It's been two years since Andi Dorfman started her Bachelorette journey and so much has changed since then for the former Atlanta resident. She quit her job, ended her relationship with Josh Murray, moved to New York City, and wrote a tell-all book, among other things. But, one of the things people most often focus on, perhaps even more than why she and Josh called it quits, is Andi Dorfman's job after The Bachelorette. In her book, It's Not Okay, Andi dedicates several pages to why she quit her job as an attorney. And, while people might be glad to finally have answers, I'm gonna call BS on the conversation as a whole. Why does Andi need to justify her decision to stop practicing law? She is not the only Bachelor Nation star to change their career post-show (and she definitely won't be the last), so why is it that she's the one most maligned for her choice?
In an interview with Bustle, Andi explains her take on things. "Maybe it’s because I came from a professional background, I don't know ... It's no different from any other contestant that’s been on the show that's kind of been given an opportunity to do something different," she says. "It gets frustrating. Obviously I understand people’s opinions and their rights to those opinions, but, again, it’s like who am I hurting, you know? I’m a law-abiding citizen. I chose to change careers." She continues:
It's interesting how people kind of pounce on that more than they would themselves. Nobody has their first job for the most part once you get to a certain age. Everyone’s had a career change. But, for some reason, it really did seem to be a subject [associated with me] and I’m not sure if that’s because of the professional degree that I had or... I don't know. But, it definitely seemed to be a point of contention for some people I would say.
Since the show marketed her so much as the career woman with the badass job who had it all but love, it's possible some fans didn't know how to rationalize Andi without her job as still being the independent, strong woman The Bachelor had introduced them to. Even though, of course, choosing to leave one career for another doesn't erase someone's ability to be strong and independent, which is how Andi sees it.
"I’m still a career woman. Just because I’m not in a courtroom doesn’t make me less of a career woman. I’m still driven," she says. "To me, a career woman is a mentality ... and I still have that same drive. It may not be in a courtroom but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist."
These days Andi may not be in the courtroom, but that certainly doesn't mean she's not working hard, she's just doing other things. And, more importantly, she's having fun doing them.
"Although I loved my job, I didn't love making $57,000 a year working 60-hour weeks. And, as luck would have it, I didn't have to do that," she writes in her book. "I had an opportunity to travel, do fun things, and spend time loving up on my (then) fiancé. Let's be honest, if anyone had the opportunity to make money having fun versus fighting rush-hour traffic just to grind it out at work day after day, they'd choose the former. I don't care how much you love your job."
So, what is Andi doing instead to make money? She does the occasional personal appearance or Instagram endorsement, of course she wrote a book, which is out now. And, after her tell-all, she's just trying to enjoy the feeling of being done with what she says was a year-long project.
"I was home last week and I was so stressed out about 'what's my next move?' And, my family was like, 'Just enjoy it right now. You’ve accomplished something, and it’s taken you a year,'" Andi says. "It's true ... I’m trying to just kind of enjoy it and embrace it because I don't always do that well ... I don't know what the future holds but, you know, we’ll see."
And, as long as she's loving what she's doing, that should be good enough for Bachelor fans who can hopefully finally give the job talk a rest.
Image: Nomi Ellenson; Simon & Schuster
