The Corporate Escapee with Brett Trainor

Brett Trainor

103 episodes listed below

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Corporate exit, minus the fantasy.

The gist

The Corporate Escapee with Brett Trainor treats leaving corporate as a set of experiments, not a dramatic reinvention. Solo episodes and guest conversations turn layoffs, stale roles, overplanning, and income uncertainty into practical next steps.

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About The Corporate Escapee with Brett Trainor

The Corporate Escapee with Brett Trainor is a corporate-exit show with a working-session feel. It is for people who are still in corporate, have been laid off, or already out and trying to make the new life function. The show’s central claim is blunt: nobody is coming to give permission. That idea shows up in solo episodes about replacing income, redesigning a calendar, using AI, and turning corporate skills into sellable services. It also shows up in guest conversations with people who left roles that no longer fit. Kristen talks about moving away from corporate workplace interior design after the work became more data driven and less creative. Danielle brings a different angle, connecting business building with human design, marketing, and the choice to make money feel less complicated. The show is not allergic to numbers. It talks about a car-negotiation service charging consumers to handle dealership deals, the possibility of landing one or two customers instead of chasing a giant company, and the gap between small business owners interested in AI and those actually using it. The emphasis stays on what can be tested now. That might mean offering a tailored service before perfecting a package. It might mean using corporate knowledge in HR disputes, salary negotiation, procurement, medical billing, or contractor bids. It might mean replacing the corporate calendar with time blocks instead of recreating the same pressure alone. Brett’s solo episodes are especially focused on the mental habits people carry out of corporate: overplanning, guilt when not working, tying identity to visibility, and waiting for some official push. The interviews add texture because the guests are often still close to the transition. The result is a show about financial independence that cares less about abstract freedom than about the first revenue stream, the first routine, and the first conversation that proves another path might work.

Made for: For people in corporate, Gen Xers, laid-off workers, consultants, and solopreneur-curious listeners who want practical ways to replace corporate income. It suits people who need examples more than hype.

What sets it apart: The show keeps independence grounded in small, testable moves: conversations, service offers, AI-assisted workflows, fractional work, and routines that do not recreate corporate life. Its strongest lane is translating ordinary corporate experience into possible revenue streams.

In their own words

The Corporate Escapee with Brett Trainor Finding financial independence and living your best life after corporate quits on you 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 most people won't say out loud: corporate already quit on you. Maybe it was a layoff. Maybe it was a role that slowly stopped making sense. Maybe you just woke up one day and realized the institution you built your life around stopped caring a long time ago. That moment — th...

As heard by us

Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Brett Trainor connects the emotional shock of leaving corporate life with the practical work of building an independent income.

Brett Trainor turns the move out of corporate life into a practical conversation about earning, identity and the habits that linger after the job ends.

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Brett knows the feeling: you've left corporate and somehow scheduled freedom in half-hour blocks.

Press play if you want

a clearer sense of what a fractional client might pay before you name your rate
company for the identity wobble that follows a layoff, even after the paycheck is sorted

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

corporate exit planningmonetizing corporate experiencefractional work and consultingAI for solopreneurssmall business service ideastime blocking and routine designoverplanning before launchidentity shifts after corporate

Talks about

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Find your next episode

About The Corporate Escapee with Brett Trainor

In their own words

As heard by us

Why you'd press play

Talks about

Podcasts like The Corporate Escapee with Brett Trainor

Episodes

Stop Waiting for Permission. Nobody is Coming to Give It to You

3 Surprising Ways GenXers Are Replacing Their Corporate Income

3 Surprising Ways GenXers Are Replacing Their Corporate Income

When the Work Stops Lighting You Up: Leaving Corporate Before They Push You Out w/ Kristen Hamborg

When the Work Stops Lighting You Up: Leaving Corporate Before They Push You Out w/ Kristen Hamborg

2 Kids Under Two, Full Time Job, & She Still Built It. No Excuses! w/ Danielle Burken

2 Kids Under Two, Full Time Job, & She Still Built It. No Excuses! w/ Danielle Burken

AI Doesn't Replace Escapees — It Supercharges Them

AI Doesn't Replace Escapees — It Supercharges Them

4 Real Paths to Replace Your Corporate Income (And Why Franchising Deserves a Second Look)

Laid Off 4 Times: What the Job Hunt Won't Teach You About Getting Back Up" (ft. Steve Jaffe)

Laid Off 4 Times: What the Job Hunt Won't Teach You About Getting Back Up" (ft. Steve Jaffe)

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

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

The Truth About Fractional: Rates, Retainers, and Getting Your First Client (John Arms)

The Truth About Fractional: Rates, Retainers, and Getting Your First Client (John Arms)

Breaking Corporate Dependency: Why Going Solo Alone Keeps You Stuck w/Brett Trainor

