Cyclist who won Olympic gold and graduated from Harvard: "My first year in cycling only earned me $7,000."

In August, Kristen Faulkner achieved a historic feat by becoming the first American woman and only the third woman overall to win Olympic gold in two different disciplines at a single Games.

The 31-year-old woman ended a 40-year drought for the U.S. by winning the women's road race and the women's track cycling team pursuit gold. A few weeks later, she became the highest-placing American rider in the Tour de France Femmes.

Faulkner took up cycling as a hobby in 2017 when she moved to New York to work as a venture capitalist.

In Homer, Alaska, Faulkner developed a love for hiking and rowing, which led her to compete on the women's crew team at Harvard University, where she graduated in 2016.

Faulkner's passion for fitness began as a casual workout but soon became a full-time commitment in 2021, when she left venture capital to focus solely on the sport.

She revealed to New York Magazine's the Cut in a recent interview that she had considered doing it for one or two and then reassessing.

""She never regretted it, but her peers, family, and friends questioned whether she was experiencing a quarter-life crisis," the Cut reported."

Leaving a job with six-figure prospects to make $25,000 as a pro athlete

Faulkner didn't jump into her new career without a safety net.

"Before leaving her job, she aimed to save enough for a year to sustain herself. If she didn't receive a contract after the first year, she would reconsider her options."

Some financial experts suggest saving enough money to cover 12 months of living expenses before leaving a job without another one secured.

Faulkner, despite earning $7,000 in her first year of competitive cycling, couldn't live off that amount and kept her job as an investor at Threshold Ventures, a VC firm based in San Francisco.

Faulkner aimed to accumulate at least 5 years of professional experience before taking a break from venture capital work.

"She recalls thinking, 'I can be good at this,' because she had enough financial savings and a résumé to showcase her skills."

How therapy helped her navigate a major career change

Preparing financially wasn't the only hurdle Faulkner faced in switching careers.

In an April 2023 episode of "The Hard Way" podcast, Faulkner revealed that she worked with a therapist for a year and a half to overcome her fear of leaving venture capital. "Although I knew what I wanted emotionally, I couldn't accept the risk intellectually at the time," she said.

Faulkner feared that if cycling didn't succeed, she would be "totally bankrupt without employment," and that abandoning venture capital would mean relinquishing some of the aspirations she had been striving for, such as attaining a partnership at a venture capital firm by the age of 30.

"Leaving what you're doing is one thing, but abandoning the goals you've dreamed of for years is another, she said. There were many risks, and she was terrified."

Faulkner stated that leaving a job he loved was difficult, as his bosses were the best managers he had ever encountered.

Visualizing how future her would feel about the decision helped her navigate the emotional toll of quitting her job.

"Even if it didn't work out, I knew I would regret it if I didn't try."

As soon as Faulkner left, she expressed her unbridled optimism by saying that fear was placed with it. On the podcast, she stated, 'I felt like my entire life was just a blank canvas, and I could write anything on it that I wanted. I can dream up any possibility and make it happen.'

Faulkner plans to continue cycling and is aiming for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and beyond. She stated, "If I keep improving and I'm still enjoying it, I won't stop." (Source: The Cut)

She is also dedicated to promoting gender equality in cycling, acknowledging that although salaries have increased, there is still much work to be done.

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