The American Dream at Corporate Failed Me. Here’s What Actually Works

READING TIME - 3 MINUTES

I still remember my first day in corporate.

Bright-eyed. Full of energy. Hungry to grow.

It didn’t take long before the message became clear:

If you want to “make it,” you’ve got to climb.

Climb until you hit the title. The corner office. The money club.

That’s where success lived—or so they said.

For years, I believed it.

I stayed late. I worked hard. I trusted the process.

And I watched as people around me moved up…and still felt stuck.

Then one day, it hit me:

I was chasing a dream that wasn’t even mine.

And worse?

It wasn’t working.

After 10 years, I made one decision that changed everything:

I stopped chasing the next title—and started building value where it mattered most.

I moved into sales, stayed in senior management, and focused on solving real problems.

Within a few years, I was earning $750K—between my corporate career and a side hustle I ran after hours.

I didn’t need to be in the C-suite.

I just needed to be in the right seat, doing work that aligned with what people wanted—and keeping space to build something of my own on the side.

That’s what gave me real freedom.

Because when you have something outside of your 9-to-5, you gain power.

Options. Leverage. Confidence.

You stop playing defense.

You stop trying to fit in.

You start acting like a buyer—calm, confident, in control.

That’s when I realized:

There’s no single American Dream anymore.

Not in corporate. Not in life.

There’s only the dream you define—and the blueprint you build.

And that blueprint?

It doesn’t live in your HR system.

It doesn’t come with your promotion.

It shows up every time you take ownership of your path.

So if you’ve ever felt stuck in a dream someone else sold you, try this instead:

• Build skills people actually pay for
• Create options (side income, reputation, influence)
• Think like a buyer, not just an employee
• Stop chasing someone else’s plan
• Start building your own

That’s how it changes.

If this hit home, I wrote two books that go deeper:

📘 The Unwritten Rules — how to win in corporate without losing yourself

📘 Entrepreneur vs. Corporate — how to define success on your terms

The old dream is broken.

But the future?

It’s yours to build.