Stephanie Rice reflects on unexpected career pivot following major life update

Stephanie Rice has taken to Instagram to reflect on her time in her “first ever employment role”.

It comes shortly after she returned to socials following a year-long hiatus, to reveal that for the first time in her life, she was without a job.

In her first video, Rice revealed that she left her “full-time corporate job,” and now it seems that she is ready to share why.

“At the beginning of last year, I took on my first-ever employment role after running my business for the past 20 years. I really wanted to test myself in a new setting,” she explained.

“As soon as I saw the role advertised, I just knew it was from God.”

According to Rice, she was asked to step in as director, which she explained is “basically unheard of”. Then, after eight months in the role, she was asked to take over as CEO of the company.

“I tried to act very nonchalant in the meeting, but I was honestly just so excited because this is something that I’ve always really dreamed my career would head into, the position of a chief executive officer,” she said.

All of this took place around Christmas, 2025, with Rice ready to negotiate the terms of her contract after returning from Christmas holidays.

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Stephanie Rice returns from year-long absence with surprising update

“Of course, this was something that I desperately wanted to hear a word from God on, so, of course, I did a lot of journaling, I went on so many prayer walks, and I did a three-day fast,” she explained.

She said that over the course of the negotiations, God spoke to her “distinctly” two times.

“The first time he spoke to me was when I was journaling, he wrote that ‘the offer is good, sign it.’ And honestly, I was like quite surprised because, for me, the offer was not so great,” she recalled.

“But when God said ‘the offer is good, sign it,’ I just really trust that his ways are higher than my ways.”

Rice explained that the second time God spoke to her, he showed her a picture that changed her perspective on finances. She included the picture in her video, telling followers, “I really think that this will bless you as well”.

She signed the initial term sheet and entered into the next stage of negotiation, explaining that she had “followed through in obedience”.

But after a month had gone by and it came time to sign the employment contract, Rice decided she wanted “a fresh confirmation from God”.

“Instead of talking to me about the job, he took me back to these two key moments where I had to make big decisions that didn’t quite make sense to other people, and that decision ended up changing the course of my life for the better, and I’m going to share more on this all in part two.”

Following Rice’s recount, there was some confusion with one follower commenting, “I thought you quit your job?”

Rice teased there was more to the story with a ‘part two’ coming soon.

Rice retired from professional swimming in 2014, having won three Olympic gold medals. She went on to manage her own sponsorships, endorsements and appearances as a motivational speaker for years.

In 2024 she completed her Master of Business Administration and moved to Dubai with her husband, Pastor Mark Lassey, working in the commercial sector for international sporting events.

She took a year hiatus from social media, returning on July 10 to share some significant life changes, seemingly now ready to go into detail about her career.