Way Out #23: From Corporate Gaslighting to Total Freedom with Karol Figueroa
Imagine finally reaching the corporate "promised land." You have the beautiful house, the shiny BMW, and a coveted marketing role at Microsoft. But behind the scenes, you are exhausted. You are constantly battling toxic, gaslighting managers. You are missing family dinners, putting your kids to bed while on conference calls, and trying to buy your way to happiness.
This was Karol Figueroa’s reality. Today, the picture looks completely different. She traded the BMW for an electric Mini Cooper and the toxic managers for complete autonomy. She is the Founder and CEO of HIK Trainings, a thriving EdTech and coaching company, and she runs her life on her terms—which means no Friday meetings and proudly signing off at 3:00 p.m. to pick up her kids.
But getting there required waking up from the corporate matrix, unlearning decades of conditioning, and making one of the hardest leaps of her life.
The Ordinary World and The Illusion of Security
Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Puerto Rico, Karol grew up witnessing the grueling reality of her immigrant parents. Watching her father struggle as an entrepreneur while her mother brought home a steady paycheck, Karol adopted a deeply ingrained belief early on: entrepreneurship is hard and dangerous; a corporate W-2 is safe.
But her early years were marked by intense sacrifice and conditioning. When she was just a child, she and her younger siblings were separated from their parents for an entire year while their US immigration paperwork was processed. This forced Karol to take on massive responsibility and a "big sister syndrome" that deeply shaped her fierce work ethic. On top of that, she faced immense cultural pressure regarding her appearance. Her mother enrolled her in modeling and etiquette classes, leaving Karol feeling like she had to choose between being beautiful and being smart. She even spent her entire corporate career battling her natural curls, straightening her hair every day because she was taught that was the only way to look professional.
She played the game perfectly. She got her MBA, climbed the ranks at major companies like Bank of America, USAA, H&R Block, and Microsoft, and proved she could easily hold her own as a brilliant, outspoken woman in male-dominated spaces.
The Breaking Point
But the illusion of corporate "safety" eventually shattered. After dedicating almost 12 years to one company, Karol found herself in a grueling, $100,000 custody and relocation battle after a divorce. Ultimately, she had to stay in her current city for her daughter. Despite having successfully done her job remotely for two years, when she asked the company to let her stay remote due to her family crisis, their answer was a cold "no." They demanded she return to the office.
It was a profound betrayal. "I have given this company so many years... I'm a good employee, a good manager. And you're just going to dismiss a real-life crisis that I'm going through?" she realized.
It was around this time that Karol had lunch with the podcast's host, Vanessa, and shared her ultimate dream: becoming a Fortune 500 CMO. Vanessa simply asked her, "Why not a CEO?" For Karol, this was a massive wake-up call. With Latina women making up a fraction of a percent of Fortune 500 CEOs, the idea wasn't even in her peripheral vision until that exact moment.
When Karol reflects on this, she says, "...corporate for many people tends to be our longest emotionally abusive relationship."
Her final breaking point, however, came at home. Karol had spent $3,000 building her 4-year-old daughter, Blake, a beautiful princess room. Working late yet again, Karol told Blake to go to sleep so "Mommy can keep working hard to do all these things for you."
Her 4-year-old looked at her and said five words that changed everything: "Mom, but I already love you."
Transformation and Reward
In that moment, Karol realized she was sacrificing the actual moments with her family to buy them things they didn't even care about. She was treating her job as her identity, chasing a moving target of corporate success that would never love her back.
As she puts it:
"You are not your job. You work to provide means for your family. You are who you are. You are the sister, the brother, the daughter, the mother... You are what you give to this world, and it's not just what you do at your job."
She decided to bet on herself. She started putting all of her Microsoft stock directly into funding her side hustle. She ruthlessly audited her life, letting go of the expensive cars and the designer shopping sprees to fund her true freedom. When she finally leaped, she never looked back.
But the transition wasn't a seamless overnight success. Karol navigated a messy "trial and error" phase, initially trying to be a solopreneur coach and even launching an entire line of children's books. It wasn't until she stopped trying to sell general "coaching" and started focusing on critical "career moments"—like navigating a sudden promotion or figuring out how to advocate for yourself—that her business truly evolved into the successful EdTech company it is today.
She also emphasizes that she couldn't have made this leap without the profound, unconditional support of her husband, Stanley. Finding a partner who looked at her and said, "I want you to win so bad," gave her the emotional and financial safety net she needed.
Today, HIK Trainings focuses on coaching professionals through crucial "career moments," helping them navigate the exact corporate trauma and toxic leadership that Karol successfully escaped. Best of all? She gets to experience the ultimate definition of success: unconditionally loving her life, and finally having the time to live it.
Karol's Tips for Wayfinders
You are not your job.
You work to provide means for your family. You are the sister, the mother, the person who waters their plants, the person who smiles at someone on the street. Do not let a corporate title dictate your worth or your identity.Audit your relationship with money.
To build your freedom, you may need to let go of the things you use to cope with your corporate misery. Ask yourself if you really need the luxury car or the expensive shopping trips, or if that money is better spent buying back your time.The universe will protect you from the wrong doors.
If a manager turns on you when you try to leave, or an interviewer belittles you, do not internalize it. Recognize it as the universe telling you exactly why you shouldn't be there.
Resources & Books Recommended by Karol
Unsubscribe by Daniel Priestley:
This book was a major catalyst for Karol to change her mindset and help her figure out how to create demand for her business.Blue Ocean Strategy: Another key book that helped her shift her perspective on how to stand out in the market.
100M Offers and100M Leads: Karol highly recommended his books, stating that they provide an "education that everybody should take."
Follow Karol’s Journey
Website: Check out what Karol has to offer at hiktrainings.com.
Social Media: She can be found across all social media domains under the name HIK Trainings.
Podcast: Check out her podcast called "Coffee and Coaching," where she sits down with other coaches to discuss topics people want to learn more about.
