written by Stacey Lindsay

For years, Katrina McGhee was working jobs and building a career that was, as she says, overwhelming her spirit. Still, she “did the right things.” She showed up, worked hard, put in her time, and checked the boxes. In our patriarchal, expectational society, Katrina was a rockstar worker. 

Today, her career is vastly different. Katrina is a professional career break coach. Just as it sounds, she helps people take time to re-energize, figure out who they are, or pull away from the grind. If this idea sounds too far-flung, hang on a bit longer—because it was for Katrina, too. Riddled with debt and questions, she never thought a break would be possible when she learned the concept. But she made it happen. And now, with a book on the way and droves of clients across the age spectrum and in varied industries, she’s emerging to the world as proof that we all can take breaks—and the reason for doing so can be as simple as I want to.  

“No one is going to come to you at age 35, 45, 50 and say, ‘I’ve seen all the hard work you’ve done and the choices you’ve made, and you know what, girl? You deserve a happy life and a break—and I will give it to you!’ No. You must create it.”

Chatting with Jen Gottlieb

We are in a patriarchal, white-knuckling, climb-the-latter society that tells us we should never take a break. You call bluff on this. Walk us through how you first came to the idea of a career sabbatical and made it happen.

It took years for the seed to bloom. I'd spent eight years working as an actuary. That was a great, well-paying career with job security, but I was miserable. It did not align with how I wanted to experience the world. So, I ran to business school. Between my first and second years, I got my hands on Eat, Pray, Love. It sounds cheesy, but it's true: I did not know that an adult person with a good job who wanted to be a successful human could quit working and travel for a year just because they wanted to. I always thought you needed a reason, but I never thought I could decide to do what I wanted. That truth was too hard to face, so I buried it deep down. 

When I went to my next career, it was, honestly, even worse. More corporate culture that was overwhelming my spirit. So, I hired a life coach. This was in 2011, and I didn't even know what life coaches were. I just knew I didn't have any answers, and I wanted to reinvent myself. I remember sitting on my coach's couch, several months into working with her, to try to find my third career. I realized, there, that I didn't want a third career. I wanted a break. 

I had business school debt. I had no reason to believe a break was possible. But I knew I had to figure out how to make it happen. I couldn't google it. So, I started following many travel bloggers and immersed myself in a world where people lived these alternative realities. I credit so much to my coaching then and in the time since. My experience ended up being successful because I was thoughtful and upfront when I started planning it. 

How long in advance did you start preparing for your break?

I started planning my break two years in advance. I saved $40,000 in 18 months. I gave my job eight months' notice. I had a very clear line of sight to my finish line.

You took a successful sabbatical from working and became a career break and sabbatical coach. What has all this sabbatical taught you?

I learned that I create my reality. I hoped that if I did all the right things, someone would give it to me. And when I took that break, my mind blew open to the fact that I'm the creator of my reality. I have the power to change stuff. That is overwhelming and scary but also incredibly amazing and empowering. 

As I said, I started planning for this well in advance. A week before my break, my brother unexpectedly passed away. I was standing at this moment, the culmination of everything I've been working towards for years while coexisting with the reality of my worst nightmare altogether. I had to be big enough to hold both things and not let one overshadow the other. The most beautiful thing was that I was angry and sad, but I was so grateful. I had $40,000, had already quit my job, and planned to travel. I had all these things I needed and gave them to myself. 

That is powerful because often people need something tragic to happen to propel them into action. 

Yes! I felt so proud of myself. I realized that life is a real mess sometimes, and you don't know when the good or the bad will come. I was proud that I was living my life, pursuing my dreams, and doing my best with what I had before my brother died. I see that as an honor to him. And I'm still going to continue that path. It's not about what you don't have but what you do have. What do you have that you can make the most of now? 

As a career and sabbatical coach, what have you seen about people's responsibilities or lifestyles who have taken breaks? 

For my forthcoming book, I surveyed my clients who are on a break or who've taken a break. What is incredible is about 60 percent of them have partners, about a third have kids, just over half have pets, and over half own a home. Looking at those stats, it's really interesting to see the composite of all these people who have done this. I say this because there's always a reason not to. There's always a responsibility or fear you will have to face. But a whole spectrum of people has taken a break, and waiting for them on the other side was amazing. 

