23-year-old quits Rs 1 Cr Morgan Stanley job to pursue fashion-tech startup

Sofia Jiang, a 23-year-old former Morgan Stanley employee, has decided to leave her high-paying job to pursue her passion for fashion and technology. Jiang, who studied business and global affairs at Georgetown University, had initially been drawn to investment banking due to its reputation, lucrative salaries, and stability. However, after four months of working full-time at Morgan Stanley, she began to question if the job was helping her achieve her ultimate goal of building her own business.

During her internship at Morgan Stanley, Jiang had already started developing her clothing brand, SofSet. She noticed that it was difficult to find stylish, reasonably priced clothing that was easy to maintain. Inspired by this problem, she began building an audience on TikTok, sharing snippets of her experiences in investment banking. Her videos gained popularity, helping her accumulate over 30,000 followers.

Despite the risks, Jiang made the difficult decision to resign from Morgan Stanley. She was concerned that staying in banking for several years could make it even more challenging to transition into entrepreneurship later on. To make her decision, Jiang sought advice from friends and focused on what she wanted for herself, rather than following a career path others deemed safe.

Jiang reached out directly to people in the fashion-tech industry, cold-emailing employees, recruiters, CEOs, and investors. This strategy eventually led to an introduction to the HR team at a venture capital fund focused on fashion-tech startups. This connection eventually resulted in a job offer at a startup in the fashion-tech space. Jiang now works full-time in this field while continuing to build SofSet on the side.

Although the shift has meant giving up a significant portion of her previous income, Jiang views the move as an investment in the skills and knowledge she needs to build the career she desires. She believes that looking at the senior professionals in investment banking made her realize that the traditional career ladder was not where she wanted to end up.

Jiang stated, "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."