I quit my finance job and moved to a new country to work in a completely different field. My excitement surpassed all fear.

Growing up, I was always taught that challenging myself was the key to growth. If something was uncomfortable for me, that probably meant it was worth it.

Investment banking seemed to fit perfectly into that picture.

So after I graduated from universityI accepted a job as an investment banking analyst and moved into an industry full of intensity and rigor that I believed would serve as a springboard to a life of long-term success.

Attracted by the challenge the position offered me, I immediately dove into it. The prospect of acquiring financial intuition and building the analytical toolkit of a mini-CFO sounded like the ultimate achievement.

Instead of gaining a deep understanding of evaluating companies, I spent most of my two years there executing: learning very specific processes, navigating tight deadlines, and delivering work under relentless pressure with minimal sleep.

I quickly realized that no matter how hard I worked, this experience was not shaping me into the person I had hoped to become.

So I started asking myself a bigger question: If this isn’t the path to fulfillment, what is?

Hearing my own priorities out loud pushed me into a new field and continent

About a year and a half after playing that role, I decided to ask my father the existential question I’d been quietly wrestling with for months.

“What is the meaning of life?” I asked him. “Like, why do we get out of bed every morning?”

I saw a concerned look appear on his face for a moment before he calmed himself with a deep sigh. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he answered.

“For me,” he said, “they are experiences. It means being fully present for the short period of time we live.”

Then he asked what I thought.

I realized that my answer had nothing to do with compensation or prestige. Instead, I wanted to build meaningful relationships and have a positive impact on other living beings. I wanted to contribute to something that improved the lives of people, animals or ecosystems.

And in general, I wanted to feel connected to something bigger than myself – even if that meant leaving the job I thought I wanted and moving somewhere new.

Over the next few months, I researched and applied for conservation positions around the world. It was a passion of mine and I hoped that a career move could finally provide the fulfillment I longed for.

Ultimately, I found the perfect fit and landed a fundraising and strategy position at a science-based conservation and community outreach nonprofit in southeastern Zimbabwe.

Uprooting my life was more exciting than scary

In the summer of 2025, after officially working in finance for two years, I decided quit my job in the field of investment banking. Not long after, I packed my bags for Africa.

People often ask me if I was afraid of being far away from my family, friends and familiar life New York Cityespecially because I had never been to Zimbabwe. The truth is, I was so excited about the adventure that I barely thought about what I was leaving behind.

Plus, I’ve visited other parts of Africa before and grew up spending weekends riding horses and hanging out in nature. living in the wilderness felt less like a radical departure and more like a return to myself.

Now, almost a year after moving here, my life couldn’t be any different. I live in a small thatched house in the reserve. A hippo visits the dam behind my house. Buffaloes graze outside my front door. I recently found a python above my porch.

From the outside, it probably sounds a lot more stressful than my old life in Manhattan. Ironically, I have never felt so peaceful.

Instead of spending my days tweaking financial models from a downtown high-rise, that’s what I do surrounded by natureand I finally fill my days with work that I actually care about.

Every day I have the privilege of learning from ecologists, researchers, wildlife managers and community leaders who have dedicated their lives to protecting this incredible landscape and the animals that call it home.

My job is to help tell their stories, organize support, and raise money for our organization’s ongoing efforts.

This new life brings challenges, but they actually fulfill me

Living on a nature reserve has its own difficulties. Local resources are limited. My role comes with a lot of autonomy and less typical structure, which can be difficult to navigate. I live thousands of miles away from family and friends and in a different time zone.

However, these challenges energize rather than deplete me, because they are in service of something I truly care about – and something I hope to pursue for many years to come, whether in Zimbabwe or elsewhere in the world.

Ultimately, I am grateful for my time in investment banking. It might not have been mine dream fieldbut it taught me discipline and resilience and, more importantly, it forced me to rethink what success actually meant.

I still believe that growth comes from challenging yourself. I just no longer believe that the most difficult path is necessarily the one that yields the most growth. The challenge worth choosing is the one that helps you become the person you want to be.