From Hedge Funds to Fun in The Hedges
A bit of housekeeping here as I repost this blog from 2023 that got lost in the shuffle when I transferred my blog over to this website following our home robbery (a blog post for another time…). I wanted to keep it in the mix here as it feels an important timestamp in my reflections and progressions…
June 30, 2023:
How I went from picking stocks to picking stems…
I loved my 12 year career as a stockbroker in NYC-- the fast pace and pressure, the noise of the trading floor, the breadth of information flow, the confidence and intelligence of the investors. From the thrill of nailing a call, or conversely, the composure required to face notoriously tough Hedge Fund clients after getting one wrong. Or my favorite, the satisfaction of writing a witty and differentiated pitch and then watching my inbox flood with feedback, better yet, pushback (that's when I knew I was onto something). Years of the job take a toll, it's endless late nights entertaining clients in the swanky restaurants in the city only to have to wake up far too early the next morning and power through the fatigue (and hangover) to get out the overnight color before the market opens yet again. It's navigating massive and often volatile personalities as they manage risk in the form of billions. It's an endless merry-go-round, constant adrenaline, and of course, great money. Over the years, this career became a large part of my identity and gave me a tremendous source of confidence, I always thought I'd be a "lifer." But then I moved to the burbs...
I grew up down South in the suburbs, so our move to New Canaan, CT wasn't some revelation of what life looks like outside the city, but rather I returned to my roots. Timing is everything, and COVID hit New York the exact same day we closed on our house in Connecticut. For the next year, I worked from home, something that was inconceivable in my industry pre-COVID. I could also no longer entertain clients in the evenings, and I excitedly used my new free time to immerse myself in all the home and garden hobbies that I grew up with down South. If anything, my husband led the charge as I readily admit that he puts all my garden and cooking skills to shame. We missed our families during quarantine, but we found tremendous joy in keeping busy together. We built gardens, cooked elaborate dinners together every night, pickled vegetables, made hot pepper jellies and hot sauce recipes with ingredients from our own garden, completed endless furniture DIY projects, learned how to tile a fireplace, and decorated the many bare rooms of the house (turns out we needed a nursery!). It felt amazing to get our hands dirty again.
We reluctantly returned to the grind in the grid in 2021, but the thrill of the city wasn’t the same, especially since I now had a sweet baby boy, Bridger, at home. The weeks where I had to be out late multiple nights in a row and not see him as much devastated me. I pushed myself to check every "mom box" (homemade Halloween costumes, check!) while still running full throttle at work, it was exhausting.
The commuting was particularly painful. I'd sit there angrily thinking about how the unproductive time on the train was completely wasted away from Bridger. I found myself endlessly scrolling through the photos on my phone thinking of all the fun we had the past year together as a family building our home. To distract myself during the transportation frustration I started the instagram @NestledinNewCanaan. It was the perfect way to share all our projects and stay connected with friends and family as many still couldn't travel as the pandemic continued to linger. I also didn't want to slip back into being too busy with work to partake in projects and build our home and thought that in some way it might help me to hold myself accountable. To be sure, I still have zero understanding of how to make it "go viral" and perhaps that's for the best (also what is TikTok??). At the very least it serves as a fun collection of all our ideas, recipes, and memories.
NestledinNewCanaan grew to became an even more important tether to home and creative outlet for me as I continued to struggle to find the same passion for the finance career I once loved. Finally this Spring ('23), I gained total clarity-- I had a great year at work despite a very difficult market and I got promoted...and I wasn't happy. I resigned, to the shock of many, and I haven't for a single second regretted it....granted, it's only been a few weeks since I quit the Street, but if anything, I expected the beginning of the transition to be the hardest.
So now what?!
I like to joke that Martha Stewart started off as a stockbroker and she had to quit being a stockbroker to become Martha Stewart. My starting plan is to keep it simple, no Martha ambitions... yet. I tend to think on a grand scale and I'm not sure that much pressure is the right approach as I figure out my path from here as a mom and eager entrepreneur. Instead, I've started by making a very simple list of absolutes-- things I absolutely do and do not want to do in this next chapter of my life. For example, I did love writing pitches, so how can I reincorporate that concept in my new paradigm? Born is this blog.
Lots more to come as I shape some small business ideas here and please follow along on @nestledinnewcanaan (*now @maggiebentleydesigns)— I welcome your comments (and pushback!)