SOFSET Founder Sofia Jiang on Leaving Investment Banking to Build the Workwear Brand She Wished Existed
Today I’m sitting down with Sofia Jiang, the founder of SOFSET. Sofia grew up in New York City, went to Georgetown, and started her career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. But after realizing banking wasn’t the life she wanted to build, she left to pursue startups, fashion, and eventually her own brand.
In this episode, we talk about leaving investment banking, building a fashion brand from scratch, growing a personal brand on TikTok, launching with a waitlist of over 6,000 people, and why Sofia believes your first job does not have to define the rest of your life. We also get into banking culture, career pressure, finding your why, wellness non-negotiables, gratitude, manifesting, and what it means to build a life you’re actually excited to wake up for. This is such a good episode for college students, young women starting their careers, anyone interested in fashion or finance, and anyone who feels like they’re being pulled down a path that might not actually be for them.
Episode Transcript
Lauren Stenger: Sofia, thank you so much for being here with me today. I’m really excited to get to know you more and learn all about you and your different career endeavors. I've watched your videos online since your time at Georgetown, so it's been really cool to see your trajectory, and I find your content to be really inspiring especially as an aspiring businesswoman myself. So it's great to have the opportunity to hear all about you.
Sofia Jiang: Thank you so much for having me, Lauren. This is my first podcast, so I'm very honored.
Lauren Stenger: Yeah, that's awesome. So do you mind just for those who are new, giving a brief overview about yourself?
Sofia Jiang: Yeah, of course. So I'm Sofia, I grew up in New York City, and I went to Georgetown where I studied Business and Global Affairs. For the entire time in college, I thought I was going to do investment banking, but after I graduated and I actually started the job, I realized this is so not for me, and I'm so much more passionate about doing other things. So I've started pursuing startups since then. Right now, I work at a fashion tech company in marketing, but I'm also starting my own officewear brand that's targeted towards younger girls who are just starting out their career where everything is machine washable and super affordable. It's all the clothes that I wish I had when I was doing investment banking.
Lauren Stenger: That's such a cool story to hear because I think in college it's so easy to go down a path that you're kind of told to go down without knowing what the deal actually is. So it's really admirable that you have so much confidence in what you're doing So similar to that, what led you to create your new clothing line SOFSET?
What led you to create SOFSET?
Sofia Jiang: I have loved clothing my entire life, but the only time I hated what I was wearing was when I had to go to the first day of my internship at Morgan Stanley. Before the internship I obviously knew that I had to buy business formal clothes, which I didn't really already have. So I literally scoured the internet to look for stuff that wasn't super expensive and also something that I was excited to wear to work every day, and I just couldn't find anything. So basically I just tried to look for secondhand stuff or just took stuff that used to be my mom's.
“There are actually more women than men in entry-level finance roles right now. Why do these clothes not exist for us?”
I really realized then that there's just nothing that exists that caters to people who are just starting out work. I feel like everything on the market right now is either super expensive or dry-clean only or targeted towards women who are a bit older and have a bigger budget or different styles. And so I started SOFSET because I wanted to fill a gap in the market because now there's so many women in finance and in these corporate fields and there are actually more women than men in entry-level finance roles right now. Why do these clothes not exist for us?
Lauren Stenger: It's cool that you're using your experience to help other people. I'm really excited to see the full line of everything. I saw you're doing a waitlist approach right now. Can you kind of tell me about how that's been right now doing a waitlist approach? Does it give you more flexibility, a gauge for your customers, things like that?
Tell me about SOFSET’s current waitlist model.
Sofia Jiang: I started the waitlist because I wanted to gauge how much inventory I should order and produce in the beginning. It's really hard, like even if your video gets a lot of views, you don't necessarily know what percentage of that audience actually wants to buy. So with the waitlist, you're kind of able to see like okay, like right now I think I have almost six thousand people on the waitlist. I was originally gonna order far less, even assuming that only like twenty percent of people off your wait list actually buys. Now I know that there's so many more people interested than I thought. So I'm increasing the amount of units I'm ordering.
I think another thing about a waitlist is that it helps you build an email list so that when you do launch, you're kind of not launching into the void and people are aware of your brand and are excited about it. Also I used a referral system so that people would be more willing to share with their friends organically.
Lauren Stenger: I'm so excited to see it all come together in the next few months when the clothes are out for purchase. I think also which probably helps with your marketing is this personal brand you've created through your social media platforms. I think personal brands these days are so important, and you've done such a great job telling this narrative.
