How a millennial who quit her job rather than return to in-person work ended up thriving as a freelancer

• Rachel Dunlop works from her condo in Canada as a freelancer, after leaving a job without another one lined up.
• Dunlop quit during 2021, partly because she would likely have to leave remote work behind one day.

Rachel Dunlop doesn't think she'll ever go back to the 9-to-5 office grind after making a career switch to freelance during the pandemic.

"There's way too many benefits to this way of life," she told Insider.

Dunlop, 39, lives in Toronto and works as a freelance copywriter. She's been a freelancer on Fiverr for a few years now, after she started getting hints that return-to-office could be coming soon at her previous full-time job. She worked for a communications department at a social and athletics club with an hour to an hour-and-a-half commute by public transportation.

"I never want to get on a rush hour subway car ever again," Dunlop said. "I never want to put on a business casual suit ever again. I never want to line up to use the microwave at lunch in a shared lunchroom ever again."

Dunlop had to shift to remote work because of the pandemic.

"In a way, it was kind of like all my dreams came true overnight because for a while, while I had enjoyed the job, getting to the office had been really difficult," she said.

A lack of a commute wasn't the only benefit to working from home.

"My work life improved in a lot of ways during that time," Dunlop said. "I felt a lot happier going to work. I didn't have the Sunday scaries anymore. I didn't have to wake up so early."

She was worried "that this is all going to end." Unfortunately, it looked like that could be true.

She eventually asked her boss about the future, and she said it seemed the "sentiment was, basically, eventually we are going to go back full-time, so get ready for that." She quit during 2021 for various reasons, including the likely return to office, without another job to move on to.

"In my mind at that time, I was fully expecting to get another traditional — work for one employer, work for them 40 hours a week," she said. "And in my mind, freelancing was just like a fallback."

Her 'life is blissfully unstructured' — and she estimates she's earning more now

Dunlop decided to try out freelance work on Fiverr after she saw an Instagram reel about someone who found success through the freelance marketplace.

Dunlop said she "was amazed at how much this could support my life."

Based on comparing her pay rate at her previous job to what she made in her first full calendar year on Fiverr, she estimates she's making thousands of dollars more as a freelancer. Her freelance services on Fiverr as a writer, such as for product descriptions or article content, start at $100 or $125 per project.

She now gets to work from her condo, and she enjoys the perks of freelancing. For instance, she enjoys being able to work when she's most productive.

"Sometimes I hit my stride at like 9:30 at night, and if I'm in that zone, I can knock out a lot really quickly," Dunlop said.

Some of her duties include creating drafts and researching about a client's brand or field, including what jargon is used. She also talks to clients "to see if we're a good fit."

She said sometimes there can be some skepticism, especially if clients are new to hiring freelancers on Fiverr and have to make a money commitment to someone they haven't met before based just on her profile.

"When I deliver an order and it's better than what they expect and all of their skepticism has been kind of washed away, that's the best feeling," she said.

Getting to work with a wide range of clients, such as fitness coaches and jewelry designers, is one of her favorite parts of freelancing. After working at a company with a lot of structure and where the work can get repetitive, she said "now every day is different."

"My life is blissfully unstructured now," she added.

This isn't the first time Dunlop has tried freelance work though. She said she did some freelance work from mid-2013 to mid-2014, but said "at that time, it was not for me at all." She didn't like working from home and having unstructured work.

"But things change," she added. "You get a little older, your preferences change and then, with the world situation changing the way it did, it just — now was the time. Everything in 2021, which is when I made the switch to freelancing full time, it just fit."

Did you quit your job or make a career switch because of return-to-the-workplace requirements? Reach out to this reporter at mhoff@insider.com to share your story.