Pressure is among the few certainties of daily life on Wall Street — and knowing how to manage it is key to success.
Business Insider asked its 2025 Rising Stars of Wall Street how they set boundaries and maintain routines to stay grounded in an industry where the threat of burnout lurks behind each promotion. All of them are standing out at some of the country’s top financial firms at age 35 or younger, and somehow maintaining personal lives and sanity in the process.
Since Wall Street has little respect for the evening hours, mornings are precious to many of this year’s rising stars, particularly when it comes to exercise. From focusing on family, to cooking, to purposefully feeling bored for a few minutes, here are some of the ways finance’s young leaders find — and keep — balance.
Hitting the gym — or the padel court
True to the gym-obsessed stereotype, many of the Wall Streeters said exercising is key to staying grounded, especially in the hours before work. Sweating it out at the gym helps relieve the stress they’ll likely face during the day, some told Business Insider. As Lamar Cardinez, a principal at Blue Owl, put it, the gym “helps me feel fully awake quickly and supplies you with the energy needed for a full workday.”
“I’m a morning person, and I will be the person, unfortunately, who will sacrifice sleep so that I can exercise,” Catherine Kress, chief of staff to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and a big runner, said.
For others, playing sports or spending time outside provides the much-needed physical relief. The up-and-comers opt for everything from golf to tennis to snowboarding to yoga to skiing. And though their interests are diverse, Alex Park, a principal at Thoma Bravo, admitted his typical finance bro tendencies when it comes to health habits.
“I’m sure you’ve heard too many people in finance, especially in Miami, talk about padel,” he said, referencing the racquet sport popular with America’s wealthy. “But I do very much enjoy that sport as well.”
Another interest that helps him stay grounded? Wellness and longevity science, which he was sure Business Insider had heard “a fair amount.”
Spending time with family
Colleagues might dominate many of the waking hours during the week, but some of the Wall Streeters told Business Insider that prioritizing family is crucial to excelling in their field. For Mohini Chakravorty, a principal at Blackstone, it’s knowing that her family pick up the phone “at any point in time.” For GTCR’s Natalie Lamberton, it’s talking after-work walks with her 6-month-old daughter and decompressing her week with her husband every Friday night.
Among those who are parents, some said seeing their kids before and after work gives them the perspective they need to walk into the office and inevitable pressure.
“I have my wife and my one and a half year old son, and that’s my code of comfort,” Aman Mittal, a managing director at Moelis & Company, said. “She and my son give me a lot of anchoring so as to make sure that you can do what you need to do once you’re out of the house.”
Joe Slevin, a managing director in Jefferies’ Private Capital Advisory group, often unwinds with his wife and three kids, but finds his friends are a necessary lifeline too.
“I would say that a few active text threads with old funny friends is essential.”
Eating well
Chakravorty is a “huge foodie,” and loves to explore the New York City restaurant scene. The same goes for Benson Kane, a vice president at TPG who said he often explores new spots in the city with his wife.
Lamberton said she enjoys cooking with her husband, and Chakravorty said she often cooks with her boyfriend as well.
Taking screen breaks
A number of the stars treat logging off as more than shutting their computer, and carve out intentional time to get away from their screens. Blackstone’s Knut Kirchoff figured out how important it is to spend at least 30 minutes with a book and away from the glow of his phone during the pandemic, and he still keeps up the habit to help him wind down.
Cardinez meditates, Lamberton makes time on her commute to purposefully feel bored, and Jake Woodson, the head of US distressed credit trading at Goldman Sachs, spends time in the Catskills.
“When it feels like all that matters in the world is XYZ bond all week, getting into the world and getting into nature and experiencing something different is invaluable and gives you motivation to come back to do it,” he said.
Beyond reading a physical newspaper in the morning with his coffee, Kirchoff tries to bring some analog habits to the office. He tracks his daily tasks in a paper notebook, crossing them off as they’re completed.
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