Amanda NorthcuttFounder & CEO | Keynote Speaker, LevelUp · B2B sales as a solo is HARD. I’ve got you. I help consultants & coaches sell high-ticket services comfortably & confidently, while enjoying consistent, predictable revenue | Founder & CEO | Speaker |

Golden Handcuffs, Dual Identities, and the Freedom to Just Try

29 Jul 2025 · 1 min

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In this reflective monologue, the speaker describes the tension between a secure engineering career—characterized by steady clients, a stay‑at‑home spouse, health insurance, a 401(k), and a well‑defined professional identity—and a lingering desire to pursue entrepreneurship. For five years they attempted to juggle both the engineer persona and a marketing/entrepreneurial side, which proved exhausting. A pivotal insight reframed the entrepreneurial move not as a permanent abandonment of engineering but as a temporary experiment: if it fails, they can return to their established career without stigma. This shift from viewing the decision as irrevocable to seeing it as a low‑stakes trial provides emotional relief and a sense of freedom.

Chapters

I had done some marketing work. So I had some clients, I had the marriage business that was still generating income. And I had like total golden handcuffs, right? Like my wife was a stay-at-home mom, I had the insurance, I had the 401. And like, I had a full identity and a full like, yeah, just like persona that was like the engineer guy. And I felt like that was like my thing. And I was like, but I want to do something else. And I felt like for 5 years, I'd sort of tried to wear both identities and both hats. It was a real struggle. But I had this epiphany moment that, hey, I could go try entrepreneurship and if I suck at it, I can go back and be an engineer. I know it sounds obvious now, but I felt like this was a permanent decision. And when I finally freed myself of like, it's not a permanent decision, it's an experiment and I'm not bad at engineering, I'm not getting blacklisted from the industry, I'm just choosing to go try something else for a while.