A memoir chronicles a challenging post-career journey to a life of reimagined possibilities. A harried scientist and business executive sets off to make a break from her corporate decades and have an “extraordinary” retirement. She launches into a five-phase “Project Escape,” complete with a vision, goals, and a scorecard of success to deliver this next chapter as a volunteer in the island country of Palau. Her struggle with purpose, identity, ego, and marriage provides an unvarnished but encouraging reference for those pondering major life changes.

An insider’s story of unrelenting sexual harassment and sexism from the 1950s to the 2010s as a young woman scratches her way up in the male-dominated world from farm laborer to PhD scientist to corporate executive. This honest, call-to-action story captures her freedom journey to overcome her shame and self-blame, learn to defend herself, and become a champion for others.