Sofia Jiang had a career start that many young graduates would consider ideal: a six-figure salary, a prestigious role at Morgan Stanley, and a clear path ahead. But four months into the job, the 23-year-old realised that the career she had worked towards was not the one she wanted.
Jiang told Business Insider that she had studied business and global affairs at Georgetown University and was attracted to investment banking because of its reputation, lucrative salaries and stability. She had also interned at Morgan Stanley while in college, eventually receiving a full-time offer before graduation.
But once she began working full-time, Jiang found herself questioning whether the job was helping her move towards her bigger goal—building a business of her own.
Her entrepreneurial idea had actually taken shape during her internship. While shopping for workwear, she found it difficult to find clothes that were stylish, reasonably priced, and easy to maintain without regular dry cleaning. The problem eventually became the inspiration for her clothing brand, SofSet.
At the same time, Jiang was building an audience on TikTok. She initially posted about her life at Georgetown and later began sharing snippets of her experience in investment banking. Some of her videos took off, helping her grow an audience of more than 30,000 followers.
Even so, leaving Morgan Stanley after only four months was far from an easy decision. “I felt it was kind of silly and too risky to quit a job I had worked so hard to get,” Jiang told Business Insider.
She was also concerned that if she stayed in banking for several years, moving into entrepreneurship later could become even more difficult. Conversations with friends eventually helped her recognise that she needed to make the decision based on what she wanted for herself, rather than following a career path others viewed as safe.
She began reaching out directly to people in the fashion-tech space. Jiang cold-emailed employees, recruiters, CEOs and investors, keeping her messages brief and focusing on her background and what she could potentially bring to the table.
The strategy eventually paid off. According to Business Insider, one of her emails resulted in an introduction to the HR team at a venture capital fund focused on fashion-tech startups. That conversation ultimately put her in touch with the CEO of the company where she now works, leading to a job offer.
Jiang currently works full-time in fashion tech while continuing to build SofSet on the side. The change, however, has meant giving up a substantial portion of her previous income.
Her first-year base salary at Morgan Stanley was $110,000 (approximately Rs 1.05 crore). Her current startup role pays considerably less, but Jiang sees the experience as an investment in the skills and knowledge she needs to build the career she wants.
For Jiang, the decision ultimately came down to the future she could see for herself. Looking at the senior professionals ahead of her in investment banking made her realise that the traditional career ladder was taking her somewhere she did not want to go.
“When I looked at the people who were my bosses in investment banking, who were technically going to be me 20 years out, I didn’t want the life that they had,” she said.
