Woman, 30, who quit her 'negative and difficult' legal career in London to walk dogs for a living now earns thousands more by working half the hours

A paralegal who had a high-flying career in London quit her job to become a dog walker - and is now earning thousands more a month by working half the hours.

Liz East, from west Sussex, spent six years studying at university with dreams of becoming a criminal defence barrister. 

The 30-year-old was often working more than 12-hour days and commuting more than two hours to London, but said she found the working environment 'negative and difficult'.

Eventually deciding that enough was enough, Liz ditched her career in law for a slightly more unconventional path: walking other people's dogs and offering a dog-boarding service. 

After purchasing a van, Liz began working part-time at her local pub while building up her clientele and soon noticed the high demand for dog-walking services in her area.

Now, she takes out 20 to 30 dogs on around four walks a day, and says she rakes in thousands more than she did in her previous job - and has also halved her working hours. 

Dog lover Liz says her unusual career move has divided opinion, with some wrongly assuming her occupation is low skill and low earning. But she insists that her business is focused on her love of dogs and the outdoors, rather than strictly income. 

She said: 'I was always very interested in law, I always wanted to be a criminal defence barrister.

A paralegal who had a high-flying career in London quit her job to become a dog walker - and is now earning thousands more a month by working half the hours

Liz East, from west Sussex, spent six years studying at university with dreams of becoming a criminal defence barrister. The 30-year-old was often working more than 12-hour days and commuting more than two hours to London

Now, she takes out 20 to 30 dogs on around four walks a day, and says she rakes in thousands more than she did in her previous job - and has also halved her working hours

'Working in criminal defence was a lot, it was quite draining. I did everything from admin to going to court and going to prisons and chatting with clients.

'With a law degree you then have to do your masters and LPC, it would've meant more training, but I knew [after four years] it wasn't for me. It was quite a negative and difficult environment to be in I would say.'

Liz added that the long working days combined with a pressure to socialise in the evenings felt 'unsustainable' for her future plans to build a family.  

'Sometimes I'd easily be working more than 12 hour days. I felt older than what I was, every day I thought "is this my life now?",' she added.

'I think there's this pressure in the corporate world that unless you are breaking your back that you're not doing well and people think you're slacking. It's not a life, there's so much stress and people don't enjoy it. 

'If I'd stayed I would've burnt out.'

After leaving her career in law, Liz then went into a consultancy role for six months before deciding to ditch her corporate dreams for good.

Now, Liz loves her new job, walking 20 to 30 pooches on an average day at £14 an hour, allowing her to take home £300-£400 a day.

Dog lover Liz says her unusual career move has divided opinion, with some wrongly assuming her occupation is low skill and low earning. But she insists that her business is focused on her love of dogs and the outdoors, rather than strictly income

Liz added that the long working days in her previous job combined with a pressure to socialise in the evenings felt 'unsustainable' for her future plans to build a family

'I'm on thousands more per month than I was working in corporate and do half the hours I used to. But if people do this job because they want to earn more money, they're not doing it for the right reasons,' Liz said

Liz's husband also earns a living from dog-walking and dog-boarding, and the couple no longer 'dread work every weekend' and the 'long hours' they used to work.  

'I'll always have my degree and can always go back to it at some point. Not that I think I ever will because I love what I do so much,' she said.

'My everyday now doesn't feel like work. I get some people saying "you went from law to dog-walking? You did all that studying and now you're just walking dogs?".

'Some of them were judgmental and think I just wasted six years, but I learnt a lot in those six years that I still use in everyday life now.

'People presume dog-walkers are low-earning but I actually earn more now.'

Liz added that there is a 'high demand' for dog-walking, but the money is not the sole reason she has embarked on this new career path. 

'I don't have two days that are the same. It will go as far as you want to take it. It's hard for me to say I make this exact amount,' she explained.

'I'm on thousands more per month than I was working in corporate and do half the hours I used to. But if people do this job because they want to earn more money, they're not doing it for the right reasons.

'You should do it because you want to be outside and want to be with dogs. I love getting up and going to work.

'Life is short, don't stay in a job where you're unhappy. Just make the change and go for it, I've not regretted it for one single second.'