Walking out of the building was only the beginning. For Samantha Hearne, losing the title of “Teacher” wasn’t the hardest part.

The harder shift came later — in the space where certainty used to live, and proving yourself no longer had a place to land.

This is a diary entry about the cost that lingers beyond the exit — the nervous system that doesn’t switch off, the silence that replaces validation, and what remains when the label is gone.

Exit Diaries excavates the internal cost of professional life through conversations with people who left.

Samantha Hearne built a reputation as an exceptional teacher — respected by the pupils, trusted by parents, and highly capable in a 10-year career. From the outside, everything worked.

But competence can mask quiet dissatisfaction. And being good at something doesn’t always mean it’s right.

This is a diary entry about the cost of performing excellence — an excavation of 12-hour days, the institutional rhythms that quietly confine you, and what happens when achievement no longer feels like alignment.

Exit Diaries excavates the internal cost of professional life through conversations with people who left.

Rachelle Peterson spent 30 years inside corporate media — building a career across Warner Brothers, Sky, and CNN.

She climbed. She delivered. She became exceptional at the game.

And then something shifted: the title stopped feeling like safety, and the ladder stopped feeling like progress.

This is a diary entry about the internal cost of staying, and when being exceptional is no longer enough.

Exit Diaries excavates the internal cost of corporate life through conversations with people who left.

Written and hosted by Jack Long.