Michael Albertshauser co-founded an erotic audio book startup with his wife, Hannah.Albertshauser worked his six-figure tech job by day and spent nights working on his new business.After ending up in hospital, he re-evaluated his work-life balance and went all-in on the startup.This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Michael Albertshauser, the COO of Bloom Stories, an erotic audiobook startup. Business Insider has verified Albertshauser's employment and financials with documents. The following has been edited for length and clarity.For the past five years, I've been living an exhausting double life.I worked my 9-to-5 at a tech company. I'd then go home and work late into the night on the startup I co-founded in 2019 with my wife, Hannah.Working those long hours wasn't sustainable especially with two young kids, but it took being hospitalized in October 2023 to realize I needed to quit my day job and go all in on our startup.We decided to build an audio book businessHannah and I first came up with the idea for Bloom Stories, our erotic audiobook startup, while searching for audio content for couples. Towards the end of 2019, we were looking for something we could enjoy together. Everything addressed a male or a female, and it felt like one of us was being ignored.We thought, "What if we do this ourselves?" I'm not a good voice actor, so we started looking into narrators that could share some recorded fantasies. Once we found some good people, we realized we could publish this content on a website. We considered using Patreon, but weren't sure if our adult content would fit with their community guidelines.I had previously exited a startup, so I thought we could go beyond creating content and build a business. I knew we needed to have control over the process. I didn't want to rely on third party platforms that might change the rules at any given time.A founder friend recommended our now-CTO. Things were pretty straightforward at Bloom Stories at the beginning. We found some trusted freelancers who could write, voice, and mix the content. We would order it from them, then update the website when it was ready. I would speak to the CTO every couple of weeks to discuss what else we needed to build. We uploaded three or four 'episodes' for free, as we hadn't added a payment function. 17 people instantly downloaded them. A few days later in April 2020, we added a payment mechanism for a $2.99 monthly subscription. By the end of that month, we made $700 in revenue.I had started a new full-time job in February 2020, but this seemed manageable as a side project. Initially, Hannah and I juggled Bloom Stories alongside our day jobs, me at the tech company, and Hannah running her design business.Things grew more quickly than we anticipatedBy the end of 2020, we had a few thousand user sign-ups per week. We worked with freelancers from Fiverr and Upwork. The best of those freelancers eventually joined our core team from 2022 and today, we have around 15 people. Hannah wound down her design business in 2021 to fully commit to her role as CEO of Bloom Stories, and she has been taking a salary since 2023.In parallel, things were also going well in my day job. I was promoted three times, and by the end of 2022, I was making six figures. A higher salary was great for financial stability, with two kids and a mortgage. But it came with more responsibility and late-night calls with the San Francisco team.My day would be wake up, get the kids ready, go on Slack to check in on Bloom Stories at breakfast, do a full day at my tech job, collect the children, have dinner and put them to bed. Then do a night shift for Bloom Stories. Sometimes I'd work until 2 a.m., depending on how much needed to be done.I thought I could manage both until I crashed and burnedIn October 2023, I got a cold I couldn't shake. I worked through it until I woke up and my neck was completely swollen. I saw my doctor, who sent me straight to the hospital. I had an infected lymph node, which didn't go down with antibiotics, so I had to have an operation. I was in the hospital for a week and had to take all of that November off work to recover.I gained a new perspective on life, work, and family. Hannah and I initially reinvested any revenue from Bloom Stories back into the business. I realized I was cheating myself by giving my labor to Bloom Stories for free. You need to invest in yourself at some point.We decided things had to change and made a plan for me to come to Bloom Stories full-time.I chose Bloom because I love building companies and find it more fulfilling than my corporate job. I also love working with my wife Hannah. We complement each other perfectly. She's the creative force, and I bring the data-driven business perspective.I took a pay cut to do a job I lovedWe made a list of financial goals Bloom had to hit by the end of 2024 to be able to invest in my salary as COO. I wasn't willing to take more than a 50% pay cut compared to my tech job. I also wanted to ensure that the launch of our Pride & Prejudice 13-hour erotic audiobookTo begin the transition, I asked for a demotion to my previous role at the tech company, which had a smaller scope and fewer direct reports. There was a pay cut, too. In October 2024, I officially resigned.January 7, 2025, was my first full day at Bloom Stories, and I got my first paycheck at the end of the month. I am making a bit less than my tech job, but not drastically so. The plan is to claim the evenings back. I haven't had a hobby for the past five years.I'm looking forward to getting back into video games and going to gigs again. I'm also looking forward to spending more time with Hannah, that's not work-related. Next is to work out how we tell our kids about what we do. But hopefully, it's a few years before we have to have that conversation.