My New Book, I Wish I’d Quit Sooner, Is Officially Out!

Over the past several years, one theme has surfaced repeatedly in my work as an organizational psychologist, coach, and speaker: people don’t leave jobs—they leave toxic bosses. And yet, so many professionals stay far longer than they should, convincing themselves that things will improve, that they’re being “too sensitive,” or that this is simply the cost of success. 

That’s why I wrote I Wish I’d Quit Sooner: Practical Strategies for Navigating and Escaping a Toxic Boss, which is out NOW. 

Toxic bosses are not just a frustrating management style. They are a career health hazard. If you’ve ever felt your stomach drop when a meeting invite pops up, or found yourself rehearsing every sentence before you speak, your body is giving you data that your brain has been trying to rationalize away.  

Here’s the hard truth: a toxic boss can quietly shrink your confidence, your voice, and your ambition long before you realize what’s happening. While a difficult boss can be frustrating, a toxic boss is damaging. The difference is in the impact and pattern. Toxic leadership is repetitive, self-serving, and corrosive to your well-being and career trajectory—and it tends to worsen over time. To survive, high performers stop taking risks, stop speaking up, and stop trusting themselves. 

I wrote I Wish I’d Quit Sooner because too many capable, intelligent professionals blame themselves for a leadership problem that was never theirs to fix. In my work over the past 16 years leading Canada Career Counselling, working with thousands of individuals and leaders across Canada, I’ve seen how deeply toxic bosses can distort self-perception. People begin to question their competence, their judgment, and even their worth. That internal erosion often lasts long after the job ends. 

This book is both a mirror and a roadmap. It breaks down the most common toxic boss personas, helping you name what you’re dealing with instead of internalizing it. It offers practical strategies for protecting your confidence and credibility while you’re still employed—because not everyone can quit. And it provides clear, compassionate guidance for coping, exiting, and recovering, so you can rebuild a career that feels steady, aligned, and sustainable. 

Recently, I had the opportunity to share these ideas live during my launch events in Calgary and Toronto, and I appeared on The Social and the Global Morning News (photographed below). In both cities, the rooms were filled with professionals who nodded along, shared stories with the person beside them, and expressed a sense of relief simply from having their experience validated.  

What struck me most during these events was how universal these experiences are—and how rarely we talk about them openly. Toxic leadership thrives in silence, and this book is my attempt to break that silence and replace it with language, clarity, and choice. 

If you’re currently working for a toxic boss, this book will help you steady yourself and see more clearly. If you’ve already left, it will help you make sense of what you went through and begin repairing the parts of you that were impacted. And if you’re leading others, it offers a powerful reminder of what leadership should never look like.

You deserve a career that doesn’t require you to abandon yourself to survive. 

I Wish I’d Quit Sooner: Practical Strategies for Navigating and Escaping a Toxic Boss is available now. Buy the book here: https://www.drlaura.live/books 

And as always, thank you for being part of this ongoing conversation about healthier, more human workplaces. 

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Dr. Laura Hambley is a thought leader on Career and Workplace Psychology, passionate about career development. She founded Canada Career Counselling in 2009, however has specialized in career development since 1999 through her Master’s research and counselling in different settings, including outplacement and career transition firms in Alberta.

Dr. Laura learned early on that effective career planning enhances wellbeing, confidence, and clarity in one’s work and life. Combining the expertise of Psychology with Career Counselling is what she sought to do as she founded and evolved Canada Career Counselling from Calgary to Toronto, Victoria, and Halifax, providing Career Counselling and Career Coaching to thousands of clients over many years.

Dr. Laura enjoys her work as a Career Counsellor and Career Coach to professionals who are in mid- or senior stages of their career, helping them navigate complex career decisions and pivots. Her extensive experience as an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, enables her to understand and address the challenges faced by individuals, leaders, teams, and organizational cultures. Having consulted to a wide range of organizations since the late 1990s, and becoming a future of work thought leader, has enabled her to help individuals and organizations navigate the latest trends impacting today’s organizations.

Dr. Laura fulfilled her dream of having her own podcast in 2020, called Where Work Meets Life™, where she interviews experts globally on topics around career fulfillment and thriving humans and organizations. She is a sought-after keynote speaker for organizations, associations, conferences, and events.

In addition to her Master’s in Counselling Psychology (1999), Laura holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (2005) from the University of Calgary. She is a Registered Psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists, as well as a member of the Psychologists’ Association of Alberta and the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). She also contributes to teaching, supervision, and research as an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of Calgary.

For more resources, look into Dr. Laura’s organizations:

• Canada Career Counselling

• Synthesis Psychology