Sasha Jacob

Height: 5’6
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Languages: English
Occupation: Investment Banker

Sasha Jacob is a proud South Indian-Canadian who was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. After graduating with distinction from her Finance program at the University of Alberta, she began her investment banking career in Calgary, Alberta prior to making the move to Toronto, Ontario where she currently resides.

Sasha learned the importance of setting and achieving personal goals from a young age. She was enrolled in academically focused schools from grades 4 – 12 and was driven to explore countless extra-curriculars in addition to intensive course loads. Pursuing a wide breadth of knowledge and experience is a principle Sasha has held as a pillar throughout her life; this mindset encouraged her to delve into a variety of sports teams, science competitions, public speaking and debate competitions, musical programs and student governance.

The experiences from her adolescent period of life solidified Sasha’s desire to pursue a career of intensity and technical vigor, leading her to investment banking. Investment banking is a male-dominated industry that still has many strides to make in diversity. Sasha felt a strong disconnect as a minority female very early in her career and has become passionate about supporting other women, and especially women of color, in Finance and male-dominated industries alike. She has developed an initiative, “She Will”, to connect and inspire minority women in male-dominated industries through the sharing of personal stories, advice, and vulnerability, from a broad network of women facing similar environments.

Although Sasha is focused on a career that is fundamentally rule-based, she has a love for all things creative. Her claim to fame amongst her friend groups that she is proud to hold is her bold styling sense. Sasha has always been interested in fashion but only started building confidence during university to unapologetically express herself through style. After graduating, this fashionista created an Instagram fashion page as a hobby to not only showcase her unique fashion, but to inspire and provide encouragement to all women who have embarked on the journey of developing their own voice and confidence.

Sasha has the goal of one day pulling together her love of fashion and her career in finance to start a fashion line tailored for bold women wanting to embrace their femininity and ferocity in professional settings.

She believes that too many women today are hit with discouragement from a world still catered towards outdated norms and the suppression of individuality. Sasha Jacob is competing for the Miss Universe Canada crown to amplify the voices of capable, ambitious women in Canada.

What are your interests and what do you enjoy doing the most?

Fitness/Sports: Throughout school I competed in several team sports, but since university I have focused primarily on personal fitness and individual sports. I started my weight training journey in 2016 and have continued to build on my techniques and strength ever since. Despite the long hours I face as an investment banker, maintaining my fitness is a non-negotiable part of my regular routine.

Fashion/Styling: I have a bold sense of fashion. I love to look different and thrive on the feeling of nonconformity. I’m not focused on big brand names or expensive clothes; I simply find joy in putting together a creatively styled outfit (across textures, colors, layering and accessories). Investment banking is known to uphold several traditional practices (including work attire), and I think many women in the field are wary of overstepping the bounds of traditional professional clothing. I like to experiment with my fashion even within the office, and I’m glad I have been able to provide inspiration to other women in professional fields through my Instagram fashion page!

Dancing: I am that person who cannot help myself from jiving to music around me (even if that’s just tapping my fingers and feet to the beat). Dance is a beautiful form of personal expression and I do wish I had more formal training in it as I was growing up. I have an affinity towards hip-hop dance and have incredible fun turning up a dance floor with my friends. I took bachata lessons a few years ago which also propelled me into the euphoria of Latin dancing. I will never say no to going out to a Latin Club to bachata / salsa the night away!

List any special training you have had (music, art, drama, dance, etc.)

• Cello (12 years)
• Voice / Singing
• Musical theory
• Bachata dance
• Tennis
• Karate

In what sports, if any, have you participated?

I would consider myself a relatively athletic person by nature. Apart from doing a bit of karate and tennis when I was very young, I did not receive any formal training in sports. Despite this, I competed on several teams between Junior High and High School, including: track and field (200M, relay, long and triple jump), basketball, volleyball and soccer. I fell in love with basketball immediately and it’s one sport I still try and play regularly with friends. Apart from school teams, I also grew to enjoy racket sports like tennis, pickleball and squash.

Name one person, other than your parents, who has had the most influence on your life. Why?

I have one sister (who is 5 years older than me), and she has forever been my confidante, sounding board, inspiration and ultimate role model. Growing up, I saw her as both my best friend and the super cool older sister who simply rocked at life. As much as I hate to admit it, I was her little copy cat. Anything she did gave me the go-ahead to do exactly that when my time came. For most of my life, she was the strength for our entire household. She looked after not only me, but my parents as well. And as I grew older, I recognized how she was keeping a brave face for us regardless of personal hardships she was facing. I don’t know if I’ll ever have her level of grit, perseverance, and selflessness – but she inspires me to continue growing every day.

What is your proudest personal accomplishment (other than participating in this pageant)?

My proudest personal accomplishment occurred in the past year when I made the decision to move to Toronto. It’s easy to take the comfortable path, and I was quite comfortable in Calgary as I started my career. I had the potential for a secure career progression, I was only a few hours away from my parents, and my partner lived in the same city as me. All that said, there was still a tiny part of me that wasn’t satisfied and I knew I would not find my fulfillment in Calgary (at that time). We owe it to ourselves to chase our passion, happiness and fulfillment. Once I came to that conclusion, I overlooked all the inconveniences and made the difficult choice to move for my personal betterment.

