From Investment Banker to Influencer, Jessie Li is an inspiration to girls across Australia

Jessie Li Entrepreneur, Influencer & Country Chair of Inspiring Girls Australia

Up until three years ago, my life was very different. I had a successful career in investment banking. Whilst on the outside, many would have deemed my work in the corporate world to be a success, on the inside, it didn’t fulfill me, and I felt discontented.

So, I decided to explore something new.

Becoming an entrepreneur with a popular social media platform where I can keep others inspired and help them to become their best self has improved my happiness immeasurably. It has allowed me to build my career around my passions while empowering others. I truly love my job!

Since I left the investment bank, I have founded my own China-focused asset management firm and co-founded a media and PR company called Change Media Group, coached at Female Entrepreneurs Worldwide and spoken at many events for empowering women. I’m also about to launch my next start-up, YOUP, which is a premium NAD+ supplement manufactured in Australia, and I’m the country chair at Inspiring Girls Australia, a charity dedicated to inspiring and empowering the next generation of women to believe in their dreams by connecting with amazing female role models. It’s been such a journey and I love that every day brings something new.

I would say more than 90% of Asian parents want to raise their kids to become doctors, lawyers or bankers. My parents were no exception! They are strong believers in cultivating the next generation to follow professions that would provide high financial rewards. With their expectations in mind and after completing a double degree in Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Melbourne with a full scholarship, I marched myself unthinkingly into finance and became an investment banker to make my parents proud.

By Susannah Pask

However, after several years of working in investment banking, in one of the hottest sectors— oil and gas—I felt empty, even though I was doing very well and was already promoted to lead equity analyst covering my own sector in my late 20s. I felt discontented and unfulfilled working for a large corporation.

It was difficult to admit that I needed to search for a new profession after spending so much time, energy and hard work to get there. I’d achieved the successful career that was chosen by my parents, but I didn’t feel as if I’d reached anything I truly wanted. I spent every summer taking summer internships with the top tier investment banks, and never took time off to explore.

I was determined as a kid, and I believed in what my parents believed in. Never for a second would I have doubted them, and up to the moment I resigned, I knew very little about the world outside finance.

I was in a bubble and needed to pop it.

I still remember my very first trip overseas with friends. I went on a volunteering trip to teach at an orphanage in Cambodia right after I graduated from university. Cambodia, at the time, was still very poor and undeveloped after Pol Pot, the former Prime Minister of Cambodia, had killed almost a quarter of the population. The country had a high percentage of orphans and the average age of the population was only 17 at the time.

When I taught at HOPE orphanage, which was run by a wonderful Australian lady from Brisbane, I remember seeing all those under-privileged kids who were in desperate need of love, care and affection and it hit me so hard. Since then, a part of me always wanted to do something for all the vulnerable orphans around the world—providing them with shelter, security and education. That was the first time I felt the urge to truly contribute to this world and step outside of my own self to do something bigger.

After resigning, I was very confused about where I wanted my life to go. What kind of person did I want to be? And how can I contribute to this world? With those questions in mind, I decided to take some time off to travel, just to explore, clear my head and get myself prepared to search for a new profession.

During my travel days, I had no concrete ideas about what I wanted to do. However, I did realise that I needed to quickly anchor myself on two feet. So, I made a list of things that interested me: fashion, travel and empowering others. Becoming an influencer allowed me to tick all three boxes and, at the same time, cover my living costs.

Nothing was impossible but nothing was simple either. It didn’t take me long to put together a strategy and an execution plan, once I firmly confirmed with myself that this was the new career path I was going to take. I also had to quickly realise that starting a brand-new career meant getting accustomed to pressing reset on my pay cheque. After a successful career that was very financially rewarding, having to come to terms with the possibility of earning nothing while building the foundation blocks of a new career was very daunting.

Luckily for me, Hong Kong is a relatively small, tight-knit city, and it didn’t take me long to get noticed by the big brands and top PR agencies. I still remember that only three months into my new career, I was invited by Tom Ford Beauty to participate in a big campaign and a few months after that I became an ambassador for Calzedonia and Intimissimi, one of the biggest international fashion conglomerates. It was amazing at how quickly everything snowballed—although it took a lot of hard work at the start to get the momentum rolling. From there my influencing career has taken off exponentially. It has unlocked many doors and enabled me to do what I’m truly passionate about, which is to empower and to inspire others.

Speaking of inspiration, the one person who has truly inspired me to become an entrepreneur was my uncle, Dr Harley Seyedin. He is definitely one of the most influential people in my life! He won the 2017 Oslo Business for Peace Award (together with Elon Musk), which was awarded by the award committee of the Nobel Prize. He was also the most recent recipient of the ‘Peace Through Commerce Medal’ originally initiated by Thomas Jefferson in 1790 when he was the first Secretary of State of the United States.

My uncle was the one who taught me that nothing is impossible, and that I should always chase my dreams! He helped me to believe in myself and encouraged me to jump when I needed to. When I left my banking job to become an influencer, he was one of the very rare supporters of my decision and he stood by me, always encouraging me to tap into my creativity and reach for the stars.

However, I’ve wondered if my path would have been different if I had had a female mentor guiding me. There were times when I wished I could have looked to a woman for support and guidance— someone who could have helped me understand all the challenges and barriers I might face as a young woman working in a male-dominated field like banking. Someone who I could talk to when I felt lost and frustrated, a confidant when I was searching for answers about my career and life goals. Someone who also understood the perceptions and expectations that society has for women.

I often wonder if it would have helped me save time and energy—avoiding the detours I took searching for answers. With those questions in mind, I discovered my desire to help and inspire others to achieve their best selves. This is one of the reasons I started the new chapter of Inspiring Girls in Australia this year. We believe girls should aspire to achieve their goals and not be limited by gender or cultural stereotypes. We want to show girls the limitless possibilities in their future and teach them to aim high because that is their right and at the same time bring out the Feminessence® within them.

I think women are always underestimated. People want to put you in a box—you can’t be more than one thing otherwise they find you intimidating. Whether I was an investment banker working in a male-dominated field—oil and gas, an international influencer or an entrepreneur I always came up against people who doubted my capabilities and judged me before they knew what I could do.

The only way to overcome these preconceptions is to prove them wrong. Nothing is better than rising above and making a statement by being a success. I have always put in the overtime to ensure I am achieving my very best and I’ve found that has gained me a lot of respect from those I work with.

Don’t let the negativity stop you. Put your head down, work hard and prove them wrong.

For women on any career path, I think it’s important to find your own lane and identify your USP. One piece of advice that I would like to share with all the women out there is the need to build a solid personal brand. Whether you want to become a CEO, an investment banker, an editor of a magazine or an entrepreneur, there is one common factor when it comes to success and that is personal branding!

Whether people are buying into your products, your services or your lifestyle, they are really buying into you and, as a result, branding is key.

When it comes to building a strong personal brand—authenticity and originality are key! It’s not about what others do. It’s not about the latest trend on social media. It’s not about what others think. It’s all about following your heart and doing what you think is right.

People are buying into your personal brand because they like your idea or your passion.

Remember: don’t be a follower. Be the next trend setter!