{"store":{"baseInfo":{"podcastTitle":"The Kaizen Lifestyle | Career Breaks & Transitions, Financial Independence, Lifestyle Design","slug":"thekaizenlifestyle","podcastDescription":"Are you sick of feeling unfulfilled in your career and life?\nDo you desire to make a transition but don’t know where to start?\nDo you wish you had the financial security to take a career break and explore other options?\nAre you tired of scouring the internet searching for ways to quit your job and live your best life?\n\nMe too, y’all. Me too. \n\nI recently embarked on a journey to discover what options I had to transition from my unfulfilling 9-5, while raising 2 boys with my husband, making sure all the bills get paid, saving for retirement, and still living my best life!\n\nIf you’re also looking for a way out of the corporate grind and are ready to become financially free and design the life you desire - I invite you to join me on the journey!\n\nWelcome to The Kaizen Lifestyle podcast!\n\nI’m Ashley, a wife, mom and former full-time working professional. For the last 10+ years, I’ve worked as an engineer, turned consultant, turned product owner in the consumer goods, food manufacturing, healthcare and insurance industries. For most of my career, I’d been on a mission to find my “dream job” - the job that truly lights me up and brings me fulfillment.\n\nI eventually realized that there was no “dream job” for me and in 2020, began my journey to financial independence with the hopes of saving and investing enough money to retire at the age of 45 and never have to work again. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I don’t want to wait until retirement to truly enjoy all aspects of my life and instead would prefer to create the life, NOW, that I don’t want to retire from. My husband and I decided that it was finally time for me to take a step away from full-time employment to take a well-needed career break after my maternity leave for my second son. Well, my planned career pause became unplanned when I was let go unexpectedly from my job at 7.5 months pregnant, BEFORE maternity leave. Thankfully, we were at a place financially where this turn of events could be a celebration, instead of devastation, as it allowed me to have some extended time off before I became a mom of 2. Although I’m unsure of if and when I will return to the corporate world, I’m grateful for the freedom and flexibility to live my life the way I desire without worrying TOO MUCH about the financial aspect. \n\nWhile working in corporate America, I was introduced to the term “Kaizen” - a Japanese word that loosely translates to ”change for the better” and is interchangeable with the phrase ”continuous improvement”. It’s a practice used in the workplace to implement small, incremental changes over time; however, it can be applied to all aspects of life, not just in business. Kaizen is a lifestyle.\n\nJoin me as I share the steps and principles I’ve implemented over the last 10+ years to gradually create this beautiful life of freedom, flexibility and fulfillment and learn how you can begin to prepare yourself and your finances for both the expected and unexpected turns that life may bring! We’ll be talking about career breaks and transitions, lifestyle design, financial independence and so much more!\n\nPull out those vision boards and post-its and get ready to dig into some spreadsheets - it’s time for us to start designing the lives we truly desire!\n\nConnect With Me!\nIG // @kaizen_ashley \nWebsite // thekaizenlifestyle.com\nEmail // thekaizenlifestyle@gmail.com","podcastLogo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/17516997/Podcast_Cover_Art_-_Final_2023_uabggd.jpg","podcastShareLogo":"https://d2bwo9zemjwxh5.cloudfront.net/image-logo/17516997/Podcast_Cover_Art_-_Final_2023_uabggd_1200x628.jpg?s=73ca6e65c50b2c2acab96c0e39c8bbe5&e=jpg","podcastUrl":"https://thekaizenlifestyle.podbean.com","podcastCanSearched":true,"feedUrl":"https://feed.podbean.com/thekaizenlifestyle/feed.xml","theme":"elegant","podcastDeepLink":"https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-u289d-10b49c5?from=usersite","removePodbeanBranding":"no","brandingLogo":null,"timeZone":{"timeZoneId":15,"gmtAdjustment":"GMT-05:00","useDaylightTime":1,"value":-5,"text":"(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)","daylightStartTime":"Second Sunday Of March +2 Hours","daylightEndTime":"First Sunday Of November +2 Hours","timezone":"America/New_York"},"podcastDownloads":null,"totalEpisodes":3,"showComments":true,"iOSAppDownloadLink":null,"customizeCssUrl":null,"androidAppDownloadLink":null,"showPostShare":true,"showLike":true,"author":"Ashley Merritt","enableEngagementStats":true,"shareEmbedLink":"https://admin5.podbean.com/embed.html?id=pbblog-u289d-10b49c5-playlist","language":"en","sensitivitySessionExpireTime":3600,"podcastApps":[{"name":"Apple Podcasts","link":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kaizen-lifestyle-|-career-breaks-transitions-financial-freedom-lifestyle-design/id1719047755","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/apple-podcast.png","title":null},{"name":"Podbean App","link":"https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-u289d-10b49c5?from=usersite","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/podbean-app.png","title":null},{"name":"Spotify","link":"https://open.spotify.com/show/4p8EbljVCbqmR4RfwrwJo2","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/spotify.png","title":null},{"name":"Amazon Music","link":"https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b6e56a96-7cf0-42ca-8777-9668133b4e0a","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/AmazonMusic.png","title":null},{"name":"iHeartRadio","link":"https://iheart.com/podcast/131945520","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/iHeartRadio.png","title":null},{"name":"PlayerFM","link":"https://player.fm/series/3532619","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/PlayerFM.png","title":null},{"name":"Podchaser","link":"https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-kaizen-lifestyle-career-br-5546481","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/Podchaser.webp","title":null},{"name":"BoomPlay","link":"https://www.boomplaymusic.com/podcasts/84761","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/BoomPlay.png","title":null}],"components":{"base":[{"id":"MainStyle","val":"light"},{"id":"Font","val":"Avenir"},{"id":"SecondaryFont","val":"Avenir"},{"id":"PlayerColor","val":"#8fc31f"},{"id":"PlayerStyle","val":"player1"},{"id":"PlayerWave","val":"show"},{"id":"Favicon","val":null},{"id":"CookiesNotice","val":"hide"},{"id":"CookiesNoticeContent","val":"

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In my first episode, I share the story about how I got laid off at 7.5 months pregnant, how this impacts me and my family, and how we were in a position to celebrate this unexpected, but welcomed, career break.

Connect With Me!

IG // @kaizen_ashley

Website // thekaizenlifestyle.com

Email // thekaizenlifestyle@gmail.com

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Connect With Me!

IG // @kaizen_ashley

Website // thekaizenlifestyle.com

Email // thekaizenlifestyle@gmail.com