- Shanna Nasiri, 34, decided to leave her tech job when she no longer felt aligned with the work.
- Earlier this year, she opened a natural wine bar in Williamsburg called With Others.
- Nasiri said her prior tech work served her well as she became a bar owner.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shanna Nasiri, the 34-year-old owner of With Others, a natural wine bar in Brooklyn, New York. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified Nasiri's salary.
I grew up in the Bay Area near Silicon Valley, and everyone I knew was in some variation of tech. I continued on that trajectory.
My first job was working for the corporate ventures team at Qualcomm. After that, I worked in semiconductors for a few years. Then, I went back to business school and got a job in product marketing for a regulatory technology startup.
I liked aspects of what I was doing. The perks were nice. I had full benefits. And there was the salary. I was making around $200,000 at the time I left, plus a bonus. I also got a lot of stock options.
I was working for startup companies, so I had the chance to be at the ground level, build teams, and craft messaging. I felt like I had an impact.
But I wasn't creatively fulfilled. I didn't like what I was doing. It didn't resonate with who I am. I was kind of embarrassed to tell people I did product marketing for regulatory technology startups. I felt like I was speaking a different language.
At the time, I compartmentalized. This is who I am at work, and this is who I am in my personal life. I just accepted my life for what it was and figured you could never be fully happy at work.
That started to change when I turned 30
Around my 30th birthday, I started having these existential questions and ideas. I had recently moved from San Francisco to New York City. That was also right at the start of COVID, so I had a lot of alone time to reflect.
I was seeing this whole new world in New York City, with so many diverse careers. In San Francisco, I knew a lot of tech founders. But when I moved to New York, I started to see that entrepreneurship could have a greater meaning beyond tech.
I had always fantasized about opening a space, but it wasn't something I thought I would actually do.
I moved to Williamsburg in 2021. It was still pretty desolate at the time. There were lots of empty storefronts. I would go on these long walks and start fantasizing about what I would do with the space.
I've always been passionate about hosting. I love to curate an environment. I'm obsessed with the little details like glassware, music, lighting, and sparkling water choice. I grew up in a family where my mom and grandma would host huge parties all the time and I was the mini host. I'm Middle Eastern and I think there is a sense of Middle Eastern hospitality that's embedded within me.
My wine journey started young. My stepdad collected limited-production Pinot Noirs. He introduced me to wine and taught me how to taste and the artisanship that goes into production.
When I think about it now, it was pretty brazen to start a wine bar. But it was COVID, and life felt so short and precious. I wanted to prove to myself I could do it
It was either get stuck in this unfulfilling career trajectory and climb the corporate ladder, or try to be an entrepreneur. It was a huge leap of faith and required me to believe in myself 100%
So, in the summer of 2022, I got a job at a wine bar in Brooklyn to see what it was like. I was so passionate about it.
After that, I started pursuing my wine education and got my Wine and Spirit Education Trust certification, which is a globally recognized qualification. I got a job at a wine shop. And I fully committed to opening my own bar.
My tech experience came in handy
A lot of my past work was helpful as I was building the bar. I knew how to manage teams. I had always worked at the ground level, so I had experience juggling a lot of responsibilities and working with limited resources.
I started asking everyone to introduce me to other entrepreneurs and asking about their contractors, their agents, and their plumbers.
I used my own money and opened the bar on a very small budget.
It took me a year to find the space because I was only looking for places within a few blocks of my home. I wanted it to be really integrated with the community. I found the space in June 2023 and started construction in October 2023.
We opened in March of this year. It's been incredible. It's beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
It has quickly become the neighborhood spot. We have regulars that come in twice a week. And the coolest thing has started happening recently, where I have probably met 11 or 12 parents of our regulars.
I've continually reinvested in the bar. For example, the backyard buildout happened three months after we opened. After that, I built out the basement and cellar. Then I invested in hiring a general manager and growing out the wine list.
It's been a major lifestyle change from tech
I don't have health insurance. I'm working probably 12-hour days. There's just so much stuff to do in terms of maintenance. And I work service every single night.
In tech, I could work from anywhere. I traveled a lot and worked remotely. Now, I have a physical space. I haven't left a 20-mile radius since Christmas and have no plans to.
But I feel so aligned with what I'm doing. It feels like what I was always meant to be doing. I work way more hours than I did in tech, but it doesn't feel as hard.
I'm in such awe of what we've been able to create in such a short amount of time.