While I didn't get to this site until about five or more years after I left in 1995, I can say that reading it did help me too. I have occasionally visited over the years but just started posting today.
Yes, you can make a successful life after the Watchtower. I did pretty much find a new life immediately upon leaving. I had such a horrible time within, so it was a relief to leave. I felt immediately free and, despite missing a few people a little bit (most who I learned left also over the years), I really had no worries or problems.
A few of my now-ex-JW friends have actually been too ashamed to make contact due to the way they treated me while they were Witnesses (which is too bad because I am so over anything from the past), but those I have reconnected with have managed to build quite a life for themselves as well.
Sites like this one can be definitely be helpful. I too tip my hat to Simon and all the others who have published on here through the years. I would not have been as successful in my life had I not seen there were others like me who left the Watchtower behind as well.