ex-Google Engineer: The 9-to-5 Nearly Killed Me! Business Saved My Life
28 January 2026

ex-Google Engineer: The 9-to-5 Nearly Killed Me! Business Saved My Life

Lift Off with Aman Manazir

About

Sarah Pan made more than her Google salary as a creatorโ€”and still stayed trapped for three more years. In this conversation, she reveals the chronic back pain that started at 22, the scarcity mindset that kept her chained to corporate despite hitting her financial goals, and what finally forced her to break free.ย 

This episode is for anyone stuck in a "good situation" they secretly hate, wondering if they'll ever have the courage to leave.


๐ŸŽง Listen to all episodes of Lift Off on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiftOffPod


Listen to our new podcast, @TheEntropyShow: https://youtu.be/MDJQXbXPngg?si=vQqITmNzy3fhfcV1


๐Ÿ’Œ Free weekly productivity insights/advice โ€“ https://amanmanazir.com/newsletter

๐Ÿ“ท Instagram โ€“ https://www.instagram.com/amanmanazir/

๐Ÿฆ Twitter โ€“ https://twitter.com/amanmanazir

๐Ÿ‘‰ Sarah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oksarahpan?igsh=MXZ4eWVnbGJkY3B4eg==
๐Ÿ‘‰ Sarah's Podcast: https://youtube.com/@sojuwithsarah?si=pdYh3eOjxz_waX54
๐Ÿ‘‰ Sarah's YouTube: https://youtube.com/@sarahpan?si=wl-_rfKPcKf6U8sI
โ€”


โฑ๏ธ Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
01:53 Growing Up Low Income with Immigrant Parents
06:51 The Money Stories That Shaped Everything
08:04 Why I Chose Computer Science Over Fashion
11:10 Landing My Dream Job at Google
13:57 The Person I Was Becoming at Google
17:51 When You Were Working at Google
18:20 Did You Plan to Stay in Tech?
21:24 The Day I Got My Offer
24:30 My Day-to-Day at Google Explained
27:05 Spending 40 Hours Editing One Video
30:39 Alex Hormozi Giveaway
31:33 I Started My Channel During the Pandemic
35:06 I Hit My Target But Didn't Quit
42:45 My Five Year Arc at Google
47:10 My Mental Health Hit Rock Bottom
50:35 Doctors Said It Could Be Mental
52:25 Why I Waited So Long to Quit
56:42 The Mental Unlock That Changed Everything
57:25 I Waited for My Bonus to Come
59:44 How My Family Reacted to Quitting
1:01:59 What Happened After I Quit
1:05:47 Could You Always Go Back to Tech?
1:09:18 I Cried When I Quit Google
1:10:51 The Dark Side of Gratitude and Luck
1:13:24 Don't Let Your Circumstances Define You
1:15:15 Advice for People on the Fence
1:17:12 Focus Unlocks Exponential Growth
1:19:00 Where to Connect with Sarah
1:19:30 Outro