Missme, men do continue learning after leaving kollel. They just learn from 5 – 9. And some of them go on to become great talmidei chachamim, magidei shiurim (daf yomi and beyond, and daf yomi to a pretty demanding crowd at that).
And I know professionals who made some amazing decisions to be able to get a consistent amount of daily quality learning in.
It’s not either or. It would be refreshing if the message got out.