When Merrisha Gordon left her NHS role in 2021, she gave up not only her comfortable salary, but also her right to sick pay, annual leave and crucially, future contributions to her lucrative public sector pension .

Merrisha, now 46, worked for the health service as a senior leader managing children’s mental health across a 21 year career.

She admits her old employer gave her “lots of security”, but the single mum says she does not regret quitting in order to focus on her coaching business full-time, despite the risks that self-employment brings.

“I was feeling immensely burnt out coming out the pandemic. I knew I didn’t feel as in love with the job as I did before,” says Merrisha, who lives in London.

Prior to leaving the health service, she was doing some coaching part-time and sa

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