Getting laid off from Amazon gave one working mother the impetus to turn a side project born out of her struggle to get some rest into a growing wellness travel business.
Rania Zheng, 34, was fired from Amazon in October 2025 after nearly six years at the tech giant. Her layoff officially took effect in January, leaving her to decide whether to look for another job or devote more time to the side business she was developing. Instead of returning to the job market, Zheng decided to devote herself full-time to Puyu Retreat, the wellness travel business she co-founded.
From a Career at Amazon to a Different Job
Zheng joined Amazon in 2020 as a business intelligence engineer and was promoted to senior engineer about a year later. She transitioned to a senior product manager role in 2022 after taking product management courses at the University of Washington.
She described her time at Amazon as positive, saying the role allowed her to continue to challenge herself and learn product management. However, balancing the demands of a fast-paced tech career with family life proved challenging. As a wife and mother, Zheng said she finds it difficult to juggle work, family responsibilities and what she called an “invisible mental load.”
Her interest in health became a part-time job
Zheng’s attempts to relax led her to study traditional Chinese medicine, tea practices and qigong. She found them useful and felt more people should know about them. This interest led her to co-found Puyu Retreat with Rachel Xia, offering wellness trips to China focusing on topics such as tea, traditional Chinese medicine and mindfulness. Xia was a former classmate whom Zheng met through a joint U.S.-China hospitality program.
While still at Amazon, Zheng treated Puyu Retreat as a side project, spending about two to three hours a week on the business. She primarily worked on the social media, destination content and cultural side of the business, while her Chinese co-founder worked on the China-based venture.
“I found it very useful and thought more people should learn about them,” Zheng said. She later announced on LinkedIn that the company’s first tea and traditional Chinese medicine retreat was already fully booked two weeks before the event.
Because her husband works and the family has savings, Zheng said they have enough financial breathing room to give the venture a chance. “I gave myself about a year from the time I was laid off to see if it would keep me in perspective,” she said. “If not, I might consider returning to the job market.”
From initial retreat to sustainable growth
Puyu held its first retreat in November 2025. Since then, the company has hosted several tours, generated revenue and, according to Zheng, continued to grow steadily. His Instagram account has grown to over 20,000 followers, and co-founder Zheng and a member of the founding team now oversees operations on the ground in China.
Zheng said she remains optimistic about the business, although it has not yet become profitable or started paying her a salary. Proceeds are reinvested into trips designed for small groups, she said. The company’s next activity is entering the US market.
The stress is still there, but it feels different.
Running a fledgling tourism business comes with its own challenges and challenges. The difference, Zheng says, is that the pressure now seems more significant. “When you work on something you really care about, it changes the quality of the stress,” she said.
Zheng said working at Puyu Retreat also helped her support the wellness practices that inspired her business, including traditional Chinese medicine. Her experience with Amazon also remains useful. She said her experience in product analytics, business intelligence and product management helped her apply lessons about technology, scaling and prioritizing business.
“Getting fired is not the end of the story, and everything you accumulated in previous positions is still valuable,” Zheng said. She remains focused on growing her business, but hasn’t ruled out the possibility of returning to the job market if the right opportunity arises. “These skills don’t disappear when you leave,” she said. “They can help you figure out what comes next.”