Cleo was the guy everyone thought had it made. $175K software engineer. Good title. Good company. But behind the LinkedIn flex, he was drowning. Sixty-hour weeks. Constant deadlines. Algorithm interviews that made him feel like a fraud every time he switched jobs. He'd come home too drained to do anything but eat and sleep. The money was decent but the math didn't work — he was trading every waking hour for it. He'd look at his paycheck and think 'I should feel grateful' but all he felt was trapped. There had to be a way to earn more while working less. He just hadn't found it yet.