I Quit My Job…and Built The Career I Actually Wanted
Recently, I sat down on a podcast called “I Quit My Job” and said out loud what I’ve been living for years now: I really did walk away from a stable media career to bet on myself. No real safety net. No guarantee. Just faith, experience and a very loud inner voice saying, “Dream Big. Live Now.”
When I first wrote about this decision two years ago, in my “Six Years And Going Strong!” blog, I was still very much in the “can you believe I did that?” phase.
Now, I’m in a different chapter.
Today, I’m not just the founder of FKB Media Solutions. I’m also running FKB Media Productions Inc. and FKB Media Book A Speaker Inc. Three companies, one vision: to put powerful stories, expert voices and underrepresented perspectives exactly where they belong: front and centre.
So let me go back for a minute and tell you why quitting that job was the turning point for all of this.
For more than 25 years, I worked in major market newsrooms. CTV, Citytv, CP24, Canada AM, Your Morning - you name it, I was there in the control room, building shows, setting news agendas, writing scripts and producing content that half the country watched without ever knowing my name.
I had what most people would call a good job:
a steady paycheque every two weeks
benefits
paid vacation
a clear career lane
Even with a couple of layoffs in there, I always landed back on my feet. From the outside, it made no sense to walk away.
But inside, I knew something was missing.
I was making other people’s brands look phenomenal, bringing stories to life that didn’t always reflect my community, and constantly asking myself, “What would it look like if I poured this much energy into my own vision?”
Eventually the whisper became a shout:
It was time.
I wanted to depend on me.
I wanted more control over my narrative.
I wanted to decide which stories got amplified and who was given the mic.
So I did the thing that sounds cute on a podcast and terrifying in real life: I quit.
I won’t lie and pretend it was glamorous.
When I left, I had all the real-life questions:
Would this business idea work?
Would anyone actually pay for my services?
How would I keep the mortgage paid and my kids fed?
There’s a version of entrepreneurship people post on Instagram, and then there’s the version where you’re at your dining room table with a laptop, a notebook, and a quiet panic in your chest.
But I jumped anyway.
I launched FKB Media Solutions, a media consulting company that helps clients secure strategic media coverage, understand how newsrooms work, and show up confidently on every platform.
I started saying yes to projects that scared me a little and stretched me a lot. I became the person behind the scenes of other entrepreneurs’ and organizations’ success stories. And slowly, the referrals started to build. Then the momentum. Then the recognition.
In that six-year blog, I wrote about the leap from solopreneur to employer and how wild it felt to build a team. Since then, the growth has continued in ways I honestly didn’t imagine when I handed in my keycard.
FKB Media has become a multi-award-winning media firm. In the last few years alone, I’ve received:
the Rogers/IABC Communicator of the Year Award (2023)
the Desjardins GoodSpark Grant of $20,000 (chosen from 4,000 entrepreneurs)
the University of Toronto Scarborough Inclusive Excellence Alumni Award (2024)
the ReelWorld Visionary Award (2024)
the Women Empowerment Awards Businesswoman of the Year (2022)
and a 2025 Media Award from the International Women Achievers Awards.
Let me be very transparent: I didn’t receive a single major award during my 25 years working for big media companies. The recognition started when I stepped out on my own.
Leaving my job created the space for people to really see my work — not just the show logo in the corner of the screen.
The producer in me never left. So I started FKB Media Productions Inc., a production house focused on telling the stories I care about - especially Black Canadian stories that aren’t getting enough light.
This is the part of the journey where I get to say:
Not only can I help you get media — I can make media, too.
The third baby in the FKB family is FKB Media Book A Speaker Inc., my speakers bureau.
What started as an idea - “I know all these brilliant, diverse experts…why aren’t they on more stages?” - became a fully fledged bureau representing speakers across mental health, leadership, law, finance, entrepreneurship, the arts and more.
We’ve since hosted showcases, curated line-ups, and started working with event planners across the country who are tired of “the usual suspects” and ready for fresh, powerful voices.
Again, none of this happens if I stay where I was comfortable.
Being on the “I Quit My Job” podcast made me reflect on the real lessons of this whole story. It’s not just “follow your dreams” — it’s more grounded than that.
Here’s what I know now:
Security is important, but so is alignment.
I had security in my TV jobs, but not always alignment with my deeper purpose. Now I have both, not because it’s easy, but because it’s mine.Pressure can break you or build you.
There were days early on when I wasn’t sure where the next client was coming from. That pressure forced me to get clear, get organized, and get visible.Recognition is nice, but impact is the point.
Awards are beautiful and I’m grateful for every one, but the real reward is seeing my clients on front pages, on panels, in boardrooms and classrooms changing how people see Black and diverse excellence.Discomfort is a growth signal.
I’ve said it before: when you feel uncomfortable, it usually means you’re stretching. I’ve felt that with every new company, every new stage, every time I step from behind the camera to in front of it.
If you’re reading this because you’re thinking about quitting your job, here’s my honest answer:
Yes.
A thousand times yes.
Quitting my job was not about running away from something — it was about running toward the life and work I knew I was capable of.
It gave birth to:
a media consulting firm that shapes national conversations
a production company that tells our stories on our terms
a speakers bureau that puts brilliant, diverse voices on the mic
It gave me the freedom to choose my clients, choose my projects, and choose how I show up in this industry. Do I still have scary days? Hell yeah.
But I also have something I never truly had before: ownership - of my time, my expertise, my impact and my story.
And that, for me, has made quitting my job one of the best decisions I have ever made.
