33 year old ex-Deloitte consultant explains why she left tech job for business

At 33, Jessica Yen has made a significant shift from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, leaving behind her role as a consultant at Deloitte to launch Surfers Jewelry, an e-commerce platform tailored for surfers. In a revealing essay for Business Insider, Yen shares the motivations behind her career transition. Yen's journey began right after graduating from UCLA in 2014, when she started as a technology analyst at Deloitte. However, the reality of the job fell short of her expectations, involving a grueling two-hour daily commute from San Francisco to Walnut Creek. "In consulting, you don't have much control over what projects you work on, and I realized I wanted more say in my career," she reflected. After seeking new opportunities, she landed a position as a marketing analyst at Salesforce in 2016, where she was introduced to data analytics. Despite the initial excitement, she soon recognized that her true interests lay beyond marketing, prompting a shift into business operations. Yen further expanded her experience at Yelp in a business operations and strategy analytics role, before joining the autonomous vehicle startup Cruise in 2019, which aligned more closely with her passion for decision-making and human interaction. However, after seven years in the high-pressure realm of data analytics, stress took its toll. "Everyone wants your time and expects you to build dashboards, often with quick turnarounds. The stakes felt high," she noted, describing the demanding nature of her work. While still at Cruise, Yen pursued a coaching certification in the Bay Area and began taking on clients as a side project. In August 2020, she made the leap to leave her corporate role, desiring a break from the traditional work environment. Her first venture into entrepreneurship came with the launch of "Daily Work Journal" in December 2020, marking her entry into the e-commerce space, which she successfully ran until January 2024 before selling it. Now, with a focus on her new business, Surfers Jewelry, Yen expresses confidence in her e-commerce skills, honed from her previous ventures. She advises aspiring entrepreneurs to gain corporate experience first, emphasizing that their specializations can serve as a competitive advantage in the entrepreneurial landscape.