In the second installment of what appears to be a series on Greenwich-based twentysomethings who have made the unorthodox decision to pass up their birthright — careers on Wall Street — in favor of turning middle-aged lady tasks into careers, Business Insider profiles Garrett Hoelscher, who left a three-year career in finance to start his own waffle business. It started with an “aha” moment on the floor at RBS: “Nobody here is passionate,” young Hoelscher said to himself. “It’s all just numbers and spreadsheets.”
The idea clicked when Hoelscher took a weekend off work as a stockbroker at Wedbush Investments in LA to go skiing in Stratton, VT.
He had spent the week cold calling potential clients and thinking, “I want to be the guy getting the calls,” when the sweet aroma from Stratton’s mountainside waffle shack wafted into his nostrils.
God, that’s inspiring. Is anyone else thinking what we’re thinking, which is that this could be like Under the Tuscan Sun for privileged twentysomethings? The Eat Pray Love for bros? We’re seeing Shia. We’re seeing the rolling hills of Aspen filmed at the magic hour contrasted with the gray, gritty city. We’re seeing a Jewish best friend who tells him it will never work. We’re seeing a conflict with a father who financed the operation, who ends up losing his own Wall Street job, rolling up his sleeves to make waffles, and learning lessons about life.
Garrett Hoelscher: “Nobody I Met On Wall Street Was Passionate,” So I Quit My Job To Build Waffle Huts [Business Insider]
Young Greenwich Man Shuns Wall Street to Become Plushie Advocate [NYM]
