The Dramatic Move I Made That Changed My Life (and Healed My Burnout!)

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As a new college grad in 2020 with two degrees, one in business and marketing and the other in media arts, I pictured myself as a creative in a big city, climbing the corporate ladder to “success.” But after working in multiple creative marketing roles post-grad, I found myself questioning if art direction, video production, and graphic design were really what I wanted to do. 

Graduating, interning, and working full-time during the pandemic really put things in perspective for me. I was living at home with my parents in a metro Detroit suburb in July 2020 when I got a job offer in Boston (something I’d always dreamed of!). But I realized that if I left home, the bubble of friends and family I was privileged to be a part of would shrink to a party of one. Losing loved ones during the pandemic made me realize how important being around these people was. I didn’t want to go to Boston, but I also really didn’t want to stay in my suburban hometown.

When I met my now-partner in November 2018, I visited his hometown, Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the first time. Even though it’s only about an hour from where I grew up in the Detroit suburbs, it always seemed so far away when I was a kid. As soon as I started making regular trips to A2 (as the locals refer to it), I fell in love with the town, and with my partner. In October 2020, I made the full-time move to Ann Arbor, which was much closer to my family than Boston. 

Ann Arbor was like a breath of fresh air. I couldn’t believe there were trees everywhere (it’s called “Tree Town” for a reason!), or that you could kayak the Huron River from one side of the city to another. Plus it had a vibrant energy, thanks to the University of Michigan campus.

While I was enjoying my new hometown, I couldn’t ignore my constant state of burnout working remotely as a full-time creative: Hunched over my laptop, stressing over font sizes, and waiting for Adobe Premiere Pro to export. In October 2021, I accepted a position as a freelance designer at a different company, and this new job gave me the freedom to pursue a career in real estate, something I’d always been intrigued by. 

I grew up watching HGTV, piquing my interest in home design and architecture. With Ann Arbor as my home base, I knew I’d be able to explore the homes that make up its unique neighborhoods. And it was so easy for me to make a home myself here that I wanted to help others do the same. When I got my real estate license in December 2021, I had so much access to the city’s unique home types, including mid-century modern, Dutch Colonial, and Tudor. I was charmed by almost every neighborhood I worked in! 

No longer stuck at a desk all day, my new career as an agent also helped me immerse myself even further in Ann Arbor. (I noticed my burnout melting away, too). I used my marketing skills to highlight on my Instagram account (@gisellegaitanhomes) how much I love living here. On a perfect day, I can walk from my house to Songbird Cafe for a coffee, visit the farmers market, rent a kayak in Gallup Park, go to a concert downtown, and eat dinner at one of my favorite spots, like Mani Osteria.

Creating my own work schedule also gave me the opportunity to dive more into my hobbies, like teaching Pilates and running the Ann Arbor City Guide Instagram account (@annarborcityguide) I created with the Pilates studio owner. We love to explore local coffee shops and restaurants so much that we created the IG to document our finds. It’s a bonus that the account helps me keep discovering new things to do, like the annual Ann Arbor Summer Festival and the gorgeous W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden at the University of Michigan Nichols Arboretum.

By creating a whole new routine (and life!), I finally felt healed from my burnout. In the process, I fell more in love with living in Ann Arbor and became a part of the community. (My townie boyfriend laughs at the fact that I run into more people I know than him when we’re out and about.) Next time you find yourself in Michigan, I’m happy to be your personal Ann Arbor city guide!