x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett Trainor

Tom Cruise said it best in Risky Business: "Sometimes you gotta say what the f* and make your move." He just didn"t know he was talking about corporate. Here"s the truth: corporate already quit on you. Maybe it was a layoff. Maybe a role that stopped making sense. Maybe you just woke up one day and realized you"d been going through the motions for years. That WTF moment isn"t the end. It"s the beginning. This show is for GenX professionals who are ready to build a second half worth living —

business entrepreneurship

All Episodes

15:33

3 Surprising Ways GenXers Are Replacing Their...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/04/17

Most people leave corporate and immediately chase the familiar paths — consulting, coaching, fractional work. Those are valid. But they take time, runway, and a warm network. In this episode Brett breaks down three unexpected ways GenXers are generating real income right now, using skills they already have, without needing a big audience or startup capital.The backdrop is an AI world that most people are reading completely wrong. AI didn't shrink the opportunity for skilled humans — it exploded it

en

34:09

When the Work Stops Lighting You Up: Leaving...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/04/07

Kristen Hamborg is six weeks out of a 25-year corporate interior design career — and she's never looked back. In this episode Kristen shares how burnout, a pandemic pivot, and a coaching certification she pursued on the side slowly shifted everything. Unlike most escapees who get pushed out Kristen made the decision herself — and she'll tell you exactly what it took to get there.This one is for anyone still in corporate feeling the slow fade of work that used to light them up.What You'll Learn🎯 How

en

34:03

2 Kids Under Two, Full Time Job, & She Still Built...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/04/01

DanielleBurkenescapedcorporateinSeptember2023—butherjourneystartedsixyearsbeforethat.InthisepisodeDanielleshareshowshewentfromafull-timeagencyjobwithtwokidsundertwo,tobuildingasix-figuresolopreneurbusinessinunder90daysbydoingonethingmostcorporateprofessionalsneverdo:listeningtowhatpeoplewerealreadyaskingherforandchargingforit.Shealsobreaksdownhumandesign—whatitis,whyitworks,andhowsheusesittohelpentrepreneursbuildbusinessesthatarealignedwithhowtheynaturallyoperate.Ifyou'veeverfeltlikeyou'reforcingsome

en

17:36

AI Doesn't Replace Escapees — It Supercharges Them

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/03/20

Corporate is using AI to eliminate jobs. Escapees get to use it to multiply themselves. In this solo episode Brett pulls back the curtain on exactly how he runs his entire business with AI — the tools, the use cases, and the honest truth about what it can and can’t do.He also covers the single biggest opportunity most escapees are missing right now — helping small and midsize businesses actually leverage AI. Not programming. Not building agents. Bringing the business judgment that 20+ years of

en

15:26

4 Real Paths to Replace Your Corporate Income (And...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/03/13

The 4 Real Paths to Replace Your Corporate IncomeMost corporate escapees think they only have two options: find another job or figure out how to start a business from scratch. But there are actually four legitimate paths to replacing your corporate income — and one of them is seriously underrated.In this solo episode, Brett breaks down all four paths and then goes deep on the one he doesn't talk about nearly enough: franchising.If you've been thinking about leaving corporate but the blank page feels

en

31:47

Laid Off 4 Times: What the Job Hunt Won't Teach You...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/03/06

750 layoffs a day. No, that's not a typo — and it's not slowing down.Brett sits down with Steve Jaffe, marketing veteran and author of The Layoff Journey: From Dismissal to Discovery, to talk about what most career books completely skip: the emotional and psychological toll of losing a job — and why processing that first is the key to what comes next.Steve was laid off four times over a 30-year career. His first layoff took him years to recover from. His last one in 2023? Water off a duck's back

en

20:45

I'm My Own Worst Enemy (And You Probably Are Too)

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/02/25

There's a Lit song that's been stuck in my head for weeks: "My Own Worst Enemy." And it's the perfect metaphor for my entire solo journey.I've blocked myself at every stage—consulting, fractional leadership, and now with The Escapee Collective. Not intentionally, but by doing what corporate trained me to do: overanalyze, overstructure, and wait for perfection before taking action.In this episode, I walk you through the three times I made the same mistake—and what I'm doing differently now.If you're

en

45:35

The Truth About Fractional: Rates, Retainers, and...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/02/18

Fractional work is exploding — and it’s still confusing for a lot of corporate escapees. In this Featured Speaker session inside the Escapee Collective, John Arms breaks down Fractional 101 in plain English: what fractional really is, who it’s for, how to get clients (spoiler: it’s not campaigns), and what you can realistically charge.If you’re still in corporate, recently laid off, or already freelancing and want more stability, this is the clearest “how it works” primer you’ll hear.What you’ll

en

17:23

Breaking Corporate Dependency: Why Going Solo Alone...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/02/17

Jon the Escapee Collective!What keeps 79% of corporate professionals stuck isn't lack of skills or opportunity—it's something deeper. In this solo episode, Brett shares the story of landing his first client, making good money, and then doing something that still makes him cringe: convincing that company to hire him full-time. Nobody forced him back. He walked himself in.This mistake cost him 18 months and taught him the hard truth: leaving corporate is tactical, but breaking your dependency on it is

en

20:21

Corporate Is Changing — 3 Trends Creating New...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/02/11

Corporate isn’t stabilizing—and that matters if your income still depends on it.In this solo episode, Brett breaks down three trends shaping the Escapee economy in 2026:a corporate metric that’s quietly driving layoffs,the rapid expansion of revenue streams outside corporate,and why small businesses are moving away from full-time hires in favor of fractional and specialist talent.If you’re still in corporate, this episode helps you see what’s coming.If you’ve already escaped, it explains why demand

en

36:32

Ashley Returns: Two Years Into the Escape — What...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/02/06

