I grew my salary to $112K after a career pivot. A layoff broke my heart and changed my perception of money and success.

Evelyn Irwanto started her career in nutrition, pivoted to tech, and was laid off from her $112,000 job in September 2025. Courtesy of Evelyn Irwanto; Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI Evelyn Irwanto is a 32-year-old living in Toronto. She was a senior manager at a marketing and branding consultancy, making CA$155,000, or roughly $112,000, before she was laid off in September 2025. Business Insider has verified Irwanto's income and employment history with documentation. The following as-told-to essay has been edited for length and clarity. I got into health and fitness near the end of high school and thought I wanted to be a dietitian . Deep down, though, I truly had no idea what I wanted to do. I grew up in a pretty typical Asian immigrant family. My parents were pushing me toward more traditional fields like business, medicine, or law.