What quitting my remote job after Machu Picchu taught me about autonomy, structure, and designing a business that actually supports your life
For a while, I believed I had achieved the dream.
Remote work. Global travel. The ability to open my laptop from any country with WiFi.
I had left the traditional architecture world behind and stepped into something that looked like freedom.
But one moment in Peru made it painfully clear that I was not as free as I thought.
The Day I Realized Mobility Does Not Equal Freedom
Seven months into working remotely across Latin America, I arrived in Peru with a plan to finally visit a place I had dreamed of since studying architecture.
Machu Picchu. The masterpiece in the mountains. The moment my career and curiosity had quietly prepared me for.
I bought the tickets. I carved out the time. I planned everything.
All I needed was my supervisor’s approval for a few days off.
When I asked, the reply came back:
“We will have to see if we can approve that.”
My chest tightened.
In an instant, I saw the truth.
I had traded a traditional office for a tropical backdrop.
But I was still giving someone else authority over my time.
My life looked free, but it was not mine.
Yes, I Went to Machu Picchu. But That Was Not the Real Turning Point.
I got the time off.
I climbed the mountain.
I stood among the ancient stones, surrounded by cloud and silence.
Those hours changed me.
I realized that I had only changed the scenery around my work.
I had never changed the structure of my work itself.
I was mobile.
But I was not autonomous.
And autonomy is the actual currency of freedom.
The Decision That Changed Everything
When I returned to my temporary apartment in Lima, I did something that made no logical sense and felt undeniably right.
I quit.
No backup plan.
No financial cushion.
No strategically timed transition.
Just a deeper knowing that if I wanted a life I actually chose, I could not keep asking permission to live it.
I decided to build a business and a life that supported my energy, my creativity, and my values.
I decided to design my own architecture.
What Happened Next
That choice became the foundation of everything I do today.
Since leaving that job, I have:
- built a coaching and consulting company that has earned over seven hundred thousand dollars
- helped women around the world redesign the architecture of their lives and businesses
- created frameworks for profit clarity, time design, and structural alignment
- designed a business model that allows painting, creativity, coaching, and travel to coexist without friction
Not through hustle, but through intentional architecture.
Through building something that fits.
The Structural Lesson Most Founders Miss
Remote work is not freedom if someone else still controls your calendar.
Travel is not freedom if you are still accountable to rules that conflict with your values.
Flexibility is not freedom if the business model underneath your life is not designed for autonomy.
Real freedom is structural.
It is architectural.
It is built intentionally.
Freedom happens when:
- you design your offers around your capacity
- your time is protected by structure, not squeezed by obligation
- your revenue does not depend on your constant presence
- your decisions align with your identity and your actual priorities
This is the foundation of everything I teach today as a Business Architect.
If You Are Feeling the Tension Between What You Want and What Your Life Currently Allows
If you recognize parts of yourself in this story
If your schedule still feels owned by someone else
If your business feels heavier than it should
If your time does not feel like yours
You are not wrong.
You are just operating inside a structure that no longer fits you.
You do not need to burn your life down like I did.
You simply need a different architecture.
The kind that supports your ambition without consuming your capacity.
The kind that protects your freedom instead of restricting it.
If you want to explore what that might look like, start here:
Download the free Profits Reality Check Guide to see where your business structure is draining your time, energy, and money.
Or book a Business Architecture Audit for personalized clarity on how to redesign your next chapter.
Because freedom is not a location.
Freedom is a structure you build on purpose.
Katrina Cobb is a Business Architect for high-achieving women founders scaling beyond $250K. She helps leaders redesign the architecture of their business — systems, structure, team, and profitability — so growth feels spacious, sustainable, and deeply aligned.
Explore her work at katrinacobb.com.