$10 million.
That was the budget I was approved to spend on a project at work when I was 26 years old.
I was 26, about three years into my corporate tech job. With humble beginnings working at the local Apple Store as a Mac “Genius,” transitioning into the corporate world was a step up into the big leagues. Suddenly I had a salary, a company laptop, and work trips around the world doing IT that didn’t even feel like work.
I was living the dream.
It was during this time that I got approval for the $10 million project, meant to renovate all the aging IT equipment in our company's offices.
Being given that kind of responsibility felt empowering. I was at the top of my game with no end in sight. But, as it turns out, the universe had other plans.
Within a few weeks of my project budget being approved, the world went on lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The offices I was supposed to upgrade were suddenly empty. The project was canceled, and I was moved into a completely different role.
All of this was demoralizing, to say the least.
Now that I’m approaching my mid-thirties, I have the privilege of looking back and seeing how moments like this were truly a blessing in disguise. If that project had continued as planned, I would have likely stayed with my IT career for decades to come. In some other dimension, there is a version of me who did that, but I’m glad that’s not me.
If you’re reading this right now and don’t know who I am, hi there. My name is Maneet, and as I write this in March 2026, I’m about halfway through my graduate program toward becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist.
Look, I’ll be the first to admit that making the jump from corporate IT to MFT doesn’t make much sense on paper. Why give up the travel, free food, and all the premium benefits of working in the tech industry?
Why would somebody want to give up a comfortable, high-paying career that can provide lifetime stability?
For starters, I began to realize I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in the rat race.
Corporate America is a world where there’s always the lure of another promotion, another title, another stock package waiting around the corner.
For years, I caught myself chasing a more prestigious job title. Even though I was quite successful at being a top performer every quarter, I began wondering what it was all for. Was my work making any meaningful difference?
I was spending countless hours of my life working on projects that felt like being a cog in a big machine. As much as I appreciated the money, the purpose behind my work slowly started to become more and more important to me.
Another reason for the career jump was closer to home. While all of this work stuff was happening, I met the love of my life and got married.
My wife and I moved to New York City and began the first chapter of our lives together. Truthfully, living on our own and navigating the phase of early marriage was incredibly challenging. The stressors of life during this time led us both to therapy, both as individuals and as a couple.
I was very resistant to it at first, but quickly realized how much influence therapy was having on my life. I can say now, with confidence, that therapy transformed our marriage. It also helped me work through a lot of anxiety I was experiencing at the time. For that, I’ll always be grateful to the amazing therapists I worked with.
I decided to take ownership of my story.
Once life began settling into a routine, I had one of those thoughts that began growing like a snowball rolling down a hill. I wasn’t happy at work, and applying to other companies wasn’t getting me anywhere.
What if I changed careers entirely? What if I became a therapist myself?
For months, this idea sat at the back of my mind, popping up whenever something made me feel fed up at work. Eventually, I started discussing it out loud with my wife and some friends.
I was in the incredibly privileged position to have different options in front of me.
One was to stay the course and just keep working in corporate tech even though it wasn’t filling my bucket anymore.
The other was a radically different path that would be a defining plot twist in the story of my life.
A decision that would have a ripple effect that I’d feel for years and years into the future.
It was scary, and part of me still doesn’t believe it happened. But it felt right in my gut, and I knew this was the path I was meant to take.
So that brings me to today. I’m still working my corporate job as I put myself through graduate school at Iona University, but I’m getting there.
Last semester, I began my clinical training. I’m working with real clients now as a therapist-in-training, and I know with certainty I chose the right path.
If you're a therapist, therapist-in-training, or just curious about the intersection of therapy and technology, I’m glad you’re here.
I find myself in a unique position to have over a decade of tech experience under my belt. I’ve been keen on using AI and technology to build systems to optimize my work as a therapist.
Some of these tools have become critical to my work, and I feel compelled to share them with other therapists so we can provide better care for our clients. I love talking about this stuff, but what I love even more is when others benefit from it, too.
My goal is to document my journey as an aspiring LMFT and build a network of fellow clinicians. I hope you'll consider subscribing, and I look forward to sharing more with you soon.
Thank you for being here.