Leaving the Marines in May 1992, I found myself in Washington DC working for Congress. I planned on going to law school like many of my friends from Berkeley.

In January, 1993, my uncle convinced me to move to Hong Kong, where my family is from, and work out there in banking for a few months until law school began in the fall.

Little did I know how my life would change after I moved to Hong Kong...

In Hong Kong, I discovered a passion for finance, after all, I was an economics major, though using it for the first time.

Hong Kong was a vibrant place in the early 90's with a real Wild-west gold rush feeling to the city. Expats flocked there to take advantage of the Asian economic growth story and China. I took a job with Chase Manhanttan and then Morgan Stanley a year later.

I researched regional financial firms and wrote reports as a equity analyst. I spent four years in Hong Kong before accepting a transfer to New York City at the end of 1997, a few months after the return of Hong Kong to China.

I loved New York. After Washington DC and Hong Kong, I knew I was a big-city person. The energy, vibrancy, diversity, and anonymity of New York suited me perfectly.

I worked as an equity salesperson, working with institutional investors, as well as managing relationships with large institutions. I thrived in the job given my recent work in Hong Kong and my natural gregariousness.

For three years, I lived the high-flying lifestyle of a Wall Street professional, making more money than I dreamed possible. I went to the best restaurants, flew first class, partied at the hottest Manhattan clubs, and drove a Porsche. I had arrived.

But as the years went on, I grew less satisfied with a life that struck me as more and more vacuous, despite the hedonistic side of New York. I became one of Thoreau's men "living lives of quiet desperation."