She lives in Yellowstone, but once had a corporate job earning $75,000 in Chicago: 26-year-old learns why sometimes earning less still makes financial sense

For many young professionals, a higher salary is often treated as the clearest sign of career success. But a bigger income can also come with higher living costs and work that does not feel fulfilling. Zoe De La Paz, 26, has taken a different route, leaving a corporate job in Chicago to work as a seamstress inside Yellowstone National Park.

According to CNBC, De La Paz previously earned about $75,000 a year as a mechanical designer at an engineering firm. She now makes $19.25 an hour working for Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which operates hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Yellowstone. Her income has fallen sharply, but so have some of her living expenses, while she is now working in the creative field she had wanted to enter for years.

From crorporate life to sewing

De La Paz learned to sew in high school through cosplay. After college, she took the conventional route into corporate work but continued looking for ways to stay connected to the creative industry.


As per CNBC Make It, she began taking odd jobs at Chicago music venues during evenings and weekends. She worked catering assignments and helped with dressing rooms because she wanted to meet people working in professional wardrobe departments.

That effort paid off during a The Weeknd concert in Detroit. While working catering, she heard that the tour needed a seamstress for an upcoming Chicago show. She quickly wrote her phone number on a napkin and offered her sewing experience.

“I knew that if I wanted to be in wardrobe, I needed to figure out a way to be in the same room with people that were in wardrobe,” De La Paz told CNBC.

The opportunity gave her wardrobe experience and made turning sewing into a career feel more realistic.

Why she chose Yellowstone

A 2024 trip to Yellowstone also changed how De La Paz viewed her corporate career. She had visited a friend working a seasonal job in the park and was drawn to the natural surroundings and lifestyle.

“It was what made me realize that life was too short and that I was very unhappy at my corporate job,” she told CNBC Make It.

By early 2026, she was looking for hands-on sewing work and began checking Yellowstone job openings again. She eventually secured a seamstress position with Xanterra and moved there in June.

Her work includes repairing uniforms for thousands of employees, from housekeepers and security workers to restaurant staff and tour guides. She replaces buttons and zippers, sews patches and alters clothing. During the busy summer hiring period, she and another tailor sometimes had to hem more than 40 pairs of trousers in a day.

The job also gives her room for creativity. The department works on upcycling projects, including turning old employer-issued backpacks into fanny packs.

Lower pay, lower expenses

De La Paz's new salary is far below what she earned in Chicago, but her basic expenses are also much lower. She pays $96 a month for employee accommodation, which covers a bed in a shared dorm room, Wi-Fi and utilities. Around $359 is deducted from her paychecks for a meal stipend at Xanterra's employee dining rooms.

In July 2026, she put $586 towards savings and investments. She had nearly $11,000 in emergency savings and more than $34,000 in a 401(k) from her previous employer.

Her spending that month was higher than usual because of her birthday, a new sewing machine and visits from friends and family.

“Despite earning less today than at my desk job in Chicago, the trade-off is really worth it to me because I get to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world,” De La Paz told CNBC.

Life inside Yellowstone

The new lifestyle is very different from Chicago. De La Paz shares a dorm room, does not have a car and sometimes hitchhikes when she needs to travel into town. She also has to stay alert around wildlife, including elk, bison and bears. “You’re in nature’s territory, not vice versa,” she said, “and you have to have a lot of respect for that.”

Outside work, she takes part in employee activities such as hikes and horseback riding. She says the experience has made her feel more connected to nature despite still loving city life.

Yellowstone is only the next step

Her seasonal Yellowstone contract ends in September, and she is already considering her next move. De La Paz has opportunities in Los Angeles involving film projects and concert tours, along with possible costume and tailoring work in New York.

Her long-term goal is to work in professional wardrobe and costume production. She plans to use some of her savings to help with the move.

“It’s scary to think about the fact that less than six months ago, I was working my corporate job, clocking in with my badge, and now it’s like: What comes next?” she said. “I never thought that my hobby could become my career,” De La Paz added.

For now, Yellowstone has given her a chance to pursue sewing while showing her that a lower salary can look very different when the cost of living and priorities also change.