Buckhead-based senior financial advisor finds balance with three exciting hobbies.
I always tell my friends and clients that you should have three hobbies: one to make you money, one to keep you smart and one to keep you fit. If you can figure out how to do those in tandem, then you’ll have a happy and well-balanced life. Fortunately, I’ve found three hobbies that I’m passionate about, and they are all connected, just like everything in life.
To make money, I absolutely love working in wealth management at Merrill Lynch. I don’t really consider it a job anymore. It’s something I actually like to practice as a hobby. It’s never where I expected to be professionally; I was born in Pakistan, moved to America in 2000 and went to Mercer University in Macon in 2010 to study medicine like my mother, a doctor. But when I was out and about one night, I met someone who suggested that I consider an internship in finance. It paid $100 a week, so I took it. Ten years later, I’m now a partner at Merrill Lynch. I think God has a way of putting things in front of us that we may not normally consider but that are right for us. That path led me to my company where I met my fiancée, Kaylin, whom I will marry in October, and introduced me to the second hobby on my list.
Every year, I like to do something new and challenging. It’s important because getting out of your comfort zone allows you to work your mental muscles. A few years ago, I decided to take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course and get my motorcycle license. I bought a Yamaha R3 and started riding it on the back roads in the North Georgia mountains, away from Atlanta’s crazy traffic. A couple of years ago, a colleague took me to a track for the first time, and I just fell in love with it. My Yamaha is actually supposed to be a track bike, and I ended up doing really well after a few laps. I began doing Sportbike Track Time, which hosts motorcycle track days across Georgia and other states for both beginner and advanced riders. The first race I did was the Mini Talladega Gran Prix in Alabama. I just completed my second race on June 9. I’m still a novice, but I’m working to move up to the intermediate level.
Regardless of the level, I love motorcycle racing because it keeps me mentally acute; you have to stay sharp and be 100% focused so you don’t make any little mistakes, which can be fatal. Your eyes have to continuously scan for hazards. You have to shift gears and brake properly, work all of your limbs simultaneously and train your synapses to learn this process over and over again. It’s so cool because you use both your brain and your body to ride, which leads to my third hobby.
To keep fit, I like to box. It’s funny because I grew up watching the Rocky movies; I even have gloves signed by Sylvester Stallone (which I obviously don’t use). I started boxing when I attended a military academic school in Chattanooga; after your academics were done, you had to do something physical. Boxing was not only a great workout, but it also taught me discipline. That’s something I need today when I race my motorcycle. Boxing has been part of my fitness routine for years. If I’m not walking the Chastain Park Trail with Kaylin, hiking in the North Georgia mountains or working out at Life Time Fitness, you’ll find me taking a boxing class at Pepper Boxing in Buckhead. I can get such an intense workout done in only 50 minutes, and it keeps me in shape so I can be my best on the motorcycle track. It also helps me be my best at work. It’s all connected.
How are you going to take care of a million dollar business if you can’t take care of your own body? If you take care of your body, then everything else will fall into place. You have to take care of yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. How you do anything is how you do everything, so it’s important to challenge yourself. You might surprise yourself.
@FezMoosa
PHOTOS: Erik Meadows
