13 Reasons Why I'm Pivoting from Marketing to Finance

I got into marketing to learn how to sell my own products.

And I did: I dove into startups, content marketing, SEO, and CRMs.

Then I realised... I have no products to sell. And, frankly? I don't want to spend my career selling low-ticket B2C products (which is what I learned to do by trade).

Instead, I'm thinking...

What if I applied all my promotional strategies to myself?

What if I became the product?

That's what I'm planning to do here. Market myself into the most competitive field out there: Banking.

Here's why.

1. Marketing Doesn't Pay

A Digital Marketing Manager in Switzerland earns CHF 95,000-107,000 per year.

A Senior Digital Marketing Manager in Lausanne earns CHF 131,500.

A director of marketing might crack CHF 200k. In their fifties.

That's the ceiling. But most people...

Well, most people don't reach the ceiling.

source

2. Banking Does Pay

Do you need the data?

No.

But let me give it to you anyway:

Asset Management & Investment Banking Salaries

Private Banking & Wealth Management Salaries

Yes, you earn more in banking. Yes, there is a bonus/variable component you don't get in marketing.

source

3. I Want to Market Myself

I could not care less about marketing products.

I don't give a damn about whether Nancy buys this chicken feed, or that chicken feed.

In fact, what I want to market, what I want to spread, and what I want to convince people of is me.
I want to spread my ideas and convince others they are worthy of attention.

I want a personal brand. And I want it to live outside of marketing.

Forget being the growth expert who teaches growth.

Let me be the finance expert growing thanks to teaching.

4. I'm 25.

There's a window for big swings.

Because one day, you've got a wife, a house, kids, and... You're not hungry anymore.

But I'm hungry right now. Hungry enough to chase something new.

And, truth be told, I don't know that I've got 40 years of content marketing ahead of me.

5. Did I really choose marketing?

Looking back, I know I didn't choose marketing because I loved it.

I chose it because:

• I thought learning to sell would mean eventually selling things hand over fist. (Spoiler: I don't have anything to sell.)
• I applied to a dozen different internships and landed one in content marketing.
• I helped a friend set up his website and made a quick buck.

These were opportunities. I took them.

I don't regret my path (read: The Midnight Library). But I'm curious—what else could be?

6. Always Loved Finance

I spent 2.5 years tutoring finance subjects at EHL... Accounting, financial analysis, etc.

And I loved it.

The more I practiced, the better I knew the material, the more I enjoyed playing the role of a steward of capital.

Finance was always there. I just didn't have the foresight, or frankly, the maturity, to believe I could make it.

Now I do.

7. My Brain Needs More Math

The pen is mightier than the sword. But the calculator is truer than the pen.

As much as I've loved breathing and living words, tones, and voices, something is missing. I miss math. Math is beautiful, just like words are.

Sure, there's math in digital marketing—but far less in content marketing.

8. Learning SEO is Slow

The SEO feedback loop is too slow. 3-6 months to see results—good luck pinpointing causes and effects.

What I need to grow is constant feedback from my environment, peers, and mentors.

Feedback is instrumental to learning (read: Ultralearning).

Learning is instrumental to career capital (read: So Good They Can't Ignore You).

My objective is to build as much career capital as possible over the next decade. To do so, I need faster feedback loops.

9. I Want to Drive Change

From my experience, marketing teams respond to company priorities. They don't drive them.

But I want to drive decision-making. I want to create organizational impact.

10. I Moved Back to Switzerland

I live in a small village near Nyon.

It's better than Berlin, for sure.

But that raises some questions:

How long can I survive on a Berlin salary? Not long. The poverty line here is CHF 2,315 per month. I'm doing a little better than that, but not much.

What startups need marketing here? Except for biotech, I haven't found many. Unless I work for a Berlin- or London-based company remotely, I'm not going to find what I need.

In the meantime, this is also on my mind:

• Geneva is the global commodities trading hub
• Zurich is one of the world's banking centers.
• The number of wealth management, private banking, and asset management firms per km² is insane.

As Chamath Palihapitiya put it (I think): Geographic arbitrage matters. Use the geographic advantages you have been given.

11. MBAs / Master's

Let's assume I want to do a master's or an MBA. How exactly would that help with digital marketing? I honestly don't know.

But for finance? An MBA from a top school is rocket fuel for your network.

12. It's not that risky

Getting into banking is hard.

Sure.

But once I'm in the door, I'm good to stay. One role opens another, and before you know it, you have a shot at a juicy promotion.

And if I never make it through the door, there is no downside. If I fail, I go back to marketing. I have a story, and can pick up where I left off.

13. Explaining Complex Things Simply

Financial professionals speak in jargon, and frankly, will lose their audience quickly (some of them won't, but those are exceptions, not the rule).

I spent 2.5 years tutoring finance to EHL students.

I spent the next 2.5 hours explaining insurance products to people online.

I know how to take complex concepts, make them accessible, and convince people to pay me (or my company) for it.

That's a moat. That's what I want to get good at: client-facing roles, where the communicator wins.

Bonus: "Theo Leimer, CFA"

This one's pure vanity.

But it does look crisp, doesn't it?

Proof you can do hard things. Proof you're serious. Proof you earned your seat.

What Comes Next: My CFA Journey

I'm taking the CFA Level I exam in November 2026.

I'll document the entire career pivot journey right here:

• Planning – Building my study strategy
• Studying – Daily progress and lessons learned
• Networking – Breaking into finance from outside the industry
• Job searching – Landing that first banking role

It's possible to start a career pivot at 25. In 36 months, I'll prove it's possible to finish.