Sofia Jiang, a 23-year-old marketer and founder based in New York, quit investment banking. She left Morgan Stanley just four months after starting there because it did not fit her “larger goal”.
Jiang told Business Insider that the prestigious role didn’t align with her actual goals. She eventually wanted to learn how to run a business.
Jiang studied business and global affairs at Georgetown University. She completed a dual degree programme alongside various during college.
Her first internship was at Diane von Furstenberg, where she worked on brand partnerships. She enjoyed this role but wanted a deeper understanding of the business.
During her studies, significant hype surrounded investment banking as a career path. Jiang found the industry’s atmosphere intriguing and its financial security.
She secured a summer internship at during her junior year. This led to a full-time return offer before graduation, relieving her considerably.
While interning, Jiang struggled to find affordable, low-maintenance work clothes she liked. This difficulty sparked her idea for a clothing brand called SofSet.
She recognised building brand awareness would prove genuinely challenging. Jiang started posting content on TikTok targeting her future customer base.
She created ‘Day in My Life’ videos, first at Georgetown, then in banking. These videos performed remarkably well, gaining significant online traction.
Jiang built a TikTok following, exceeding 30,000 people over time. She continued designing her brand quietly alongside her banking job.
“Every piece of content I post is what I think my brand’s target audience would be interested in,” she told the publication.
After realising that Morgan Stanley wasn’t right for her, Jiang felt genuinely conflicted. She worried that staying longer would make leaving progressively harder.
“I knew that if I stayed longer, I’d be more afraid because I would have sacrificed two years of my life and delayed working toward my larger goal,” she said.
Jiang consulted friends but ultimately trusted her own judgement instead. According to her, everyone follows a different, individual career path.
Around this time, her content’s success caught a friend’s attention. Myles, a , needed marketing help at his small company.
He offered Jiang a formal position around the same time. She accepted, leaving Morgan Stanley and starting the following week.
Jiang remained at that startup for roughly 3-4 months. This experience provided hands-on skills and increased her overall confidence.
Cold email strategy
Sofia knew the startup job wasn’t a permanent, long-term career destination. She wanted to enter the fashion-tech startup industry instead.
To achieve this, Jiang cold-emailed numerous fashion-tech professionals. She contacted employees, CEOs, recruiters and sometimes company investors directly.
She used LinkedIn and a tool called ContactOut for outreach. Jiang kept messages brief, explaining her background concisely and clearly.
“A lot of people didn’t reply, but what worked well for me in the outreach message was keeping it as short as possible while explaining my background in one to two sentences. Then, at the end of the message, adding how I could provide value to them or ask them for advice,” Sofia revealed.
She tailored her approach depending on whether companies were actively hiring. When roles weren’t available, she requested career advice instead.
This strategy eventually connected her with an HR contact at a VC fund. That introduction led to interviews and ultimately a job offer.
Jiang now works full-time in fashion-tech marketing. She continues building her clothing brand as a side project. Reflecting on her journey, Jiang said observing senior bankers changed her perspective.
She realised that she didn’t want their future lifestyle. Though earning less than her banking salary, Jiang believes she’s building lasting value.
“It’s easy to compare what I used to earn in investment banking and what I earn now at a startup. My base salary was $110,000 in my first year out of school. Right now, I don’t make nearly that much, but I feel like I’m building a future for myself that will pay off in years,” she concluded.
