I did 27 years of SWE… laid off due to c19. I told myself the same thing; I will not go back to corporate enterprise. I worked hard; but no matter how much I worked I was locked into the same salary. So cashed out my retirement lived on it a little I figured out what I was going to do in life 2.0. I had no preconceived plans; all I knew was that I was tired of being chewed up, I missed most of my kids growing up except some softball and basketball games. My story is long but tldr is I was blessed to find a company that builds doors and such and have such a discard pile, when I asked for permission to take from their dumpster this beautiful wood they had no problem, as they are able to cram more “trash” (my golden ticket) and get more trash in from the wood I take. I initially didn’t know what to do with it; but eventually I’ve become an entrepreneur for selling cut off scrap exotic woods. At the same time teaching myself woodworking. And now I looking for more revenue streams.