Woman, 29, quits £64,000 job to be a waitress after collapsing at work

21 February 2024 , 16:23

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Tara Franks in Thailand before she moved to Australia (Image: Tara Franks/SWNS)

A British woman chucked in her high-flying job after collapsing during work to fly halfway around the world and become a waitress in Australia.

Tara Franks, 29, used to have a top corporate job that paid her £64,000 a year. But after experiencing burnout so severe that she fell ill during a presentation, she decided to quit and move more than 9,000 miles away. Tara, who is originally from Wirral, Merseyside, and her boyfriend James Thomas, also 29, both quit their corporate jobs and used £18,000 of their savings to travel and move abroad. After four months of travelling around South East Asia, they landed in Cairns, Australia, and eventually settled down in Melbourne.

Instead of going back to their old jobs, they decided to stay in Australia and found jobs in the hospitality industry. Tara now earns $32 an hour on weekdays, $36 on Saturdays, and $42 on Sundays. The couple plans to extend their visa and continue living in Australia, with no plans to return to the UK.

Tara said: "As I hit 27/28 I was like 's**t'. I was at a point in my career where things were going really well and I didn't have a reason to leave. I had shares in the company and if I had stayed another year I would have made a profit - I lost money leaving. I even spoke to work about starting up an office in Australia but it was too complicated."

In 2018, Tara got a job at a cool new HR tech company. She did well and soon she was working in their London office. After five years, she got a big job that paid her £64,000 a year. She said: "A lot of my friends were jumping from job to job at the time and I had been at the company for five and a half years. I had the most amazing friends and manager but it meant I didn't realise the signs of burnout."

Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him

Tara Franks (SWNS)

But in November 2022, while giving a talk at work, Tara suddenly couldn't see or speak, reports the Manchester Evening News. She had to go to St Thomas Hospital for 12 hours and then stayed at Homerton University Hospital in London for three days. She explained: "November 2022 was when everything changed - I went off with burnout. I was giving a presentation and I lost my sight and ability to speak. They had to call an ambulance and I spent three days in hospital."

Talking about that scary time, Tara said: "They thought I had a stroke but it turned out to be a crazy stress episode. I was then off for a month. I returned to work in January 2023 but handed my notice in after two weeks." At first, her family wasn't sure about her plans to travel, but they started their adventure in May 2023. She said: "They were super super supportive. My dad didn't believe me until I booked the flights. Everyone was super supportive and we had about five leaving parties before I left."

"I am so glad we went travelling before we settled in Australia as it allowed us to get the ball rolling. It made me realise how I didn't want to go back to a corporate job."

After landing in Australia, James and Tara spent two months exploring the East Coast before staying with a friend in Sydney. Tara recalled: "We had a great time travelling, we used money that we spent five years saving up which we thought would go on a house deposit to be able to afford the trip."

Tara Franks in Malaysia (SWNS)

"We stayed in Sydney for six weeks. In that time we found a hospitality agency that was working random festivals. I worked for a Vogue catwalk event, a TikTok event and a few festivals here and there. I thought that was really cool and it gave me my first real taste of the hospitality industry."

The pair reached Melbourne in November 2023 and began renting a one-bedroom flat for $650 a month. Now, Tara works as a hostess in a restaurant earning around $2,000 a month and she loves how "calm" her life is now compared to when she lived in the UK. She expressed: "It's not all about doing things just on the weekend now. My days off can be a Wednesday and then I always try and plan something fun to do. My time is now much more valuable when I have it off. I am not just racing to the weekend and getting drunk to then regret it the next day."

James has stopped trying to get to the top in business and now he's a boss at a cafe. Tara shared: "My life is not about money, my career or climbing the corporate ladder anymore. I am currently on a casual contract which means I get paid more per hour but I don't have holiday or sick pay."

"The wage now is not too dissimilar to what I got paid in London, it is not frowned upon here to work in hospitality here either as you can make good money from it. The contracts in Australia are suited around people who are travelling or backpacking as there is such a big community here."

Rom Preston-Ellis