I have now been living in Toronto for over a year, bought a condo downtown, have been working with a new great team, developed a wonderful network of friends and I’m learning volumes about myself on a daily basis!

What is the most interesting or unique thing that has ever happened to you and/or what is the most interesting thing about you?

A characteristic of mine that I covet, is my spontaneity. Although it can sometimes get me in trouble, I owe a lot of my success in life to my willingness to jump into opportunities head on.

I was never an avid runner – in fact, I used to hate running. One early summer in 2017, I made the spontaneous decision to register for a half marathon taking place a few months later. I definitely hated myself for making that decision at the time, but my disdain for quitting and / or mediocre performance forced me to start training. I used to wake up at 5am, hit the gym prior to my 8 – 4 summer job, and then went for a long run every day after work. I pushed myself to progressively increase my running distances each day. There are few times in my life that I felt the pure elation I did as I crossed the finish line in my personal record time, and one of the top times for my age group.

What is your career ambition and what are you doing or plan to do to accomplish that goal?

Having a career in Finance allows for stability and personal financial security – two things you ideally need in your life before you can try to make larger ripples of change in the world.

As I’ve stated throughout other questions and my bio, my ultimate desire is to combine my love of fashion with my technical knowledge and experience with finance. Investment banking has provided me with a wealth of foundational experience within the corporate world of finance, and I’m excited to see where it takes me going forward. I have goals to further my finance education in years ahead through post-grad schooling & certifications.

What would be your “dream job” in life?

My dream job (void of all realistic pressures in life) would be to become an iconic fashion designer and have my shows in fashion weeks around the world.

Describe where you were raised and what your childhood was like.

My parents immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta shortly before I was born. Although both were engineers with degrees from India, my parents had to receive equivalent education certification from Canada. They worked and studied tirelessly day and night to provide absolutely everything possible just for my sister and I. We didn’t live extravagantly by any means, but we always had food on the table and a roof over our heads. I definitely attribute my relentless drive to win and ability to dream big, to seeing my parents live with that vigor every single day.

I am forever grateful I had the opportunity for education and was pushed by the people closest to me to always strive for my 100%. Having been a pretty quirky kid, I’m glad to have developed beautiful friendships I still maintain to today. I have always felt loved, supported, and challenged to be my best self.

List any interesting or unusual jobs you may have had.

Unusual jobs prior to university:

• My first ever job was at McDonalds as a cashier. I can truthfully say I received little enjoyment from that position, but it did teach me a few valuable lessons like patience and handling disagreeable individuals
• During my grade 11 summer, I took part in a 2 month paid research program (WISEST). I worked at a lab to determine the effects of choline on the immune response of new mothers, and presented my results at a competition at the end of the summer

Unusual jobs during university:

• Delivered newspapers door to door around my neighborhood (without a car!)
• Tutored children who had recently immigrated to Canada in English. I developed my own writing and reading comprehension exercises for each class
• Worked at a University of Alberta consulting group. One painful research task I recall is sitting in one of our university facilities and manually tracking foot traffic for hours on end

List any volunteering you have done.

• United Way Organizing Committee (at my current firm)
• Multicultural Network (at my current firm)
• Women in Capital Markets Mentor
• Junior High Women’s Head Basketball Coach
• Junior High Women’s Fitness Training Coach
• Canadian Cancer Society: Youth Force (organized fundraising and awareness events in Edmonton)
• Science FUNdamentals (performed science demos and taught basic science concepts to elementary students)
• Children’s Ministry Teacher (Sunday School at my Church)

What is your most unusual talent?

My most unusual talent is my accurate facial and body recognition ability. If I see an individual’s face once, I will be able to recognize that face anywhere. The more I get to know a person and their body language, I can recognize them even from the back of their head and body movements with a few seconds of visibility. People are always amazed at my ability to spot individuals in a crowd from incredible distances based on a single glance. Similarly, I am always the first to recognize unknown actors / actresses in movies and match them with previous movies or shows we may have seen. Creepy talent and definitely unusual!

Where is the most interesting place you have been to?

The most interesting country I have visited would have to be Singapore. I had always heard stories of the streets of Singapore being immaculate with zero litter – and its true! It seems the island really does take care of its environment and makes it quite a welcoming place for visitors.

What do you hope to be doing in ten years?

In 10 years, there are 3 areas I would like to have success in: family, work, and community. Family is critical to me, and I know by 35 I would like to be married and likely have 1-2 children. However, maintaining a career while being a mother is of utmost importance to me. In 10+ years, I would like to be in a position of prominence working at an intersection of finance and fashion (ex. a Principal at a retail / luxury VC Fund, an executive at a luxury brand assisting with strategic development or running my own business). As a third prong, I would like to be a role model to the community of ambitious women and mothers in male-dominated fields like finance. I’m not sure if “you can have it all” is an accurate phrase, but I want to inspire women to push for that excellence within their own capacity.

Is there anything you would like to add that we haven’t asked?

Fun fact: I am forever loyal to Tim Hortons Double Doubles. (Anyone who is close to me knows this)