From J.P. Morgan to yogi: finance executive leaves career to become instructor, helping athletes and weekend warriors stay on top of busy lives
- The former J.P. Morgan executive left a lucrative career in the world of finance to become a yoga instructor and assist people with pain management
- More athletes and weekend warriors are turning to yoga to help supplement sports such as tennis, basketball, football and rugby
Icy Bo Lin’s LinkedIn timeline looks at bit odd at first glance.
From 2008 up until March of 2017, she was employed by global investment banking company J.P. Morgan. She worked her way from analyst to associate, then to vice-president for the Hong Kong office, handling wealthy clients’ portfolios and managing a hefty pile of investment money. Then, in April of 2017, Lin became a yoga instructor.
For Lin, who is the now head of mobility and yoga for the Hong Kong Sports Clinic – where she works with amateur and pro athletes and weekend warriors from a wide range of disciplines such as tennis, basketball, ultra-marathon and CrossFit – this massive career shift appeared to be on a dime, but was actually far from it.
The Fujian, China native arrived in Hong Kong in 2005 from the mainland, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from the University of Hong Kong in 2008, and landed at J.P. Morgan’s office right in the middle of the global financial crisis. Lin said she picked the career path because she thought it would be an excuse to travel and her parents would approve given the high salaries prevalent in the industry.
“I wouldn’t say I hated it,” said Lin about working in the finance industry. “It’s a very glamorous job for some people, the industry always picked the best people so the people I worked with were really smart and really hard working. And the clients you are serving are millionaires and billionaires in their respective industries, so it was always interesting and inspiring to meet them and talk to them.”
