Changing your position
Quit the crazy life and follow your passion
M EET Allegra Cobb. Her life is a mess, and you can blame most of it on her job. Like many bankers who are just starting out, Allegra works gruelling hours every week, seldom leaves the office before 10 p.m., and is perpetually on call.
There’s little opportunity for the Noho resident to date, hang out with friends or take a walk in the park. But, like most second-year analysts, she is committed to sticking it out until she gets her big yearly bonus. She then plans to exit the industry and become a yoga instructor.
While this might sound like real life, Allegra Cobb is the protagonist in Madeleine Henry’s debut novel, “Breathe In, Cash Out” (Simon & Schuster), a new read that’s described as “fast-paced, laugh-out-loud funny and totally irresistible.”
It’s also based very much on aspects of the author’s real life, since Henry is a former Goldman Sachs analyst, hired into the rigorous job after she graduated from Yale five years ago. And while Goldman Sachs analysts are paid in the top 0.1 percent of all graduates on the planet, according to Henry, her heart was elsewhere.
We caught up with the novelist to talk about what the life of a Wall Street analyst actually looks like, and how — like her protagonist — she was able to escape and live her true life as a writer.
Is the life of an investment-banking analyst as hellish and as time intensive as you describe in the book?
The book gives an authentic description, in a general way. Schedules swing wildly, but you are expected to be at your desk and on call a ridiculous amount of time, even when there is nothing to do. How late did you typically work?
The black car service that takes you home begins to line up at 10 p.m. All-nighters aren’t uncommon if you are working on a live deal.
Did you worry about getting enough sleep? The book’s characters are all sleepdeprived and try to live on coffee.
Some of the banks have nap rooms. When you have time, you can reserve them the same way as a conference room. I heard about one girl who slept under her desk. Did you worry about your health? I worried about my work that needed to be done. Did you date or make any friends?
There was little time available for significant relationships outside of the office. When you are young and working on your career, that is part of the deal.
Did you know what you were getting into when you chose an investment-banking career?
Yes, my father was in investment banking, so is my brother. Getting hired as an analyst is the default choice of many of my [Ivy League] peers, because it allows you to earn a lot of money and keep your options open while you learn valuable skills.
What inspired you to have your character, Allegra Cobb, turn to yoga?
The clash of values between investment banking — high energy, being proactive, mergers and acquisitions, external rewards — and yoga’s peace and tranquility, humility and internal rewards, were good for the book. I also started yoga after I left investment banking. At first, it was [just] a workout. But after I learned about the practice of yoga and the wisdom behind it, it really appealed to me as a much more peaceful way to live.
Was it scary to leave your profession to become an author?
No. Being an analyst wasn’t my passion. I had already checked out mentally and was writing a