The Exit Diaries:
Why I Founded a Podcast About Corporate Escapees
The Epiphany
I thought I'd made it.
Three years studying media. Graduated. Landed a job at one of the biggest Hollywood film studios in the world - Warner Bros.
Red carpet events.
After parties with film stars.
Trips around the world.
The whole cinematic fantasy.
Except somewhere around year seven or eight, I realised something was off.
Not the job. Not the company. Me.
I didn't fit the mould. The corporate structure felt like it was slowly eroding my creativity, trapping me in a corner where I couldn't actually be myself. Every day felt like I was performing a role I was never cast for.
I spent several years coming to terms with the fact that I wasn't built for office politics, endless job interviews, or climbing a ladder someone else designed. I was entrepreneurial. I needed to build my own thing.
So I left.
And about two years ago - probably still processing the exit - I had this thought: I need to document this. Not just my story, but all the stories. Document other amazing and brilliant professionals who left stable corporate careers because something was off and they finally listened to it.
Life gets in the way. Clients. Kids. Building a business. But here we are, two years later, finally doing the project I've wanted to do since the day I walked out of Warner Bros.
The Exit Diaries isn't just a podcast. It's the roadmap I wish I'd had when I was sitting in that office, wondering if I was the only one who felt this way.
Spoiler: I wasn't.
The Problem Nobody's Talking About
Most business podcasts interview people who've "made it." They skip the messy middle - the part where you're still cashing corporate paychecks while building your exit plan in secret. The part where you're terrified you're making a massive mistake.
The best business advice I ever got didn't come from someone on a stage. It came from someone two years ahead of me who'd already made the jump and survived.
What This Isn't
This isn't another "quit your job and follow your dreams" podcast. I'm not interested in toxic positivity or oversimplified hero stories.
This is about the engineering of an exit - how real people actually pulled it off. The financial runway. The family conversations. The moment they knew it was time.
What This Is
The Exit Diaries is a premium media brand documenting the stories of brilliant and wonderful professionals who left stable corporate careers for something else. Not influencers. Not venture-backed founders. Just smart people who built a different kind of life.
Every episode is a forensic examination of one person's exit:
- What they left
- Why they left
- How they built the runway
- What they wish they'd known
Why I Founded This
Because I spent over a decade at Warner Bros before I left to build Jack Long Digital. And I remember what it felt like to have zero roadmap, zero mentors who'd done it, and zero validation that I wasn't insane.
I also remember the moment I realised: the best business model is the one you engineer for your life, not the one you copy from someone else's.
That's what The Exit Diaries documents. Not the highlight reel. The blueprint.
What's Next
The Exit Diaries launches February, 2026. I've already lined up guests who've left big consulting firms, corporate media, and 10 year career positions.
If you've ever felt trapped in a high-income job you built for yourself, this show is for you.
→ You're already on my list - watch your inbox for the launch in February 2026 - and stay tuned.
Jack Long
Strategic Launch Architect
Founder: The Exit Diaries