Sofia Jiang: Thank you.
Lauren Stenger: So I want to go back to your time in investment banking. So I just graduated from Cornell, and I was in the business school and I came in as a new junior from SMU. I was just so shocked and unaware of the obsession with getting a job in investment banking and how everyone kind of worships banking. I came in as a new junior like, what's going on? Like these people got their internships freshman year.
So I've seen this obsession with banking firsthand and how people will just do anything to get a job. So you left a career that people are so obsessed with breaking into. So what prompted this career pivot? Was it an external opportunity or an internal pull? How did you know it was time for something new?
You left a career that people are so obsessed with breaking into. What prompted this career pivot? Was it an external opportunity or an internal pull?
Sofia Jiang: Yeah, so I guess I was kind of sucked into the world of this is the only path for you, this is what everyone wants to do, so you should want to do it too. When you’re 19 you have to kind of decide if you want to do investment banking. I had always been really interested in business; I knew I wanted to start my own company one day, I just didn't really know what. So it seemed like a very safe and open option where you could kind of do anything afterwards. So that's the original reason why I went into investment banking.
But when I got there and since I came up with the idea of SOFSET, it just felt like every single day that I was there, I wasn't actually learning what I wanted to learn about starting a business. And everything is very, I would say, high level or financially oriented and less about actually being able to talk to customers or being able to grow a company and that’s what I felt like I needed to learn in order to feel confident starting my own business.
“When I got there and since I came up with the idea of SOFSET, it just felt like every single day that I was there, I wasn’t actually learning what I wanted to learn about starting a business.”
Originally I was going to do the two years of investment banking because I thought this is such an incredible opportunity, like I can't just give it up and like go all in on a clothing brand when I have literally no experience. So I obviously started the job full time, but at the same time, every single day I was there, this idea of the SOFSET was at the back of my mind.
And because I felt like the job didn't make me feel any more prepared to start it, I felt like I needed to go work at a startup and see what it's like to actually like build a company from 0 to 100 and from there take whatever learnings I can to eventually start my own company. What I learned there is no one really knows what they're doing all the time, no matter how much experience you have. A lot of the times you just have to start doing it and just try for yourself, even if it that does seem scary.
Lauren Stenger: Definitely just have to rip off the band-aid and go for it. I'm sure like the week leading up to you quitting you were probably like, what am I doing? Like this is so scary. But it's cool to see it's all working out.
Sofia Jiang: Thank you. Yeah, of course. I was obviously thinking about it even before I started the job, but the week before I was really like, this is a decision that you can't really turn back on because once you quit investing banking, it's very difficult to go back, unless you get an MBA or under extraordinary circumstances.
Lauren Stenger: Was there anyone in your life, friends or family, that was super supportive and helped you make that decision, or was it all kind of intrinsically driven?
Sofia Jiang: I think most of it was intrinsically driven. Obviously my friends were super supportive. They were sick of me complaining about it. But I've always been someone who's believed that in any situation you can either accept it or change it. Because I wasn't willing to accept it, it seemed like the only thing I could do is take initiative to change it.
“I’ve always been someone who’s believed that in any situation you can either accept it or change it. Because I wasn’t willing to accept it, it seemed like the only thing I could do is take initiative to change it.”
Lauren Stenger: So now along with starting your clothing brand, you're working at a fashion startup. What interests you about the fashion industry in general? Is it something you've always been interested in or a more recent passion?
What interests you about the fashion industry? Is it something you've always been interested in or a more recent passion?
Sofia Jiang: It's hard for me to explain why I like fashion so much. I've loved it since I was a child, for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I would spend hours in my room just making outfits, scrolling on Depop, literally anything having to do with fashion. I was just taking all of my free time to learn about. For me that wasn't necessarily a technical lens, but it was like a creative outlet for me and also something that made me feel confident every day.
“A lot of art is just displayed or hung up, but it’s art that you live in, and it expresses who you are without saying anything.”
Getting dressed for school, I was always super excited to put on a new outfit or throw on an outfit that I had put together. I think what is so awesome about clothing to me is that it's literally like walking art. A lot of art is just displayed or hung up, but it's art that you live in, and it expresses who you are without saying anything. So I feel like that's why I've always loved it so much. There's just so many elements to it. And I also just love like beautiful aesthetic things.
Lauren Stenger: I love that depiction of it. What have been some unexpected lessons or roadblocks you've run into by doing a startup of your own, especially a clothing line?
