Jessi Walter was a Wall Street wunderkind. At 21, with a degree in economics from Harvard, she was hired by Bear Stearns Cos., and eventually rose to the position of vice president in credit strategy.
But the J.P. Morgan merger last summer ended her career. “They just didn’t need me,” says Walter, now 27 years old.
So, she took a couple of months to “make sense of the whole situation,” and realized that she could turn one of her hobbies–cooking with her boyfriend’s nieces, and arranging birthday parties for them–into a business.
In September, she used her savings to launch Cupcake Kids LLC, which teaches kids to cook and bake, everything from pizza and lasagna to pastries and cakes.
So far, the business has been busy and profitable; Walter has even hired a dozen teachers part time to help her. For the most part, she has relied on word of mouth for her marketing. Walter also got a boost recently when her business was featured in New York magazine’s “Best of New York” list.
Walter says she wouldn’t have considered going out on her own if it hadn’t been for the layoff. It was “forced decision making,” she says.
And it hasn’t always been the smoothest transition for her to make. “When you work for a big company, you do your job,” Walter says. “When you’re an entrepreneur, you have to do everything,” from writing the business plan to taking out the trash. “There’s not enough hours of the day” to do the work.
But “I’m 100% enjoying what I’m doing now,” Walter explains. “I love developing a business, and I’m really passionate and fulfilled by what I’m doing. I’d never like to say never to options in life, but for now, going back to Wall Street is not something that I’m considering.”
Photo by Cupcake Kids LLC.