Sofia Jiang had landed the kind of job many graduates dream about. She had a six-figure salary, a role at Morgan Stanley and a strong start to her career. But just four months after joining the investment bank, the 23-year-old decided to walk away and pursue a very different path.
Jiang told Business Insider that she had studied business and global affairs at Georgetown University and was initially drawn to investment banking because of its prestige, high pay and job security. She had interned at Morgan Stanley during college and secured a full-time offer before graduating. Yet once she started working, she realised the role was not teaching her how to build a business, which was ultimately what she wanted to do.
Why did she leave Morgan Stanley?
Jiang’s interest in starting a business began during her internship. She struggled to find work clothes that were stylish, affordable and did not need to be dry-cleaned. That frustration led her to develop the idea for her clothing brand, SofSet.
She also began posting on TikTok, creating videos about her life at Georgetown and later her experiences in investment banking. Some of her videos gained significant attention, helping her build an audience of more than 30,000 followers.
{{/usCountry}}She also began posting on TikTok, creating videos about her life at Georgetown and later her experiences in investment banking. Some of her videos gained significant attention, helping her build an audience of more than 30,000 followers.
{{/usCountry}}Leaving a prestigious job so soon was still difficult.
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“I felt it was kind of silly and too risky to quit a job I had worked so hard to get,” Jiang said.
She worried that staying for several years would make it even harder to change direction. After speaking to friends, she decided she needed to make the decision based on her own ambitions rather than what others considered a safe career choice.
How did she find a new job?
Jiang had already started building a network outside banking. Around the time she decided to leave, a friend who was a founder offered her a marketing role at a small venture capital backed startup.
She joined the company the following week and spent around three to four months there. The experience gave her an opportunity to work closely with a small team and gain practical experience in marketing and brand building.
Her next move came through persistent outreach. Jiang began cold emailing people across the fashion tech industry, including employees, recruiters, CEOs and investors.
She kept her messages short, usually explaining her background in one or two sentences before asking for advice or explaining how she could contribute.
One of those emails eventually led to an introduction to the HR team at a venture capital fund that invests in fashion tech startups, Jiang told Business Insider. That conversation connected her with the CEO of her current company, and she eventually received an offer.
She earns less but believes the risk will pay off
Jiang now works full-time in fashion tech while developing SofSet on the side. The move has come with a significant pay cut.
Her first-year base salary at Morgan Stanley was $110,000. She earns considerably less at her current startup job, but she believes the experience is helping her build the career and business she actually wants.
“It’s easy to compare what I used to earn in investment banking and what I earn now at a startup,” she said.
Looking back, Jiang says she eventually realised that the career ladder in investment banking was not leading towards the life she wanted.
“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.
Now, she is betting that the skills and experience she is gaining will be worth more in the long run than the security of the six-figure job she left behind.