Ashley Evenson returns for her third appearance on The Corporate Escapee Podcast — and this time it’s a real update from the field. Two years into her escape, she breaks down what actually helped her land fractional work, what surprised her, and the biggest mistake most new escapees make once they get busy.This is a practical conversation about network-first business development, creating momentum without feeling “salesy,” and why the long game matters more than the perfect plan.What you’ll learn •

en

28:37

Your Job Title Isn’t Your Identity: How to Tell a...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/02/04

Corporate gives you an easy identity: your title, your company, your lane. But once you start building something outside corporate—consulting, fractional, content, a book, a business—that identity disappears fast. And that’s where most people get stuck.In this episode, Brett sits down with Catherine Jelinek, founder of The Skinny Platform, to talk about the shift from being “defined by your role” to being known for your thinking, your story, and the outcomes you create.Catherine shares why so many

en

58:23

Special Episode: What Happens After Corporate Breaks...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/01/29

Post Corporate Life with Brett Trainor & John ArmsI recently had the chance to join John Arms on his podcast: Fractional Unfiltered Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0z9pQOOMZEVI4T2NvoOiqP?si=uJoycF4LRGyZQNB4MofrtQJohn was kind enough to allow me to share this with my audience.Corporate has done a number on people. A bad one. For 30 minutes we bitch about what is and was, and then we spend 30 minutes on how to thrive in the post corporate world.This episode also includes real-time audience

en

13:42

Who Actually Wins After Leaving Corporate (Hint: It’s...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/01/28

Most people believe the ones who succeed after escaping corporate are the smartest, most experienced, or most credentialed.They’re not.In this solo episode, Brett breaks down a pattern he’s seen across hundreds—if not thousands—of conversations with corporate escapees: success outside corporate has far less to do with talent and far more to do with action.This episode is for anyone still in corporate, recently laid off, or quietly wondering if there’s another path—but feeling stuck, underqualified,

en

38:07

Sequence Over Strategy: How Escapees Actually Find...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/01/23

Michelle Warner took the “escapee avoidance” route — she planned to do the traditional MBA-to-consulting path… then graduated straight into the Great Recession (the day Lehman fell). That curveball pushed her into entrepreneurship early: a founder-for-hire role turning a multi-billion-dollar foundation asset into a business, followed by a mission-driven tech startup, and eventually her current work helping small business owners design the next iteration of their business.This is a tactical episode

en

45:49

The Zillow of Franchising: A Smarter Way to Leave...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/01/23

If you’ve been thinking about leaving corporate but the risk feels too big, this episode gives you a smarter way to look at it.Brett sits down with Alex Smereczniak, a former EY consultant who left corporate early, built a high-growth business in the laundry space, and later launched Franzy—a platform designed to make franchising easier to research and navigate.This conversation covers the mindset shift that helps people stop overestimating the risk of leaving, plus why franchising can be an

en

54:29

“What Am I Doing Here?” — How Tom Mirabella Escaped...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/01/21

Tom Mirabella left corporate at 30 and never looked back. Seventeen years later, he’s built Wingman into a 25-person business by doing what corporate rarely rewards: solving problems fast, betting on relationships, and staying obsessively close to customers.In this conversation, Tom breaks down his escape story, why “local + in-person” is making a comeback, and how Wingman’s franchise model flips the typical franchise script — where the franchisee focuses on relationships and sales while the central

en

41:46

From $40K in Debt to $20K Months: The No-BS Path to...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/01/14

What if scaling your business didn’t require hiring, hustling harder, or stacking endless clients?In this episode, Brett sits down with Pia Silva (No BS Mastery) to break down a simple model for building a highly profitable solo (or two-person) business — built around intensives, clear boundaries, and pricing for outcomes (not hours).Pia shares how she and her husband went from $40K in debt to $500K in revenue by shifting from long, drawn-out projects to a focused, high-value intensive model. Then

en

18:02

Why Most Corporate Escapees Fail (And How to Avoid It)

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/01/12

Why do so many people leave corporate… only to end up going back?In this solo episode, Brett breaks down the two core reasons most corporate escapees fail—and more importantly, how to avoid them.Failure here doesn’t mean experimenting and choosing corporate again. It means wanting out, trying to go solo, and giving up before momentum ever takes hold.If you’re thinking about leaving corporate—or you’ve already made the leap—this episode will help you understand what really trips people up and how to

en

37:18

Why Podcasting Might Be the Smartest Side Door Out of...

The Corporate Escapee: Get Busy Living with Brett... ·

2026/01/08

What if podcasting wasn’t just content—but a bridge out of corporate?In this episode, Brett sits down with Mark Hayward, former PwC and KPMG consultant turned podcast host and podcast guesting entrepreneur, to break down his escape from corporate—and how podcasting quietly became one of his most powerful tools.Mark shares how he started a podcast while still in corporate, not to make money, but to build confidence, find his voice, and explore what life outside the corporate box could look like. That

en

337 results

Similar Podcasts

TaxTalent.com The Golden Rule Podcast

Adam Golden

TaxTalent.com Podcast

Tony Santiago

Handelsblatt Crime - spannende Streitfälle der deutschen Wirtschaft

Ina Karabasz, Solveig Gode, Sönke Iwersen

Deffner und Zschäpitz – Der Wirtschafts-Talk von WELT

WELT

Black Box - La scatola nera della finanza

Guido Brera e Gian Luca Comandini -...