.
She applied for this position in October 2023, received an offer letter in December, and started her new job in January 2024.
Hayes says her colleagues at O'Melveny & Myers were “really nice and supportive” of her decision. To facilitate a smooth transition, she created a detailed list of ongoing cases and a suggested succession plan in the event she leaves the company.
Living on a smaller budget
Adjusting to the six-figure pay cut was “much more difficult” than Hayes anticipated.
Hayes says that given her previous income, she could “spend money without much thought or stress,” whether it was ordering takeout several times a week or making large student loan payments without worrying about whether she would have enough left. amount of money for rent.
Hayes says that now, earning $150,000 less than a year ago, she has had to pay more attention to her monthly expenses and savings while also being responsible 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 lucky that I still earn enough to live comfortably,” Hayes says, adding that her living expenses are slightly higher after moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco. “The biggest change with this pay cut is my change in attitude towards money – I've realized that I have to think hard about purchases, even if they don't seem extravagant.”
“Having that freedom and balance was priceless.”
Now, as she approaches her one-year anniversary at the tech company (which she preferred not to name), Hayes says she's “really happy.”
For Hayes, the $150,000 pay cut was not a sacrifice; it was an investment in her health, relationships and future. For the first five years of her legal career, she often struggled with sleep deprivation and stress
“I couldn't turn off my thoughts,” she says. “I had trouble falling asleep at night and had persistent jaw pain, but since I quit my old job, all of those symptoms have gone away… it's crazy.”
She says the hardest part of her new gig was figuring out how to spend her suddenly free evenings and weekends.
“On weekdays I spend more time with friends, I go to Pilates, I develop new hobbies, I bought a sewing machine,” she says. “Having that freedom and that balance was priceless.”