Is age an obstacle?

There is no wrong age to take a break. The majority of my clients are in their mid-thirties to mid-forties. They feel they've worked hard, done all the "right" things, and made those sacrifices decisions based on future goals, and it hasn't created the life they thought they wanted or the feelings they thought they would feel. It's a natural inflection point, especially for women, to say, 'I've given so much to everything in my life except myself. Who am I now? What do I want for the second half of my life?' 

But I also find people who are older wanting to take breaks just as much, even those who are a few years from retirement. Again, there's no right age. It's really how you feel about it. And if you believe in the reason you're doing it, it does not matter how old you are. People come back to new opportunities, create new possibilities, meet people, start businesses, and do all kinds of things. 

Where's the best place to start considering or planning a career sabbatical?

The first place is to start to explore. If you think a break is something you need, start asking yourself great questions like, What would make this break worthwhile? What is my biggest hope for this time? What do I want to get out of it? Digging deeper into the purpose of your theoretical break helps you understand what's on the line and what you would stand to gain from the experience, as opposed to only focusing on what you stand to lose. Often, some of the things you're going lose, you don't even really want; they're just familiar. It can be very helpful to open your mind to the idea of what you risk by not taking a break.

If that feels too big or overwhelming, you can start to play with the idea of taking a four- or five-day weekend and not filling it with things. Or if you don't have the financial means to take time yet, treat one day like a sabbatical. Turn off your phone and give yourself permission to give yourself what you need, maybe walks in the sunshine or time to think. What can you do when you're not distracted and being "productive"? There is freedom in that. See what emerges for you.  

I've had clients take six months, 12 months, 18 months off. But I also had that client who took two months, and he did amazing things with that time. You don't need to take 12 months for it to be significant. It is about disconnecting from your old ways to give yourself the space to decompress and hit that reset button. 

What rewards have you seen people gain?

It's such a smattering of things. I helped a couple take a six-month break to go live abroad in Spain. They worked at the same company, and when they went to give their notice, the company said they didn't want to lose them, and they offered a leave of absence.

I helped a senior leader at Microsoft plan for a sabbatical. When we started working together, he received an offer to become the CEO of a digital transformation consulting firm. He decided to take that position, but he still needed a break, so he took two months to spend time with his family and recharge before he started this new big position. He now credits that break as the reason he can do such a great job now. 

I have had clients go out into self-employment, freelance, start different careers, move cities, and buy homes. For so many people, once they taste the freedom of doing their own thing, they don't want to get back on the hamster wheel. They see that the world literally is their oyster.

There will always be naysayers or people who don't understand this revolutionary idea. What's your advice for facing this?

There will be naysayers. But a caveat is that most people don't understand what a break is. Some stigma may be attached to it, or they're confused by it. This is an advantage. It's a secret weapon because you can insert yourself and your beliefs into the conversation, and you have the power to influence how they see taking a break. It's easier to influence people when they're unfamiliar with a concept. And if you can believe and understand the purpose behind your break, you can communicate it simply to others. You can say, 'I've been living my life for everyone else for so long that I forgot what makes me happy. I am reconnecting with myself, learning, and getting excited about life again.' When you convey your energy to someone, even if they're confused or doubtful, they will still be like Damn, that sounds interesting. 

But also, you don't need to convince everyone. When I returned from my first sabbatical, I had one recruiter who wasn't getting it. Still, I showed up to every interview with confidence. I mentioned my break on my cover letter and the additional info on my resume. And when people asked me questions about my break, I was like, "Let me tell you how inspired I am. Let me tell you about how brave I had to be. Let me tell you how convicted I am, holding true to my values, and showing up with integrity." I believed that I was selling an asset and that I was like every other candidate— same education, same network, same qualifications—but I'd done something way sexier and more interesting, fulfilling, and restorative. 

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Learn more about Katrina and her coaching at kmcgheecoaching.com. You can also pre-order her book here.

Interview by Stacey Lindsay, conducted exclusively for Liberty Road.

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