An Interview With Melissa Llarena

If you’ve been working in Corporate America, you could find yourself in that rat race and not even be aware that you’ve been running on empty. And having to juggle that with raising your kids and all your other responsibilities in life would most likely put you on the brink of burnout and breakdown.  In today’s episode, Jo Dodd talks about her experience of leaving the corporate world to “living in Jotopia,” a hybrid life that she created on her own terms to make sure she and her four sons are emotionally well. She talks about her decision to leave corporate and how she found the courage to pull that emergency cord and leave. Jo got furloughed in 2020 and when she realized she didn't have work anymore, creativity just flowed out of her and she started to write a book. But when she got called to get back to work, she couldn't breathe. She knew that if she went back, she was going to get completely drained. She was on the brink of a nervous breakdown. While she was watching her friends who had gone back to corp