I went from Goldman Sachs to running a dance studio. My Wall Street years help me center clients and manage finances.

"After years working in the arts and getting my MBA at Oxford, I joined Goldman Sachs during the pandemic, living in my in-laws' attic and five weeks pregnant. Nobody knew about the pregnancy. I interned as a summer associate through my first trimester, turning my Zoom camera off, throwing up, and turning it back on. I got a return offer and eventually had to tell my teammates, who were super supportive."

"I returned to Goldman's wealth management business with a five-month-old, breastfeeding through working and studying for the series tests, but I loved it. In the private wealth unit, you're expected to pound the pavement and build your own book of clients, which includes ultra-high-net-worth individuals and nonprofits. You start by apprenticing on a more senior team, and then, once you have a certain amount of assets under management, you're on your own."

"I became pregnant again and was still doing coffee in the morning, networking at night, volunteering, and board meetings. I got really sick, though, and doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. I stopped feeling like the high performer I knew myself to be. Work-life balance wasn't going to cut it Over maternity leave, I took a genuine look at my life."

"The journey to becoming a successful asset manager is steep and competitive, and when I got back to the firm, I started to think I might have to write my own rules. I realized that my life at home wasn't up to my standards. I couldn't do school pick-up and drop-off, or cook most meals, and during the week I often missed key moments like dinner and bath. Our nanny was putting my daughter to bed some nights."

After earning an MBA at Oxford, she joined Goldman Sachs during the pandemic while five weeks pregnant and kept the pregnancy private. She interned through her first trimester by managing symptoms during Zoom work, received a return offer, and later returned to wealth management while breastfeeding and preparing for series tests. In private wealth, she apprenticed on a senior team before building her own book of clients, including ultra-high-net-worth individuals and nonprofits. A second pregnancy and serious illness disrupted her ability to perform at the level she expected. She reassessed her life after maternity leave, finding that home responsibilities and missed daily moments did not meet her standards, prompting a need to change how she worked and lived.

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