I stayed until the company restructured and let go of its staff — that was my first experience getting laid off.

In March 2017, I landed a marketing and PR coordinator position at a healthcare company. At this job, I met the man who would become my husband. Now, he manages our household while I run my own business.

I worked at the 2nd job for less than a year before quitting on my own accord

I quit my job without a backup plan because I felt my creativity was stifled in the role. My husband encouraged me to quit when I wasn't happy.

I planned on applying for new marketing positions, but during my job search, I landed a freelance marketing client.

He was a former colleague, and he and his wife owned two local coffee stands. They'd heard that I understood social-media marketing.

They were my first clients and paid me $300 for my first project. I landed two more clients through referrals and scaled into a boutique social-media-marketing agency.

I formed an LLC in January 2019

After finishing 2018 with $88,000 in revenue, I went all in on entrepreneurship. That summer, I started my podcast, "Cubicle to CEO."

Yin started her podcast, "Cubicle to CEO," shortly after leaving her full-time job in 2018.



Courtesy of Ellen Yin

I let go of all but one of my agency clients by the end of the year and decided to stop offering services. I created digital products, training courses, and a product called Hashtag Hacks, which brought almost 9,000 new students into our ecosystem.

We now operate as a media-business model with our podcast as the flagship product. We have two full-time employees and occasionally use contractors.

Our revenue was more than $550,000 in 2023, and I hope to grow that this year. My take-home pay after business expenses is also in the six-figure range.

My husband was laid off in late 2021 and hasn't worked since

When I left my corporate job, my husband still worked at my former company. After he was laid off, he started consulting with my dad's biotech company, but for the most part, he's been responsible for all our household tasks.

We mutually decided he should have that time off. My husband's worked his whole life, so it was nice to give him time for some of his other creative pursuits. He's since finished writing a film script — something he'd never done before.

I travel a few times a month for speaking gigs, so having him at home to support and manage the household while I'm gone has been helpful. We're unsure if we want to have children but are open to the idea and leaning toward yes. If we do, we'll reevaluate our working arrangement.

Yin travels a couple times a month for speaking engagements while her husband stays home to manage the house.



Courtesy of Ellen Yin




We talk about our arrangement often

My husband does everything — laundry, house cleaning, and driving me around. He enjoys cooking, but we probably eat out more than we should. He's said he doesn't have any resentment.

He's good at taking care of a lot of the household labor in a way that I'm not. It allows me to stay in my lane and focus my time and energy on what I'm best at to provide for us financially.

He also works one to two hours a week in my business on recurring content tasks, including our podcast transcripts, populating links in our blog posts, and helping our content manager with anything administrative.

I've had my business for nearly 7 years, which can feel like a lot of pressure

Being the sole income earner in our family can be stressful at times; it would be unrealistic to say it's not. Over the past few years, we've purchased a home, bought two cars, and had a wedding. I've also made investments as an angel investor. Despite the stress, I feel this arrangement is best for us.

Being the breadwinner hasn't impacted our relationship romantically. We're both extremely honest; if we feel something's off, we'll communicate directly about it to each other — and we don't hold stuff in.

It's been helpful to be married to someone who sees our marriage as a partnership and isn't intimidated or feels any ego about the financial piece of it.

I'm proud that we're a debt-free household outside our mortgage

We always discuss big life choices and decide together. Our money is our money; we share it equally, and it's a pooled account.

My ultimate goal is to sell my business one day, which we're working toward.

I'm the eldest daughter of first-generation Americans and immigrants. Growing a business and being a female breadwinner has been my greatest personal-development experience.

Want to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas.com.