Meet Sarah Caille, 34 - a self-employed business woman, mother, administrator, decorator, gardener and volunteer.

What is your work story?
I tried to avoid serious work for as long as possible figuring I'd be working most of my life so why rush into it, but I've been financially independent since I was 18 via summer work and part-time jobs of all sorts.

I got into charity fundraising after university, because I wanted to use my marketing and selling skills but I didn't want to work in the corporate sector. I did fundraising for six years, but I always craved more diversity and responsibility in my work, so I decided to pursue a more general management role. Fundraising jobs are the best paid jobs in the voluntary sector so I had to take a 20% salary cut to get the role I wanted. My career plan at the time was to climb the management ladder and become a Director or Chief Executive of a charity within five years.

Even though I had this great plan, deep down I knew that I wasn't cut out for office life and I didn't want to work from 9 to 5. But I just kept ignoring the voice that periodically emerged to remind me of that. It was during a particular incident at work that I was hit by the realisation that it wasn't a question of working even harder or giving more of myself that would make me successful in my work - quite the opposite, I had to admit that I couldn't give any more, I had to quit and remove myself totally from that environment. So both my husband and I quit our jobs in London and moved to France to work for ourselves.

How do you see work in your life right now?
When people ask me: Do you work? I still don't have an answer. It's either no or 24 hours! I split my time between running our gite (a farm guest house in the French countryside), doing all the admin for my husband Laurent's osteopathy businesses, managing the house including all the renovations, having two toddlers to feed, clothe and entertain and tending a three-acre garden. So I'm always 'working' at something - some of which I'm financially rewarded for and some I do for free!

In modern society we are so often defined by our work and earning capacity I occasionally feel like I've lost a little bit of myself because I don't have a clear work identity - then I remember I've found the diversity I was seeking as a career woman.

What was work for you in high school?
I wanted to be a high-powered executive wearing a Chanel suit, carrying a pigskin briefcase and making lots of money.

What was the turning point?
I was part of an international student organisation at university called AIESEC. That gave me a more international perspective on life and gave me exposure to corporates, which is when I realised that I didn't want to spend my working life achieving corporate goals. I also started to take a bigger interest in environmental issues and decided that joining the rat race and living to earn money wasn't something I wanted to do.

What role do you think work will play in your life 10-15 years from now?
Right now, I can't ever imagine doing a 9 to 5 job and working for someone else, unless something drastic happened and I had to do it to support my family. I need something that's an integral part of my life not a separate activity that takes place for 40 hours a week somewhere else. I do have a few business ideas though so we'll have to see if they seduce me when the kids are a bit older.

If an ideal world existed, what would you be doing right now?
What I'm doing now! I love my life (except the housework!)

What makes our world not ideal?
In our society people are judged and judge others by their work status, earning capacity and material worth. It's very difficult not to get caught up in this and compare your personal success with others in these terms. Who would be deemed more successful the person who received a salary rise or the person who negotiated a shorter working week giving them more personal time?

Human beings want to feel accepted and our sense of belonging means we then become terrified of giving up something that provides us with a clear identity and status that can be clearly interpreted by anybody else without actually exposing anything of ourselves other than our job title.

It's a vicious cycle -everyone works harder and harder to meet the accepted success criteria whilst the quality of their whole life suffers because only a small part of it is deemed worthy of measurement. The cycle will only be broken once a critical mass of people stands up and says 'enough is enough'.

What work do your parents do? What did you learn about work from them?
I inherited a very strong work ethic from my parents. My dad is self-employed and my mom works for him. At 16 my parents lost everything in bankruptcy, including the house they'd been renovating for 8 years. We moved into my grandfather's house but my parents' attitude was very positive; 'pick yourself up, brush yourself off and start all over again'. They were in their mid-40s and now they're back living comfortably again.

I learned that it's worth taking risks, even if you lose everything life goes on. We took a huge risk coming out here, having no idea if we could make an Osteopathy business work or if the gite would take off. For now things are working out which is great, but it could all go pear-shaped tomorrow, but you can't sit there worrying about it. Deal with it when it happens, live each day and don't take anything for granted.

My dad has always worked far too hard and has never managed a good work/life balance which he readily admits now. He constantly tells us to slow down and go on holiday, which we're getting better at doing. I don't want to be a tired 60-year old!

What voices of doubt did you have whilst deciding to make this life change?
In all honesty I don't remember having any. The moment of realisation that my life had to change was so clear and overwhelming that I just had a huge sense of relief that carried me through the months when we started to put the plan into action. We also acted very quickly which didn't leave much time for doubts or worrying; I resigned in mid-April, we'd found a house by the first week of June and moved to France on August 23rd (I was also 7 months pregnant at the time so there was plenty to occupy our thoughts).

What advice would you give to people considering or embarking on a life/career change?
* Reflect on what really makes you happy not what you think should make you happy.
* Learn when to let go.
* Take calculated risks and be ready to start over if need be.
* Create and embrace opportunities but don't force something that doesn't want to go.
* Be wary of people who dish out advice!