Hana Kim: I Left 3 Months Before My Pension Vested

Hana Kim did almost everything you're not supposed to do.

She spent seventeen years in corporate, all of it in insurance, and made VP. Then she took a bigger VP role that required moving her whole family from Southern California to Arizona during the pandemic. House to sell, house to buy, a dog, and her mom, who lives with them. She landed in mid-June when it was a hundred and fifteen degrees.

The job was great, until it wasn't.

She describes the feeling the way a lot of us would recognize. Not burnout exactly. More like wearing a suit that kinda fits. Day by day you notice the fit is off, and then one day you have to take it off or lose your mind.

She joined the Escapee Collective in October of 2024, gave herself until the end of 2025 to decide, gave notice in July, and walked out in December. Two or three months before her pension vested. On paper, a terrible decision. She'll tell you she had no choice.

Then she made it harder. Insurance is a small world, and the easy path out is referrals and consulting gigs inside the industry you came from. She left the industry too. Which meant starting over with about three hundred LinkedIn connections, more than half of them in a business she was never going back to.

What she says about that period is the part I keep thinking about. Being excellent in corporate doesn't mean you know how to talk about your work. Her reputation was built inside the walls of one office and one industry, and none of it came with her.

The back half is her actual craft, and it's good. Her idea of building a neighborhood instead of an audience is the best framing I've heard on LinkedIn, and I'm stealing it. Not finding your ICP and bombarding them. Building a street where some people hire you, some people refer you, and some people are just people you talk to.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Hana Kim is a personal brand strategist who works with solopreneurs and founders. Before going solo in December 2025, she spent seventeen years in B2B marketing in the insurance industry, finishing as a VP. She started out as a freelance writer and editor, went to law school, and practiced as an attorney before moving into corporate. She is intentionally a solo operator and has no plans to build an agency.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanakim/

She also has no content pillars, on purpose, and she'll explain why.