RTO Ultimatum to Exit Package: 14 Weeks

This week's guest walks through the night a return-to-office memo turned her career plans upside down, moving from assuming she'd comply to actively building a case to stay remote. The trigger was simple: a new commute calculation of fifty-eight minutes each way, done on a legal pad within hours of the announcement, that made the policy shift feel like a quiet layoff rather than routine scheduling. The conversation covers the tactical decisions that followed, useful for anyone weighing a similar career change or career pivot in office-heavy industries like media and tech. - How to calculate real relocation and commute costs before a mandate lands, not after - The written exception request and ninety-day deadline used to negotiate instead of resign - How NBCUniversal's severance offers compare to Amazon's harder relocate-or-resign stance - The exact HR email question to send before ever verbally refusing an RTO order Airing the week of 07/28/2026, this episode is especially useful for mid-career employees weighing whether to fight, negotiate, or quietly job-search their way out of a new office mandate. 📣 We Want to Hear from You! - 📝 Submit a question