What have been some unexpected lessons or roadblocks you've run into by doing a startup of your own, especially a clothing line?
Sofia Jiang: I think the biggest thing is you have to realize that you can't do everything yourself, and you can't do everything the super scrappy way necessarily. I worked at a really early-stage startup called Cerca, and we were extremely scrappy there. I think I had the very same mindset for my clothing brand, especially since I'm funding everything with my full-time job and my savings. But I realized that there's certain areas where you just need to get an expert involved, or that there's so many more people who are more experienced than you. You need to be able to ask for help and know when to outsource your work. If I had figured that out earlier, I probably would have launched already. There's so many aspects of clothing that you would have no idea goes into a piece of clothing to make. I'm delaying the launch a little bit because I just wanted to make sure that everything is perfect for the first launch.
Lauren Stenger: Yeah, and it's kind of like you don't know what you don't know. What are some lessons thar you've learned from your time in baking that make you grateful for that experience because it's helping you in these current endeavors?
What are some lessons that you've learned from your time in baking that make you grateful for that experience because it's helping you in these current endeavors?
Sofia Jiang: Obviously there's the financial aspect. It teaches you like basic how to read financial statements, what metrics are important, etc. I think all that you could probably learn online pretty quickly. The biggest things for me that I've learned from investment banking are all mental. So one thing is how much sleep you need. Before I did banking, I thought if I slept six hours the night before, that's no sleep and my day would be ruined. Now if I sleep six hours, I just know that I can get through the whole week sleeping six hours every single night because I used to do that every single week for weeks on end. And obviously that's not like the healthiest mindset, but I feel like especially when you're balancing a full-time job and starting a company of your own, sometimes you just have to be willing to sacrifice that. And also just to know that a lot of things or limitations that you put on yourself are mental. And then another aspect of investment thinking that's really helped me is knowing that you can figure out really complicated things that seem impossible to figure out yourself.
Lauren Stenger: Yeah, I think that would definitely boost your confidence and your sense of the endurance that you have. And so right now it's kind of the new cycle of analysts. Interns are a couple weeks into their banking internship. So what advice do you have for either incoming analysts that are coming in in a few weeks or juniors in college who are currently in their internship right now?
What advice do you have for incoming full-time analysts or juniors in college who are currently in their internship right now?
Sofia Jiang: I would tell them to have their why. Like, why are you doing this job, what do you want to get out of that experience? If it is truly that you're interested in finance or pursuing investment banking, then really give it your all. Put yourself in positions where you have more opportunities to learn. Volunteer to do the model even when you don't really know, because that's where all of the learning is. It's kind of up to you what you want to do with your career and what you want to get out of this experience.
“Having a good attitude, being nice to everyone, taking the time to genuinely be friends with the people you work with and form a close relationship with gets you so much further than just trying to be the most intense intern.”
So I would say to be very proactive in making sure that you're not just going through the motions of every day and that you're really taking the opportunity to learn on someone else's dime. Another thing that I would tell interns especially, is that a lot of the job is your reputation and being liked. You're an intern, no one expects you to be an expert at modeling or an expert at PowerPoint, but having a good attitude, being nice to everyone, taking the time to genuinely be friends with the people you work with and form a close relationship with you gets you so much further than just trying to be like the most intense intern ever, because that takes way more effort than just asking someone how their weekend was.
Lauren Stenger: I think that's something I realized recently too is that we're not expected as college interns or even post grad to know every single thing. Like they don't expect that at all. It's just all about attitude and how you carry yourself and your willingness to help and having a good outfit too. So yeah that's really good advice. I know a lot of people listening are doing banking right now, so I'm sure they will really appreciate that.
Going back to this personal brand you've created on TikTok. I love your videos. They're so inspiring, and you seem like a very regimented person. What are some things that are essential to your overall wellbeing and especially during inevitably hectic times, just like running a company, working in a startup, all that, what are some routines or habits that help you to stay grounded?
What are some habits that are essential to your overall wellbeing especially during inevitably hectic times?
Sofia Jiang: I would say for wellness, I really think of wellness as more of a mental thing than I do physical in my personal opinion. When I'm happy, and I'm able to see my friends, I feel so much more well than even if I'm sleeping a lot; if I'm unhappy, it doesn't really matter to me. So I really prioritize seeing my friends. Even when I was doing investment banking and I would have to work on the weekends and work all day during the week, no matter what on Friday or Saturday I would try to see some of my friends, even if that meant that I was going to sleep like four hours the next day, because that was so important to me.
