It's a matter of perspective. I have 20 yoe, looking at titles alone, all of my job switches in the past 10+ years have been "steps down": director to manager, senior manager to manager, manager to consultant. The first two, however, resulted in greater compensation, not less (lifestyle business to startup to FAANG). The last one was a move towards work-life balance and flexibility. Overall, no regrets about my choices. It's a funky career path, but I'm happy where I ended up.
