A former teacher who left her career in education to work at Costco says it's the best decision she has ever made. Maggie Perkins, 30, quit her teaching position because the "conditions were not suitable to have a quality of life" - and hasn't looked back since.
She can't believe she limited herself to one career - saying working at Costco has provided her with a work-life balance for the first time in her life. Taking to TikTok, she said: "I used to be a teacher and now I work at Costco. I do not miss it at all. My pace of my work life now is so much better.
"I am not sick or exhausted like I used to be when I was a teacher. When I was a teacher, I used my break basically to recover and go into the next semester of just surviving."
Maggie has been both a public and private school teacher in Georgia and Florida, teaching sixth grade through to high school.
She worked 60 hour weeks for under £50,000 (£40,200) for five years - and constantly worried about having enough money to cover her bills.
Speaking to Fox Business, she said: "My passion couldn't pay my bills, and my passion couldn't help me sleep at night when I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"We grew up going to Costcos, and so I've always known that Costco employees are treated well and have a high quality of life. So when there was a new Costco being built in my town, I immediately applied."
Commenting on her TikTok video, one user said: "I'm a high school teacher and I compare being a teacher to being in an abusive marriage - you're scared to leave."
Another user added: "When retail is somehow less stressful than education, our future generation. What a world we live in. I'm so glad you're doing well."
A third user said: "It's the mental load and responsibilities. You don't have that with retail - you show up, do your job and then have nothing to think about after."
One more user added: "I wish teaching would be more appealing. It's such an important job but teachers are not paid enough or taken care of."
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