I would also say that another thing that gets me through really hectic times or times where you aren't loving your life and that you want to change is to be grateful for what I have. One habit that I actually implemented during banking was to write down one good thing that happened to me every day, no matter how small it was. So if my bagel tasted extra good that morning or someone held their umbrella out when it was raining. Even the smallest things can make you realize that you have so much to be grateful for, like your health, your friends, your family. And you don't really think about that when there's so much chaos going on and you think that everything is the end of the world
I also try and work out as much as I can. The busier weeks, I really just don't have time. Like the last few weeks I haven't had that much time. But on Saturday and Sunday, I almost always work out. Even when I was doing banking, no matter how tired I was, even if it meant walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes or just going to the gym to do like one 10 minute ab routine. It always makes me feel better.
Lauren Stenger: I love the note on gratitude because also it's kind of a cool way to look back at your life and see how things have changed. If you write down one thing you're grateful for every day for a year or a few years, you can really see how things change so quickly. It's like a mini little journal entry. I also think just having a mindset of gratitude just manifests more good things in your life. So yeah, that's a great point.
Sofia Jiang: Yeah, definitely. I used to write in a diary all of college, but since I've graduated college, I've been so busy in banking or like all these other jobs, so I haven't had as much time. I feel like just committing to writing one sentence or like one thing that was good that happened to you is so much easier to keep up with.
Lauren Stenger: Yeah, I'm the same. I really try to prioritize journaling. I have my journal right here, but when I'm busy, I just write down like three things I'm grateful for. And I've recently been implementing a few things I want to manifest into my life, things I want to happen in the future. And that's also been kind of cool.
Sofia Jiang: I believe in manifesting so much. In the beginning of the year I made a vision board, and this is my first year ever doing it. My life was also completely different at the beginning of the year because I hadn't started my clothing brand. I worked a different job. I had just quit investment banking. I didn't really know like what other company I wanted to work at besides the one I was at then. And I made this vision board on January 1st at like 12:10a.m. And basically everything on the board has happened already. And it's halfway and it's saved on my computer desktop and I look at it every so often and I can't believe that all of these things happened.
Lauren Stenger: I love making vision boards.
Lauren Stenger: For any college students or people who are kind of struggling right now or they're in this crossroads where they are being pulled down one career path, but maybe they're not feeling that it's really for them and they don't really know their why, as you were saying. Do you have any advice for any of those people who don't really have clarity on what they want next in their career?
Do you have any advice for any of those people who don't really have clarity on what they want next in their career?
Sofia Jiang: Yeah, definitely. I feel like I’ve spent a lot of this year thinking about that. Like what do I want to do, is this going to work out, etc. So I think the biggest piece of advice I would give to them is that it's not possible necessarily to have your whole life figured out at 19 or at 22 when you first graduate school because you've never even really been in the real world. You're always had a set path kind of for most people to go to high school and then to go to a college and then that is the point after you graduate college where you can kind of make your life anything you want it to be.
And so if you're in college, I would say that rather than focusing purely on getting a prestigious job for after graduation or comparing yourself to what everyone else is doing, just try and create as many opportunities as possible for yourself to meet different people and be visible. Whether that's posting on LinkedIn, on social media, cold emailing people, I feel like who you are as person and who you know will get you so much further in life than focusing on like your grades or what clubs you're in, which is what I was super focused in on college. If I could go back, I wouldn't be focused on my grades so much. It would have been to go and meet as many new people as possible, to have many new experiences because that's what makes you an interesting person and the more you know, the more you'll know what you want to do too.
Lauren Stenger: And you'll know what you don't want to do too, the more you just talk to people and connect. Okay, last but not least, where do you see yourself in a year from now?
Where do you see yourself in a year from now?
Sofia Jiang: For me it's very hard to say. I think everything can change in a year. I've had three jobs since graduating college a year ago, and I never thought that I would be starting my company right now. For the last four years, I pretty much thought I was going to do investment banking until I was 24 and then maybe work in another area of finance. And now
I feel like my life now is something that I'm excited to wake up for every single day. So I just hope in a year from now I'm still super excited with everything that I'm doing with SOFSET and obviously I hope that SOFSET takes off and that there are thousands of girls around the around the world who feel so much more confident about getting dressed for work and that and that it's one less thing that they have to worry about.
“I hope that SOFSET takes off and that there are thousands of girls around the around the world who feel so much more confident about getting dressed for work and that and that it’s one less thing that they have to worry about.”
