At 34, she launched her own PR firm while commuting between NYC and DC — then competed on Survivor as a 'reset': 'I'm kind of blowing up my life'

The 34-year-old had dreamed of competing on the reality show ever since she started watching it at 8. She finally submitted her audition in early 2023, around the same time she was taking another major leap. She launched her own public relations agency (1) during train commutes between New York City and Washington ahead of a move with her fiancé.

While preparing to outwit and outlast on season 48, Roses said she was also navigating major changes in both her career and personal life.

"I'm kind of blowing up my life in a lot of ways," Roses told CNBC Make It (2). "I was about to make all these major life changes."

The real gamble started before Fiji

As she waited to hear back from casting, Roses made another high-risk move: leaving her full-time job at a tech PR agency — where she had climbed to associate vice president — to start Roses PR. She says she missed the more hands-on side of the job and wanted to build something of her own.

After months of silence, a casting director finally reached out, launching an intense audition process that included interviews, medical exams and psychological evaluations.

Her career pivot came at a time when many Americans were rethinking traditional jobs.

Employee engagement in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2024, with only 31% of workers reporting they felt engaged on the job, according to Gallup (3).

Roses' decision also reflects a broader shift toward entrepreneurship. According to a study by SideHustles.com (4), 79% of employed Americans are interested in leaving traditional jobs to start their own business, including roughly 1 in 8 (5) who say they plan to make the leap within the next year.

Then came another challenge: timing. Less than a year after launching her business, Roses was selected to film Survivor in June 2024. But because she was bound by a strict nondisclosure agreement, she couldn't explain to clients why she suddenly needed to disappear for weeks, leaving her worried they'd think she "didn't take the job seriously."

Betting on herself

There was also the challenge of keeping her business afloat while she was away filming. At the time, Roses was the only employee at her agency, so she brought in a former coworker to temporarily manage clients during her absence.

The arrangement required careful planning, especially given the financial realities of entrepreneurship. According to 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (6), roughly 1 in 5 businesses fail (7) within their first year, while nearly half shut down within five years.

Still, Roses said being self-employed ultimately gave her more flexibility to compete on the show. Unlike some contestants who had to burn through paid time off, take extended leave or even quit their jobs entirely to appear on the show, she was able to structure her business around the opportunity.

That kind of flexibility can be difficult to find in traditional corporate jobs. In 2025, about 31% of private-sector workers received just 10 to 14 days of paid vacation (8) after one year of service — far less than the amount of time needed to film a reality competition series overseas.

The career lesson she brought home from Survivor

When Roses finally revealed to clients that she had been filming Survivor, most were supportive, and some had already guessed. But beyond the reality TV exposure, Roses says the experience ultimately changed the way she approaches both work and burnout.

Many of the skills she developed during nearly a decade in tech PR — from storytelling to relationship-building and adaptability — helped her navigate the social strategy of the game. But the biggest shift came after the cameras stopped rolling.