Don’t Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste: Julia Renouard’s Rewire Journey
As an in-demand technology executive, Julia was no stranger to leading teams, driving results, and adjusting to whatever the organization needed. The path of grow -> do well -> grow more -> get additional responsibilities -> get promoted was working—each step led neatly to the next one.
It worked, until it didn’t. Post-COVID, Julia was at a crossroads—the work wasn’t fitting anymore. Not with the phase of the company’s growth and not with her new vision of what she wanted life to be like.
Instead of powering through and making it work, she decided to push pause, reflect, and rewire her career for the next chapter.
Putting Bandaids on Burnout
The decision to step away from a successful career path wasn’t an easy one. Like many senior women, she had built a team and cared deeply about them. Leaving the group behind didn’t feel good or align with her value of taking care of the people around her.
But realistically—it was time to take care of herself first. The years of managing change, leading transformation, and dealing with COVID left her depleted. Not in a I-need-a-vacation way, but in a deep-seated I need a real break kind of way.
“I was muscling through the days, trying self-care strategies like meditation and mindfulness, but they felt like band-aids. The real issue wasn’t me—it was the system I was in.”
When the company reorganized, Julia saw an opportunity. Instead of allowing the system to steer her, she chose to take more control. She took the chance to jump off the corporate career wheel, take a step back, and figure out what truly energized her.
Stepping into uncertainty could have triggered fear and an identity crisis. As she put it, Don't let a good crisis go to waste. This moment was an opportunity—not just to pivot but to redefine what success and fulfillment looked like for her. “I had never not had something lined up next,” she said. “I had to learn to sit in the discomfort of not knowing.”
When It Rains it Pours
Change often comes in sets—and after pushing pause at work, Julia’s dad fell ill unexpectedly. Having extra time and space turned it into a way for them to spend his final months together. What a reminder that how we spend our time is not only finite but worth doing in a way that feels good. For Julia, it helped illuminate what was truly important and helped bring what she valued in her life into stark relief.
After leaving corporate, Julia detoxed from work. She read, hiked, and let herself simply be. “It was a reset, and I needed it,” she said. Soon enough, she was ready to start exploring what her next chapter would hold.
Asking The Real Questions
She has always been analytical, and Julia approached her career transition with the same structured mindset she once brought to engineering problems.
She asked: What truly excites me? When have I felt the most engaged? What work brings me energy instead of draining it?
She started writing—organizing what she had learned from her years in leadership, exploring ideas she finally had space to get on paper, and crystallizing her philosophy.
And she did something that felt unnatural: she started reaching out to people just to talk, without an agenda.
“I had always been terrible at networking because it felt transactional,” she said. “But I reframed it as simply listening to people’s stories. I realized that every conversation, no matter how small, taught me something.”
One of her first conversations was with a woman who had left corporate life to write a book. It opened Julia’s eyes to new possibilities.
A Portfolio Career is Born
As she pieced together her next chapter, Julia realized she didn’t want to return to a traditional full-time corporate role. The idea of rigid structures, endless meetings, and high-pressure deadlines wasn’t going to fit into the lifestyle she had in mind.
Instead, she embraced a portfolio career—consulting, fractional work, mentoring, and exploring projects that aligned with her values.
Today, she takes on work selectively, saying yes to opportunities that fit her new criteria:
Does this align with my purpose? Will I learn and grow?
Will I be able to bring real value?
Does it fit within the life I want to build?
The shift wasn’t just about work; it was about redefining success. “I went from being consumed by work to designing my life with intention,” she said. “Now, I wake up and have slow mornings, I take time to read, I exercise, I set work down at the end of the day, and it doesn’t follow me home.”
Waking Up Excited
When Julia reflects on her journey from burnout to balance, she wishes she could go back and tell her past self to pay attention sooner. “It’s easy to get consumed by work and assume things will get better if you just push through,” she said. “But if you’ve lost your sense of purpose and nothing is changing, you have to step back and reassess.”
Her advice to others considering a rewire?
Don’t ignore burnout. It’s not just about working too much—it may be about a misalignment between your work and what truly drives you.
Let go of fear. Fear of leaving, fear of the unknown—these are just barriers keeping you from something better.
Be open to discomfort. Growth comes from stepping outside of what feels safe.
Redefine success. It doesn’t have to look like the traditional corporate ladder. It can be whatever brings you fulfillment.
“I had a physical reaction to the idea of returning to corporate life,” Julia said. “Now, I wake up excited about what I’m working on. That’s how I know I made the right choice.”
For Julia, the rewire wasn’t just about leaving a job—it was about reclaiming her life.