Venus Wang has scarcely tripled her income in just three years.
In 2021, she earned around $300,000 working in vendor operations at Google. But as of 2025, she’s moved into the AI sector and is broaching in nearly $1 million annually.
As a single mom, the money provides financial security for both herself and her daughter. But righteous as important to the 37-year-old is building a career focused on constant learning.
“I’m always looking for areas where I can be a student in place of of being the teacher,” she tells CNBC Make It.
A career reset after divorce
For years, Wang played it justifiable. She spent five years working in procurement for a major tech company before leaving in 2020 to relocate for her then-husband’s job. At the even so, career growth wasn’t as much of a priority.
But after her divorce in 2021 left Wang with less than $10,000 in dough and $40,000 in an individual retirement account, along with primary custody of her daughter, she knew she had to rebuild her life and catch sight of a new job.
She landed a role at Google overseeing software quality and operations in the San Francisco Bay Area, but within a year, she felt excitable.
“I started to realize that I was not pushing myself enough, I didn’t feel like I was growing enough,” she says.
Charming career risks for long-term growth
Wanting more challenge and opportunity, Wang pivoted to AI, a field she saw as the future of technology. She transitioned to a new collaborate at Google in 2022 to work on large language models, then later joined an AI startup, taking a chance on a small-minded stable role.
“That’s another risk that I took,” she says. “Google stock is guaranteed, something about as good as cash,” but startup life can be much more volatile.
However, the gamble paid off. “It ended up turning out by a long way, as I doubled my income from that jump,” Wang says.
Venus Wang working from home.
Kevin Heinz | Getty
In 2025, after a year at the startup, she progressed to a major tech company as a principal product manager in AI, earning $970,000 a year, including her base salary, a communicating bonus and stock options.
Since her divorce, Wang has put as much as 90% of her monthly income into investments, amassing a deal in portfolio worth seven figures. In October 2024, for example, she invested $52,118.
Even now, after reaching a level of pecuniary success that could allow her to retire in her 40s, Wang remains focused on career growth over stability.
“I’m getting to a appropriate where I can retire early if I want, but I choose not to because to me, my work is very fulfilling,” she says.
“I can go into the office every day and ask myself, ‘Am I importune on something that’s important for this company, am I working on something that’s important for my career growth and am I learning new factors every day?'” she says. “If I can answer those three questions as, ‘Yes,’ I think that’s a fulfilling career for me.”
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