I booked a one-way ticket to Bali after a layoff in fintech. I stayed in Asia for over a year — here's where my money stretched the furthest.
After being laid off from a fintech role, Tiffany Tang moved to Bali and eventually founded a company called DrinkFolks. The business imports jamu, an Indonesian herbal tonic, to the US market.
Why it matters
The story illustrates the trend of 'career pivots' following tech layoffs and the growing interest in global wellness products.
Tiffany Tang. Courtesy of Tiffany Tang Tiffany Tang founded DrinkFolks after a transformative journey across Asia in 2023 and 2024. Tang's layoff in 2023 led her to Bali, where she decided to extend her 30-day trip to over a year. DrinkFolks, inspired by Tang's travels, supports women-led farms and brings jamu to the US market. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tiffany Tang, the 30-year-old founder of DrinkFolks. It has been edited for length and clarity. I'm the founder and CEO of DrinkFolks, which brings jamu, a 1,300-year-old Indonesian herbal remedy, to the US as a prebiotic root tonic. For the first two years of my career, I was an assistant director at a gallery owned by the first female fine arts dealer in America. From 2017 to 2021, I worked at Christie's International Real Estate in marketing and communications roles.
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