- Stephany Kirkpatrick turned down a job offer from Goldman Sachs so she could explore new territory.
- She decided to work at SoulCycle; an opportunity that equipped her to become an entrepreneur.
- Had she accepted Goldman’s offer, she likely would not have become a founder, she said.
This spoken essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Stephany Kirkpatrick, a 43-year-old from New York, about turning down an offer from Goldman Sachs to work at SoulCycle. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When I received a job offer from Goldman Sachs, many people advised me to take it. They compared it to Harvard. If you get in, go.
Until 2018, I had spent 15 years working in the financial advice industry. I started my career as a financial planner in the retirement planning ecosystem. In 2011, I joined a New York-based startup called LearnVest. We were acquired in 2015 and I spent another three years working there.
In 2018, I received a job offer from Goldman Sachs to lead a software and business team. The role was similar to what I was already doing, and the obvious next step to further my career in financial services.
Despite all the advice I received from friends and family members, I thought about what would make me happy.
Choosing SoulCycle over Goldman allowed me to do something new
I could have accepted the job at Goldman and been the subject matter expert, but in my heart I wanted to test my limits.
In the spring of 2018, I turned down the offer from Goldman Sachs and accepted a job at the fitness company SoulCycle. The skills I gained at SoulCyle helped me start my own business and I have no regrets about taking that risk.
The Goldman Sachs offer came about after someone I had worked with at LearnVest contacted me. They wanted me to meet with someone who was building a new project at Goldman.
As you move further into your career, you make fewer formal applications and your network is more likely to help you connect with the right people at the right time.
I spoke with the connection at Goldman and realized that the work would be very similar to what I had done before.
Saying yes to this opportunity would mean I’d probably spend another 10 years doing the same job, because I don’t like changing jobs often. It became clear to me that this was not what I wanted.
I asked him if I wanted to become a middle-aged financial expert or explore new territory.
Around that time, a person in my network who worked at SoulCycle contacted me because of my digital and operational experience at LearnVest. I connected with the then CEO, Melanie Whelan, and we had an informal chat.
Working with Whelan checked all my boxes: I wanted to work for a female CEO since I had worked for a female founder at LearnVest, and I wanted to work somewhere New York-based in an industry I could be excited about.
The job paid a lot less money than I was making before. It would be a big departure from what I had been able to get away with. My husband and I had to sit down and discuss what it meant for our lifestyle, and he supported my choice to take the job.
I also spoke with the head of commerce; we immediately clicked and shook hands. Soon after, I became the GM of digital strategy.
At the time, SoulCycle was considering entering the home market. I learned about brick and mortar supply chains and applied what I was good at: being a digital entrepreneur.
It made me understand things like how to build bikes that don’t go anywhere, what it would take to create content, and how to learn about the market. I had to build my network in the company and use the expertise of others. It was scary going into a place where I didn’t know all the answers, but it unlocked tremendous career growth for me.
After SoulCycle I founded my business
I loved working at SoulCycle, but I couldn’t stop thinking about an idea I had at my last job: how people have reduced access to money in a brokerage or high-yield savings account on nights, holidays, or weekends. This is a fundamental flaw in the infrastructure that powers financial services.
One day, I was meeting with an investor friend and I told her. She told me I had a fundable idea and wanted to write me an inspiration check.
I left SoulCycle in September 2019 and started my own business, Orum. We aim to improve payment speed and orchestration for businesses using API solutions. I have been working in Orum for the past five years. The team has grown to about 40 people and we’ve raised $82 million to date.
I don’t think I would be a founder if I hadn’t turned down Goldman’s offer
Looking back, I remember feeling excited about taking the job at SoulCycle, but because I’m a likable person, I also felt a little embarrassed that I wasn’t doing what people expected of me.
No one told me not to work at SoulCycle, but getting paid less to do something I didn’t know I’d be good at was a little disconcerting.
However, the opportunity has made me a better founder today. In both SoulCycle and LearnVest, I basically had to look at a blank piece of paper and follow a strategy to test our hypothesis. I had to ask and answer how quickly we could learn if we were going to do this or that, and that’s what startups are all about.
If I had stayed in financial services instead of going to SoulCycle, I really think I would have stayed there for the next 10 years. I don’t think I would have been any less happy, but it is highly unlikely that I would have had the courage or reason to take the leap of faith to become a founder.
I am excited about where Orum is now and have zero regrets.
Do you have a story about turning down a prestigious job offer or leaving a prestigious company? Email ccheong@businessinsider.com
