About Beyond Cubicles
📢 #BeyondCubicles is a weekly LinkedIn series created by Carolina D’Souza, born out of her own experience transitioning from a corporate career to independent consulting. Since its launch in June 2024, the series has evolved into a platform that showcases the inspiring journeys of several founders who have redefined the traditional 9-to-5.
Through authentic narratives, #BeyondCubicles highlights themes of courage, resilience, and purpose. The stories feature individuals from diverse industries—ranging from tech and education to wellness and adventure—who share their experiences of stepping away from conventional roles to pursue passion-driven careers.Â
Â
✨ Note: All features in this series are unpaid and shared as a way to honor and amplify real stories of transformation.
Â
“Figure out how you can optimize what you’re doing.”
Erin’s career was on the upswing as the marketing director of an Inc. 5000 firm when she decided in January 2021 to build her own business on top of her day job.
With entrepreneurship on her mind, she was managing both roles.
She quit in January 2022.
Her B2B content marketing firm, Haus of Bold, had so many clients that she did not have enough time to put business processes in place.
Erin worked feverishly until she went on maternity leave in August 2023.
When she returned to work in January this year, she decided to take on just one client for a few months and use the rest of the time to organize her thoughts on how to grow the business.
She says her decision to step back and take stock was the right one. It allowed her to work on a new approach to sales and growth.
Looking back, trusting her instincts paid off.
Erin’s gross earnings in her first year of entrepreneurship were more than twice the last salary she had drawn.
Speaking about the learning curve, she says, “If I were to start over, I would allocate ample time to organize everything properly,” adding she would hire administrative help as needed.
It is also one of her biggest lessons learned, says Erin. “Don’t put your head down and work, work, work. Come up for air,” she says. “Figure out how you can optimize what you’re doing.”
According to her, entrepreneurs should be confident that they can deliver value to beat the competition and must upskill to stay on top. “Client retention is far better than having to constantly fish for your next meal. Make sure you have what it takes to keep your clients coming back,” she advises.