Shizu Okusa wasn't exactly sure what life had in store for her when she quit her six-figure Wall Street job in 2012.

At age 22, she was a proprietary trader and investor at Goldman Sachs. It was a lucrative role, particularly for her age, but its 100-hour workweeks quickly wore on her, she says. The coping strategies she relied on to compete in such a corporate environment, she recalls, weren't healthy.

"I was drinking alcohol every single night and then jacking myself up with coffee the next day," says Okusa, now 35. "It wasn't sustainable. And I looked back to my roots and believed that there was a real solution in using nature as medicine."

Okusa's parents, who were born in Japan, raised her on herbal remedies to help treat colds and other sicknesses. That approach was the inspiration behind Apothékary, the New York-based wellness brand she founded in 2020.

The company, which Okusa says is now profitable, has brought in more than $20 million in annual revenue as of November, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. It's projected to cross $35 million by the end of its fiscal year in February 2025.

A 'tough, but rewarding' $120,000 pay cut—and bet on herself

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Okusa unconventionally made her way to Goldman Sachs at age 19. She cold-emailed her future boss, Ted Goldthorpe, telling him she had a stock idea she wanted to pitch in person, Okusa says.

To her surprise, he was open to meeting. She caught a flight to New York and spent the entire workday being interviewed. The next day, she got a job offer.

Okusa graduated from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor's degree in commerce in 2010 and started her Wall Street job that same year.

She stayed at Goldman Sachs until 2012, when she left the company to rediscover herself, travel and co-found her first business, a Washington, D.C.-based juice brand called Jrink.

The pay cut was significant — she went from making about $150,000 a year in finance to "paying myself a $30,000 salary" as a new entrepreneur, Okusa says. She lived in a studio apartment with a roommate and crafted her juices in her home kitchen during Jrink's early days. It was tough, but rewarding, Okusa says.

She ran the business full-time, opening nine brick-and-mortar stores and selling juices at two Whole Foods locations, but wasn't able to bring in enough money to keep it afloat—"We could never get it above 5 million in revenue," she says.

"When you have margins of 50%, [like I did at Jrink], you can't really afford much, and if you have spoilage on top of that for fresh juices, it eats away at the money," she told the "Shopify Masters" podcast in July.

Okusa sold the company for an undisclosed amount in 2019 to Puree Juice Bar, which helped her start Apothékary, she says.

'Key lessons' learned as a two-time business owner

Even though Apothékary and Jrink shared a healthy living ethos, Okusa says she had to do a few things differently so her second business could be more successful than her first.

"One of the key lessons, I think, was getting out of my own way," says Okusa. "In terms of allowing and hiring people that were much better than I was in certain areas of business. Now, I just move aside. I have my strengths and give my weaknesses away."

The New York-based entrepreneur viewed Jrink as her baby that no one would protect as well as she did. With Apothékary, she says she has learned how to delegate effectively and trust the team she's hired to drive the company forward.

Okusa also shared some of the cost-cutting strategies she has employed to help the business grow.

Apothékary products — of which there are over 20, created in collaboration with clinical herbal medicine experts — are available in 400 Sprouts grocery stores across the country. Instead of spending money on a big distributor, Okusa and her staff ship the merchandise themselves. She also implemented a subscription service to help drive sales.

Looking back, Okusa says perhaps the most valuable lesson she learned was to follow her passions, which led her to her real purpose, or her ikigai, as it's called in Japan.

Okusa's Wall Street career was bankable — but she says the pursuit of work that helps her, and others, lead happier and healthier lives, is her true reason for living.

"I'm at a stage of my life now where I'm less focused on my resume virtues, and I'm much more focused on my eulogy virtues," she says. "I think of how I want to describe my life when I die and share that to the world, and feel proud that I've lived my best life."

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