Breaking Corporate Dependency: Why Going Solo Alone Keeps You Stuck w/Brett Trainor

Corporate Is Changing — 3 Trends Creating New Opportunities for Escapees in 2026

Corporate Is Changing — 3 Trends Creating New Opportunities for Escapees in 2026

Ashley Returns: Two Years Into the Escape — What Worked, What Didn’t, What’s Next

Ashley Returns: Two Years Into the Escape — What Worked, What Didn’t, What’s Next

Your Job Title Isn’t Your Identity: How to Tell a Bigger Story w/ Catherine Jelinek

Your Job Title Isn’t Your Identity: How to Tell a Bigger Story w/ Catherine Jelinek

Special Episode: What Happens After Corporate Breaks (w/ John Arms)

Special Episode: What Happens After Corporate Breaks (w/ John Arms)

The Surprising Keys to Succeeding Outside of Corporate

The Surprising Keys to Succeeding Outside of Corporate

Sequence Over Strategy: How Escapees Actually Find Their Path w/ Michelle Warner

Sequence Over Strategy: How Escapees Actually Find Their Path w/ Michelle Warner

The Zillow of Franchising: A Smarter Way to Leave Corporate w/ Alex Smereczniak

“What Am I Doing Here?” — How Tom Mirabella Escaped Corporate at 30

“What Am I Doing Here?” — How Tom Mirabella Escaped Corporate at 30

From $40K in Debt to $20K Months: The No-BS Path to Profit + Freedom w/Pia Silva

From $40K in Debt to $20K Months: The No-BS Path to Profit + Freedom w/Pia Silva

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

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

Why Podcasting Might Be the Smartest Side Door Out of Corporate w/Mark Hayward

Why Podcasting Might Be the Smartest Side Door Out of Corporate w/Mark Hayward

You Don’t Need to Quit to Escape: Build Your Exit on the Side w/ Sam Lee

You Don’t Need to Quit to Escape: Build Your Exit on the Side w/ Sam Lee

New Year-> New You: 7 Steps to Take Back Control From Corporate

New Year-> New You: 7 Steps to Take Back Control From Corporate

Keep It Small. Keep It All. (Live Workshop on Escapee Taxes + Business Setup)

Keep It Small. Keep It All. (Live Workshop on Escapee Taxes + Business Setup)

Your Corporate Escape Plan: Insurance Policy, Not Leap of Faith

Own the Room: How to Communicate So You’re Heard, Seen & Respected w/ Jake Stahl

Own the Room: How to Communicate So You’re Heard, Seen & Respected w/ Jake Stahl

Corporate Quit on Her — She Built a Business Faster Than She Could Job Hunt w/ Clair Sullivan

Corporate Quit on Her — She Built a Business Faster Than She Could Job Hunt w/ Clair Sullivan

He Left a Cushy CFO Job to Fix a Broken System (with Clym.io Founder Michael Williams)

He Left a Cushy CFO Job to Fix a Broken System (with Clym.io Founder Michael Williams)

How One TikTok Video Built the Corporate Escapee Movement

How One TikTok Video Built the Corporate Escapee Movement

Bet on Yourself: From Video Agency to Solo Productized Service with Neil K. Carroll

He Didn’t Just Escape Corporate—He Left the Country W/Ed Patterson

He Didn’t Just Escape Corporate—He Left the Country W/Ed Patterson

The Go-Giver Playbook for Escapees (Greatest Hits)

The Go-Giver Playbook for Escapees (Greatest Hits)

Healthcare for a Company of One: A Real Alternative for Solopreneurs w/Tom Morrissey

Healthcare for a Company of One: A Real Alternative for Solopreneurs w/Tom Morrissey

Beyond the Escape: How to Stay Free (and Profitable) as a Solopreneur w/ Jenni Gritters

Beyond the Escape: How to Stay Free (and Profitable) as a Solopreneur w/ Jenni Gritters

The Future Isn’t AI Automation — It’s AI Augmentation (with Michael Himmelfarb)

The Future Isn’t AI Automation — It’s AI Augmentation (with Michael Himmelfarb)

17 Ways (Plus 2 Bonus) to Monetize Your Corporate Experience w/Brett Trainor

17 Ways (Plus 2 Bonus) to Monetize Your Corporate Experience w/Brett Trainor

The Ignorance Tax: How to Build a Lean, Automated Solo Business with Paul Durelli

The Ignorance Tax: How to Build a Lean, Automated Solo Business with Paul Durelli

From Corporate to Calling: A Practical Path to Purpose w/ Lisa Petrilli

From Corporate to Calling: A Practical Path to Purpose w/ Lisa Petrilli

Local First, Personal Always: Selling Solo to Small Business Owners (with Robert Lock)