I Took a $12-an-Hour Job at Whole Foods After a Layoff From Higher-Ed

Being let go from a job is not always a surprise. Sometimes, there are whispers before the door slams shut, small signs that your time is winding down. That’s how it was for me.

In 2010, I was an academic counselor at a community college in Washington, DC. I had also volunteered to develop the tutoring center, believing I was stepping into a dream role. For over a decade, I’d worked in community education as a GED writing teacher, a tech training program manager, and an ESL teacher.

I didn’t just help students pick a major — I asked them to connect their education to who they wanted to become in the world. I took my job personally, and I found myself drowning in responsibilities.

The tutoring center had no budget or staff. I was expected to build something from scratch, relying on volunteers on top of my full-time advising load. It wasn’t sustainable.

Starting a new life in a new job

Eventually, complaints about the tutoring center’s limitations reached leadership. When my one-year contract ended, it wasn’t renewed, and I was laid off.

The long hours and low pay had worn me down. I was making $42,000 a year with a master’s degree, and I woke up anxious and in tears, dreading Monday mornings. Getting let go gave me the breathing room I desperately needed.

With six months of unemployment benefits and temporary health insurance, I had just enough to survive. I decided to follow a long-held curiosity: food.

I’d always been drawn to Whole Foods

I loved the hot bar, soups, salads, and desserts, which actually looked homemade (because they were).

At this time of my life, the stress of my previous job, the death of my mother, and a failing marriage all contributed to significant weight gain. I decided to get divorced while simultaneously navigating my job situation.

I threw myself headfirst into learning how to heal my body with food. Though I once dreamed of culinary school, I couldn’t justify taking out more debt on top of what I already owed for my master’s degree. I sought out other ways to satisfy my culinary interests, like completing the ServSafe food handler certification.

I took a leap of faith and applied for a job in the Whole Foods kitchen

I had amassed a wealth of culinary knowledge after years of watching my favorite chefs on the Food Network, YouTube, and PBS. I read cookbooks like novels and took countless in-person cooking classes in raw food preparation, fruit pie baking, and making handmade pasta. Whole Foods took a chance on me, and I fell in love with being in a professional kitchen.

I was hired as a cook for $12 an hour. The drop in pay required me to make some adjustments in my lifestyle. I moved from a one-bedroom apartment into a single rented room in a house that was shared with five other adults. I sold my car, couch, and all my other worldly belongings. I had no real plan — I was just excited about the possibility of engaging an interest I had held for years.

I learned how to filet a 30-inch salmon, perfectly grill a steak with crosshatch marks, properly arrange the deli salad display for visual appeal, and properly scrub down every greasy kitchen surface each night. My muscles ached in ways my old desk job never asked of me, but this work was creative, and I felt alive.

Finding my creative rhythm

I stayed at Whole Foods for six months. Food service moves fast, and I learned I wasn’t built for that pace.

But something had awakened in me. I started teaching healthy cooking classes in the Whole Foods community education program. I watched people recreate those recipes at home and come back surprised by their own success. That joy sparked my writing.

I began documenting recipes on my health blog and pitching food stories to small publications. I worked for a year in an after-school program teaching kids to cook healthy meals while learning STEM. I noticed how the kids were excited to talk about their country of origin and the foods they made with their mom at home that were similar to what we had prepared in class.

After being dismissed from my job at the community college, I felt like a failure. I discovered that talking about food, culture, and science fed my soul in ways that teaching did not.

Transitioning to a new life abroad

I knew that the after-school program would only last for one year, so I looked for an opportunity that would allow me to build a career in writing, food, and health.

In 2013, I took another leap of faith and moved to Orlando with my fledgling freelance writer business, starting with food and then branching into writing for wellness brands and the tech industry. Over the course of five years, I built a foundation for a freelance business I could take anywhere in the world.

I wrote blog posts, ebooks, white papers, customer case studies, and more. After watching hours of YouTube videos of other freelance writers who moved to Southeast Asia, I decided to do the same.

I booked a one-way ticket from Florida to Thailand. I was drawn to Thailand for its affordable living and access to traditional healers who could support my weight loss journey. While there, I lost 60 pounds.

Since 2018, I’ve lived in 10 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and now Mexico. I continue to explore what it means to sustain vibrant health while building a business that blends freelance writing with author coaching.

I now live in Playa del Carmen

I’m deepening my knowledge of healing herbs, local chile varieties, and the region’s rich culinary traditions. In January 2025, I ran my first half-marathon, a milestone that reflects just how far I’ve come in my health journey.

Looking back, I realize I wasted too much time feeling like a failure after losing my job in higher education. I now see the experience very differently. It wasn’t a failure so much as a freeing of my soul.

Most people never stop to ask if what they’re doing still fits who they are and what they want to experience as they get older. I was given that opportunity, and it changed the trajectory of my life.