We’re proof you CAN quit your miserable high-salary job and go it alone. Here’s EXACTLY how we did it without suffering financially – and the six simple steps that mean anyone can work less but earn more

It was during another six-day working week on the glitzy set of BBC TV reality show So You Think You Can Dance that Gareth Davies first realised he couldn’t carry on as he was. Gareth, now 51, says the hours were long and pressure was high in the competition, hosted by Cat Deeley, which ran for two series from 2010 to 2011.

He says: ‘There was quite a culture on that programme, as there are on lots of shows, of people thinking the later you stay in the office, the better you are at your job.

‘I started to think, is this really what I want to do – six-day weeks and very long hours?’

But it was nine years later at age 45 that Gareth finally called it quits on TV work.

After years producing major shows including Strictly Come Dancing, Gareth walked away from his £85,000 salary.

He is one of a growing number who quit their jobs mid-life and change career entirely.

One in five Britons switches careers once they hit 40, according to jobs website e-careers. Many are motivated by a need for a better work-life balance, a struggle to find a desired role following redundancy or they just want a fresh challenge.

Wealth & Personal Finance has spoken to three mid-life entrepreneurs who’d had enough of their high-flying jobs and left to set up their own businesses. They tell us how a career change IS possible and why it can be a reset button to increase your earning power, boost your retirement savings and open a doorway to a better work-life balance.

Gareth founded a presenter-coaching business, The Presenter Studio, which helps established hosts like Claudia Winkleman, Rylan Clark and Zoe Ball improve their skills. Gareth also provides media training to top brands such as Fenty Beauty, Nike, ASOS, Lush Cosmetics and Prudential.

In his career as a producer, Gareth had a track record of spotting new talent and helping them to get on screen, including casting the original line-up of judges on Strictly Come Dancing.

He had run training courses as a side hustle inbetween work contracts for years, and during the pandemic decided to develop it into a full-time business.

Starting out on your own can be scary, so using existing skills to make the move is key.

For Gareth, the years of producing talent helped him make the switch to coaching.

He says: ‘I wanted to take those years of expertise and pass it on to others. I felt the presenter training business was out of date and I knew I could do better.

‘I also wanted more control in day-to-day life – and in my future.

‘When I first started, you were staff at the BBC if you worked in TV production. But even when you were staff, you were on short-term contracts.

‘It always felt that every time you finished the programme, you were almost starting again because you only get a contract for that series and then you would have to find more work. You just feel like you deserve a little bit more.’

Gareth says he always wanted to be his own boss and have creative freedom. ‘I wanted to be excited about what I was doing rather than feeling part of office culture.’

But despite the excitement, Gareth admits leaving TV behind was terrifying.

‘I used to wake in the middle of the night and bolt up in bed and just think, “What have I done?” But then when I’d wake in the morning, I would realise it was always the right thing to do.’

Now Gareth says running his own business feels ‘more secure’ than working freelance in TV.

He earns more than he did – and he’s much happier. His advice to anyone thinking of a mid-life career switch is to start small.

He says: ‘Set yourself up as a side hustle if possible. See if you like it, to test the waters.’

Be prepared to work hard – although that may be more enjoyable when you’re in charge.

He adds: ‘I still work long hours but I do them on my own terms. If I need to work on the weekend, for example, I’ll take a day off in the week instead, and there’s a lot of joy in doing that.’

My breaking point was 20-hour working days

Jacqueline Rogers was on the phone to a colleague when she realised she couldn’t go on.

The single mother-of-two was exhausted from working round the clock and was stressed from all the pressure her colleagues were piling on. She suddenly knew she could no longer continue in her corporate career in sales for Thomson NETg, a training services firm, and would have to leave her £60,000-a-year job.

The 68-year-old, who lives in Watford, says: ‘My back was to the wall and I slid to the ground. I just thought, I can’t do this any more. The hours were just too long.’

At the worst point, Jacqueline says she worked 20-hour days. ‘One week, I had four hours’ sleep each night and was working the rest. That was it. It was too much.’

She was a 45-year-old single mum with sons aged 17 and 18.

‘I was burnt out and broken,’ she adds. ‘I remember colleagues being made redundant and thinking, I wish that was me. I realised then that I just had to go.’

When the next round of redundancies was announced, Jacqueline says she walked into her interview about keeping the role, knowing she couldn’t carry on.

‘I said, “I’m done but I want to do this interview and tell you all the reasons why you shouldn’t let me go. But I really want you to let me go because there are other people who need this job.”

‘It wasn’t that I didn’t need it. It was that I couldn’t cope with it any more.’

