How I Quit My Job and Started the Company of My Dreams

The year is 2022, and every major news outlet is covering “The Great Resignation.” That’s when I finally took the plunge and started my company Visiting This World. 

My name is Christina Trester, and I had no intention of quitting my job when I walked into a meeting with HR and my boss. I had daydreamed – as we all do – of starting my own company; working for myself, but those daydreams were only moving forward in baby steps.

But I had reached my breaking point – and I was tired of working in a corporate culture stuck in the past, and for a company whose values did not align with my own. So I quit and embarked on this next phase in my life. 

Where It All Began

I couldn’t honestly tell you the first time I had a camera in my hand; it feels like it’s always been a part of me. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer came readily, “I want to be a National Geographic photographer!”

But as we all know, life happens. We grow up, we adapt and I grew away from that dream.

When I went to college to study journalism at Mizzou, I just didn’t connect with photojournalism. I love taking pictures of beautiful destinations and capturing nature. But photographing people and events are just not my passion.

So, I focused a lot of my studies on design and data reporting, and when I graduated, I was offered a full-time job in marketing and went to work.

Fast Forward 10 Years

I won’t bore you with the details of my marketing career. I thoroughly enjoyed the work, I learned so much, and I had the great luck to work with some truly incredible people.

But then, I went to Kenya and it changed my whole life.

My amazing mother had been on safari before, and because she knows me better than anyone, she booked a trip for the two of us. And in September 2021 – after a year delay because of COVID-19 – we embarked on safari.

The word safari refers not just to what you see, but it is the journey itself and I can’t think of a better word to describe this trip – it was a journey.

The majesty of the animals, the rush I felt having a camera in my hands doing the thing I’ve always felt born to do. I remember sitting on a plane looking over the expanse below thinking this is where I want to be. This is what I want for my future.

It woke me up in a way that I hadn’t felt in years. Once I was back home, I started plotting immediately.

As much as I wanted to uproot my life and move to Africa, I knew that realistically I couldn’t bring myself to leave my family and friends behind. So, I’ve set out to build a business that lets me travel and see the beauty this world has to offer and share it.

Where I am Now

I had started the basic work of Visiting This World while I was still working full time, building a website, finding suppliers, growing my Instagram, and learning the ins and outs of running my own business. I knew I wanted to make it my career eventually, but I thought that was years out.

Luckily, the universe intervened and gave me the push I was looking for to quit my job. Now I’m living every day doing what I love and finding happiness that depends on no one but me.

Visiting This World is certainly a work in progress, I am too. I’m not exactly sure what shape it will take down the road, or how it will fundamentally change me as a person, but I’m here for the journey.