Sophia Cong: From Nursing to Charcuterie -- Why A Good Career Wasn't Enough

Most people don’t walk away from a stable career they actually like. Sophia Cong did. Sophia is a former nurse and the founder of ⁠Graze Anatomy⁠, one of Toronto’s leading charcuterie and grazing companies. What started with Sophia making charcuterie boards out of her home while working 12-hour nursing shifts has grown into a business serving clients like Chanel, Sephora, Google, Microsoft, and Tiffany & Co. In this episode, Sophia shares why she left a nursing career she was good at to pursue something more creative, how she tested and validated Graze Anatomy before quitting, and why she waited until the business matched her nursing income for three consecutive months before going all in. We talk about immigrant parents and traditional definitions of success, the guilt of walking away from a career you spent years building, starting over without feeling like you’re starting from zero, working for free to learn a new skill, turning a side hustle into a real business, navigating the uncertainty of entrepreneurship, and why Sophia believes “the more you do, the luckier you get.” ---- Follow Graze Anatomy Here: Instagram: ⁠  / ⁠   Website: ⁠https://thegrazeanatomy.com/⁠ ---- Sponsors: Thank you to ⁠⁠Strawberry.me⁠⁠ for sponsoring this episode. Visit ⁠⁠strawberry.me/thefiveyearplan⁠⁠ to get 50% off your first coaching session. Want to partner with us? ⁠anna@thefiveyearplanpodcast.com⁠ ---- The Five Year Plan Instagram: ⁠  / ⁠   TikTok: ⁠  / thefiveyearplanpodcast⁠   Newsletter: ⁠https://substack.com/@thefiveyearplan⁠ Email: ⁠anna@thefiveyearplanpodcast.com⁠ ---- Timestamps 00:00 From Nurse to Founder 01:46 Do You Feel Successful 04:42 Childhood Dreams and Roots 06:20 Immigrant Expectations 09:39 Why Nursing Wasn't Enough 13:30 Creative Outlet Food Blog16:42 Breaking Into Food Styling 19:50 Learning for Free Mindset 21:16 First Charcuterie Breakthrough 24:00 Turning Orders Into Business 27:08 Passion Versus Burnout 28:17 Sponsor Career Coaching 29:39 Quitting Nursing Benchmarks 31:01 Validating With Feedback 32:24 Balancing Two Jobs 33:26 Origin Of The Name 34:31 Graze Or Nay Game 36:53 Fear And Skill Building 39:20 New Stress Tradeoffs 42:16 Slow Seasons Mindset 47:00 Big Clients And Reviews 50:28 Working With Your Spouse 52:31 Protecting The Relationship 54:45 TFYP Question