Meet Your Team at Ctrl Alt Career
Career coaches who were in your shoes not too long ago disappointed with their “perfect on paper” job & today wake up excited to go to work
Jennifer Ong
Founder & Head Career Change Coach
Hi, I’m Jen!
Here’s the tldr:
BlackRock > GM fashion startup >
Founder of Ctrl Alt Career & Head Career Change Coach
The longer version of my story?
I was where you are a few years ago.
I grew up ticking all the right boxes - I got good grades, I went to an Ivy League and spent 7 years climbing the corporate ladder and became a VP at BlackRock.
I achieved what society deemed “success”.
But deep down I always felt that something was missing. I would shudder thinking that this was what the rest of my life would be.
And so I would try different things - I’d aim for a promotion, a pay raise, a change in job scope, a change in location perhaps. And I did. All of the above. I moved teams within BlackRock, I tried living in New York, Hong Kong, and London. I’d get promoted, get a pay raise, a bigger bonus. And while all these things worked in the short term to deliver a dopamine hit, I could never quite get rid of the underlying sense of dissatisfaction and lack of purpose and fulfilment I felt.
And looking back, I knew very early on that this was not the right career for me, but I stayed, for 7 years. Because I thought this was what growing up meant. Work isn’t supposed to be fun, right? But mostly because I was scared. I felt irresponsible giving up a nice cushy job to “pursue my dreams”, especially when I didn’t even know what my dream really was. I was worried what my family and friends would think. It was especially difficult for me because I had spent my whole life following a well defined path, only to realize this was not what I wanted. I completely lost my sense of self and my sense of direction.
But I did eventually find the courage to leave and became a General Manager at Style Theory (a Softbank backed Series B fashion startup), a job that I love.
And this is why I started my 1:1 online career coaching and guidance program, because this was the program I wanted as I struggled and slugged through my corporate life.
And this is why I became a career coach and started my podcast, because this was the program I wanted when I was struggling to figure out why I was unhappy with my perfect on paper job and what I should be doing with my career next. I want to help more of you find the courage to pursue your passion in life and to be able to achieve the sense of purpose and fulfilment that I now am lucky enough to have.
Want even more nitty gritty details of my story?
You can check out my podcast interview here.
I’d love to get to know you -
Connect with me @ongjennifer_ on Instagram or via Linkedin.
Lier
Career Coach
Before pivoting into career coaching, Lier’s last role wias in Strategy & Operations at Youtube and Head of Business Development Travel APAC at Google . She comes with over 15 years of experience not just in big tech but also with smaller companies like MindValley, Meltwater & Skyscanner. And brings a diverse global perspective having worked in Kuala Lumpur, Edinburgh, Dubai, Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore.
Natalie
Career Coach
Natalie has 9 years of experience in the finance, venture capital and startup industries. After she started her career in investment banking at HSBC, she pivoted to Brinc, a global venture capital and accelerator platform through which she has led investments into 70+ agri-food and climate tech startups. She also has hands-on experience operating startups as the Strategy & Business Development Director at Orbillion Bio (YC W21). She holds a BA from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and brings a nuanced but broad perspective to coaching having lived and worked in Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, the US and Argentina.
Sanam
Career Coach
Sanam worked at Goldman Sachs for 8 years - across London, Poland, Bengaluru, and Singapore, where she led Asia’s Institutional Relationships with top-tier banks. Alongside her job at Goldman, she founded a digital Career Empowerment community of 300+ diverse women, providing pro-bono coaching to 100+ women across SE Asia. Being Indian whilst born in Spain and educated in the UK, has given Sanam an organic and multi-lingual perspective to humanising relationships and business.