Meet Your Team at Ctrl Alt Career

Hi, I’m Jen!

Here’s the tldr:

BlackRock > GM fashion startup >
Founder of Ctrl Alt Career & Head Career Change Coach

The longer version of my story?

I was where you are a few years ago.

I grew up ticking all the right boxes - I got good grades, I went to an Ivy League and spent 7 years climbing the corporate ladder and became a VP at BlackRock.

I achieved what society deemed “success”.

But deep down I always felt that something was missing. I would shudder thinking that this was what the rest of my life would be.

And so I would try different things - I’d aim for a promotion, a pay raise, a change in job scope, a change in location perhaps. And I did. All of the above. I moved teams within BlackRock, I tried living in New York, Hong Kong, and London. I’d get promoted, get a pay raise, a bigger bonus. And while all these things worked in the short term to deliver a dopamine hit, I could never quite get rid of the underlying sense of dissatisfaction and lack of purpose and fulfilment I felt.

And looking back, I knew very early on that this was not the right career for me, but I stayed, for 7 years. Because I thought this was what growing up meant. Work isn’t supposed to be fun, right? But mostly because I was scared. I felt irresponsible giving up a nice cushy job to “pursue my dreams”, especially when I didn’t even know what my dream really was.  I was worried what my family and friends would think. It was especially difficult for me because I had spent my whole life following a well defined path, only to realize this was not what I wanted. I completely lost my sense of self and my sense of direction. 

But I did eventually find the courage to leave and became a General Manager at Style Theory (a Softbank backed Series B fashion startup), a job that I love.

And this is why I started my 1:1 online career coaching and guidance program, because this was the program I wanted as I struggled and slugged through my corporate life.

And this is why I became a career coach and started my podcast, because this was the program I wanted when I was struggling to figure out why I was unhappy with my perfect on paper job and what I should be doing with my career next. I want to help more of you find the courage to pursue your passion in life and to be able to achieve the sense of purpose and fulfilment that I now am lucky enough to have.

Want even more nitty gritty details of my story?

You can check out my podcast interview here.

I’d love to get to know you -

Connect with me @ongjennifer_ on Instagram or via Linkedin.