She left a $75K Chicago job to sew uniforms in Yellowstone — and pays $96 a month in rent

At 3 a.m. in Mammoth Village, Wyoming, Zoe De La Paz sometimes jolts awake to the sound of an elk bugling outside her dorm window — what she calls a 'nightmare alarm clock.' By 6:45 a.m. she's on an employee shuttle, sewing machine waiting. Her rent for the month: $96.

Less than a year ago, De La Paz, 26, was earning $75,000 a year as a mechanical designer at a Chicago engineering firm, splitting an apartment with a roommate and badging into an office every morning. On paper, she was doing fine. Inside, she was not.

It was what made me realize that life was too short and that I was very unhappy at my corporate job.— Zoe De La Paz, seamstress, Xanterra Parks & Resorts

The turning point came in 2024, during a trip to visit a friend who held a seasonal job at Yellowstone National Park. Watching her friend's freedom — and the park's scale — planted an idea De La Paz couldn't shake. She began periodically checking Yellowstone job listings. In early 2026 she found one that fit: a seamstress position with Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the concessionaire that operates hotels, lodges, restaurants and other businesses inside the park. By June 2026, she had moved in.

The path to that job was not a straight line. De La Paz had started sewing as a teen cosplayer. Back in Chicago, she took on odd jobs at music venues on nights and weekends to get back into creative work. While catering a The Weeknd concert, she connected with the artist's wardrobe team and was hired to do costuming work for the tour's backup dancers, according to CNBC. That experience convinced her a full-time creative career was possible.

Her Yellowstone role is more utilitarian than glamorous: as a tailor in Xanterra's uniform department, she sews on patches, fixes snaps, and replaces buttons and zippers on uniforms for thousands of concessionaire employees — housekeepers, security officers, restaurant workers, tour guides. During the summer season rush, she and the one other tailor on the team sometimes hemmed upward of 40 pairs of pants in a single day, according to CNBC. The team also takes on upcycling projects, such as converting old employer-issued backpacks into fanny packs after a clear-backpack policy took effect in the park.

From a young age, I had been told that work must be work and play must be play, and that there isn't necessarily a world that allows both to coexist with one another. I never thought that my hobby could become my career.— Zoe De La Paz, seamstress, Xanterra Parks & Resorts

The financial arithmetic of her new life is stark. De La Paz now earns $19.25 an hour — well below her former $75,000 salary. In July 2026, her total take-home came to roughly $2,640. But her fixed costs have collapsed. Xanterra deducts $96 a month directly from her paycheck for a dorm bed she shares with up to two roommates in Mammoth Village; that fee covers Wi-Fi and utilities. The dorm includes a communal bathroom, laundry facilities, common areas and social events. She has no car and hitchhikes when she needs a ride into town.

She also has about $359 deducted monthly for a meal stipend covering Xanterra's six employee dining rooms. In July she spent an additional $383 on food outside those meals — restaurants and DoorDash orders — bringing her total food spending to $742 for the month. Her largest single spending category was discretionary: $1,162 on gifts, entertainment, household items and pet care. She saved $586 that month. Her subscriptions — the New York Times, Rocket Money and hosting for a freelancing website — ran $34. Her phone bill was $20.

Her safety net remains intact from her Chicago years: an emergency savings fund of $11,000 and a 401(k) from her previous employer with more than $34,000 in it.

The trade-off is really worth it to me because I get to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.— Zoe De La Paz, seamstress, Xanterra Parks & Resorts

Living inside the park also reshapes how her social life works. Friends and family who visit can stay overnight in the park for just $5 — a significant discount given that, as De La Paz notes, lodging in Yellowstone can otherwise cost as much as an international trip.

Even though the national parks are land for the people to come visit, there is just a geographical distance and then a financial distance for people to be able to come and visit and stay in the park. Staying in Yellowstone can be just as expensive as traveling internationally, and I'm really grateful that I get to stay for pennies and dimes, essentially, to live inside of the park.— Zoe De La Paz, seamstress, Xanterra Parks & Resorts

Her colleagues reflect the range of people drawn to park concessionaire work: her direct manager is a 73-year-old retired educator who has been working in the park system since 2023; one colleague is a graduate student there for the summer; another is a former hairstylist who took the job to see more of the world, according to CNBC.

De La Paz's seasonal contract runs through the end of December. After that, she is weighing job opportunities in Los Angeles and New York City — but she is certain the sewing machine goes with her.

It's scary to think about the fact that less than six months ago, I was working my corporate job, clocking in with my badge, and now it's like: What comes next?— Zoe De La Paz, seamstress, Xanterra Parks & Resorts

I know that regardless of where I end up, the work I will be doing will continue having me be behind a sewing machine. I'm excited for what comes next.— Zoe De La Paz, seamstress, Xanterra Parks & Resorts

Why it matters — De La Paz's budget breakdown puts concrete numbers on a trade-off — lower wages, near-zero housing costs, radically different daily life — that a growing number of workers are weighing as urban rents remain high and national park concessionaire jobs go unfilled each season.

Reported by people.com, nypost.com, cnbc.com, seemayo.com