275. Roadmap to Quitting Your Job and Building a Business in 2026 with Sam Vander Wielen

If you’re thinking about quitting your job in 2026 and finally starting your own business, this episode is your practical roadmap. I’m joined by lawyer-turned-entrepreneur Sam Vander Wielen, who left corporate law with multi-six-figure student loans, built a multi-seven-figure digital products company, and learned firsthand what entrepreneurship can and cannot do for your happiness. We’re talking about how to financially plan your exit from a 9-to-5, what legal steps you need (LLC, contracts, trademarks), and how to stop tying your worth to income, vanity metrics, or job titles. If you want a sustainable, smart plan for quitting your job and building a profitable business in 2026, this conversation will show you how to do it without burning your life down in the process. Sam’s links: Get Sam’s book: Listen to Sam’s podcast: Sign up for Sam’s newsletter: To get more resources including any freebies mentioned in this episode, head to ⁠⁠ 0:00 Intro 01:15 The Happiness Myth 04:30 Why We Tie Happiness to Milestones 07:30 What a Business Can (and Can’t) Give You 11:00 Money as a Tool for Safety and Choice 15:00 Sam’s Corporate Law Wake-Up Call 20:00 The Stability Myth of Corporate Jobs 25:30 Planning a Real Exit From Your 9–5 30:30 Legal Basics for Starting a Business 36:00 Why Entrepreneurship Doesn’t Fix Your Life 41:30 Redefining Success Before You Leap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to 275. Roadmap to Quitting Your Job and Building a Business in 2026 with Sam Vander Wielen online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

275. Roadmap to Quitting Your Job and Building a Business in 2026 with Sam Vander Wielen is an episode from Financial Feminist by Her First $100K.

This episode is 50:50 long.

This episode was published on Feb 24, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Financial Feminist when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.