The Most Beautiful Bridge In NYC

Photo By: Me :)

The Bigger They Are, The Louder They Oink

I got sucked into the Investment Banking industry like that guy who got sucked into the engine of a jet. I should have known what would happen if I got too close, but I leaned in anyway. Like the child who knows the electrical outlet will zap them, but still sticks their finger in. I figured, at the very least, I was starting out on a firm foundation at one of the nations largest and oldest banks.

Lehman Brothers began more than 158 years ago, and in a matter of 10 months I watched  them go from being the pioneers of Wall Street, to the flaming wreckage of Cessna piloted by an arrogant amateur. The early days of my career there were something I will always treasure. I learned much about what NOT to do as a Trader, and subsequently as a human being. We found out about the collapse long before the media did. We were all encouraged to find employment elsewhere, and in between searching job listings, we were telling our clients that their money was safe, and that everything was just fine. To say I have regrets would be an understatement, but if you can't learn from your mistakes, you truly are doomed to repeat them. And I almost did.

I managed to jump off the Lehman Titanic mere moments before it finally hit the iceberg, and lept into an evil little life raft known as Goldman Sachs. I wont say too much about them, because they still remain one of my best reccommendations, and the highlight of my resume. I will, however, discuss my failures there. Good stock trading mostly comes from simple confidence. Skill and education actually play a less significant role. If you aren't brave and risky, you will fail at trading. Risk-taking bravery is often the result of confidence, and it's very easy to be over-confident working at a place like Goldman. Despite all this, I was determined to take advantage of this new opportunity to do things right, which of course was met with significant opposition. On several occasions, I was confronted by people for being "an evil-Goldman employee" or a "corporate thief". The best was when I was called a "greedy Wall-Street pig" which came in a facebook tirade from a woman who used to attend my church with her daughter. I later came to realize that she was ignorant, overall emotionally unstable, and too excited to jump on the latest CNN bandwagon.

Even now, I feel like there are several people in my life who treat me based on how they feel about Wall Street employees. Working as a stock broker is what I've chosen as a career for now, but it does not define me. I want to be known as more than a brash "Wall-Streeter". On the railing of an escalator in midtown, someone graffitied "You are not your job." and that couldn't be more true about all of us! We all put so much time and effort into maintaining a facade, but why? Why are we so afraid of people knowing who we really are? I don't believe that I truly know the people in my life, and I'm tired of it. I know for a fact that they don't know the real me, either. The protective barriers are a waste of time, when we could just skip the cordial crap and have deep and meaningful friendships with one another.

To everyone reading this: I want to get to know the real you. And I invite you to get to know the real me.