He's cooked for Taylor Swift. Jennifer Lopez. And almost became a neuroscientist?

In this episode, Anna sits down with Nathan Ng - sous chef at TOCA inside the Ritz Carlton Toronto - who walked away from the "perfect" academic path as a neuroscience student at the University of Toronto to chase something far less certain... and at times, more brutal.

This is less of polished success story and more of what it actually looks like to choose a different life.

Join them as they get into:

• What it really takes to drop out of the best university in the country at the age of 18 when everyone expects you to stay
• The weight of immigrant expectations and what happens when you don't follow them
• The uncomfortable truth about the commodification of Chinese cuisine
• Being an Asian chef in elite, European-dominated kitchens
• The "open secret" of substance abuse in the hospitality industry

Share Your Story: The Confessions Vault

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Email: annashuyizhang@gmail.com

This piece of advice is one that I guarantee we've all heard before. But when I tried following it, here's what happened:

1. I developed a romanticized view of what my career should be
2. I had unrealistic expectations of what work is supposed to feel like that normal frustrations started to feel like a sign that I was on the wrong path
3. I lost my sense of self-identity

Can you guess what this piece of advice is?

Share Your Story: The Confessions Vault

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefiveyearplanpodcast

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thefiveyearplanpodcast

Substack: https://substack.com/@thefiveyearplan

Email: annashuyizhang@gmail.com

Work hard in school. Get good grades. Land a good job. As long as you do those things, you'll set yourself up to live your happiest life.... Right?

Well, Anna followed that formula to a tee: got good grades, went to the best law school in the country, and landed her dream job. But there she was, sitting in the floor of her bedroom at 6:00 am on a Tuesday morning, sobbing about how debilitatingly inadequate she felt. How the hell did THIS happen?

Join Anna today as she explores why the first few years of any career is so difficult. She talks about the ways that school conditions us to think in ways that are not representative of real life and why the "A+ students" are the ones who sometimes struggle the most in the real world.

The Article: When The Gold Stars Stop Working: Why A+ Students Struggle in the Real World

Share Your Story: The Confessions Vault

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefiveyearplanpodcast

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thefiveyearplanpodcast

Substack: https://substack.com/@thefiveyearplan

Email: annashuyizhang@gmail.com