I'm graduating in a few months with an M.S. in Economics. My program required a thesis, which took a bit longer to write than I hoped for, but I've done it, passed the defense, manuscript approved. My committee is talking about me making some revisions and trying to get it published in a peer-reviewed journal, which would be an absolute dream come true for me. Not sure if it'll happen, but we're going to try.
Although I started my program as a full-time student, because the paper took a while, I've been working in private industry (corporate job) for the past few years. I am in data analytics in a field that is related to my research interests (suppose I wrote my thesis on the economics of retail, and I work for a private equity firm that buys/restructures department stores - not a real example, but you get the idea). It pays well, provides good retirement, good health insurance, etc. so I have no plans at this time to leave and go back for a Ph.D.
However, I really want to continue to research, write, and hopefully publish papers. Is there a way for me to continue to do this outside of academia? If you've done this, or know someone who has, what did this look like for them?