Jacqueline took redundancy in 2003. She then set up her own women’s networking organisation, The Athena Network. It holds online and in-person networking meetings for ambitious women, alongside training and opportunities for collaboration.

Twenty years on, Jacqueline says leaving the corporate world transformed her life completely.

She says: ‘It’s so freeing. I feel very relaxed and good about life.’

She later franchised her business across the UK after remortgaging her home and investing the £35,000 she received as a redundancy payout into the business. The franchise model means that, although she still hosts events, she spends a lot of her days coaching franchise members with their business.

Now Jacqueline says she earns more than she did before and has built a business, which has a turnover of £140,000 a year, designed around freedom and flexibility.

‘It’s so much more free,’ she says. ‘At the moment, I have my brother’s dogs to stay and I’m looking after them. I can commit to things that I could never have done before.’

Her advice to others considering a mid-life career change is to start small, do your research and where possible build a business alongside employment before taking the leap full-time.

Be prepared for different responsibilities, she adds. ‘The biggest challenge for me was realising I don’t have a team or department to support me,’ she says. ‘Everything was on me.’

I gave up my £100,000 job to find happiness

It’s never too late to switch careers, says Louise Thompson, 49, who at 44 walked away from her £100,000-a-year job as a director of communications for a logistics company supplying the NHS.

The mum-of-one, from Lichfield, Staffordshire, says she became burnt out after years climbing the corporate ladder – but finally reached breaking point during the pandemic.

‘I was exhausted,’ she says. ‘All the adrenaline from leading and stepping up and doing all this great work in the pandemic, that ebbed away.

‘I worked extremely hard. I was one of those women who thinks the harder I work, the better it will be and the more valuable I’ll be. But it didn’t help me. All I was doing was working myself into burn-out.’

Louise says she was also dealing with perimenopause and worsening health issues.

‘I suddenly had these things happening to me that I didn’t understand,’ she says. ‘It was a full year before I felt ready and able to go again and launch a business.’

Louise, who lives with her husband Rick, 54, who works in higher-education accommodation, set up a coaching and public speaking business, Louise Thompson Leadership Coaching, in 2022.

She coaches senior women who work in corporate roles to get their confidence back and become effective leaders.

She was inspired by a coach she had during her corporate career who told her she had the skills to be a coach too. She had already completed her qualifications while in employment a few years before, in anticipation.

She says she had savings to fall back on – but admits the financial adjustment was huge.

‘The first year, I probably made £9,000,’ she says.

Now, four years later, she says she is earning ‘high five figures’ and hopes to eventually exceed her old corporate salary.

Despite earning less than before, Louise says she is much happier.

‘It’s having it on my own terms,’ she says.

Louise has built a large following on social media app TikTok, on @leadwithlouise, by sharing advice for women navigating burn-out, leadership and menopause.

She says: ‘I realised that turning 40 is the middle – not the end.

‘You’ve got more than enough time to build a business or start a second, different career that can be as successful or more successful than your previous one.’

She also urges women not to be afraid of reinvention later in life.

‘Don’t be scared of being cringe,’ she says. ‘Lean into your personal brand, do the thing that scares you. You’re never too old.’

Louise now sets her own hours, but as she’s an entrepreneur growing her business she works hard.

‘I don’t have to start at 6am,’ she says. ‘Today, for example, I didn’t wake up early. I sat with a coffee and did my make-up – it was a lovely start to the day.

‘I still work hard as I’m in the growth phase of my business, but it’s up to me when I do it.

‘I’m also able to set boundaries better, which women often don’t do at work.’

Louise says one of the biggest challenges of running your own business is that you need to wear many different hats.

‘When you’re a one-person business, you’re building it yourself and you have to be everything.

‘You’re running the business, you’re delivering the coaching, you’re doing the admin, you’re doing the invoices and you’re doing the marketing.

‘That was a realisation for me. It’s quite good because I’ve learned a lot.

‘I’ve upskilled and I’ve learned new things, particularly about marketing and social media, which I didn’t have before.’

Six steps before you take the leap

1. Choose a business model. Will you start from scratch, buy into an existing business or take on a franchise?

2. Test your idea. Is there a market for what you are offering and do you have a financial plan to get started?

3. Start small. Begin working on your idea as a side hustle if you can, and plan carefully before going full-time.

4. Create a brand. Come up with a strong name and brand – and register them so that they can’t be used by others.

5. Set up a business. You may need to register with Companies House and decide its structure.

6. Think about funding. Getting started can be expensive. Consider applying for grants, loans and seeking out investment. For more detail, go to business.gov.uk.