Parting company

Henrietta Tsui Kam-hay is a picture of enthusiasm in her Graham Street gallery. As she talks excitedly about the local art scene, it's hard to imagine she spent 11 years in corporate banking. But scratch the surface and you sense the grit that sustained Tsui in the high-pressure world she left to set up Galerie Ora-Ora last year.

The spark was ignited while Tsui was taking an MBA course, which encouraged participants to question their goals in life. 'I realised I wanted to start my own business, and if I was going to branch out on my own it would have to be something I was passionate about,' she says. That was art. 'I've been painting since I was three but it's too late for me to try to be an artist. So I decided to open a gallery.'

In an international financial city where talk of million-dollar bonuses do the rounds every year, people rarely stop to consider if the path they're on is right for them, let alone abandon thriving corporate careers to follow their hearts. But a rare few have done just that.

The art world has been a particular magnet. Tsui aside, it has drawn executives such as Bridget Uebel. A former business director at an international law firm, the British expat quit her job to take up a master's degree in art history and last year also opened a gallery, Beijing Blue, focusing on Aboriginal art. 'I was just about to hit 40; that's a milestone,' she says. 'I enjoyed my job but felt I could use some of the skills I had learned on my own business and something that I really loved.'

Patrick Hardy was a partner in a large law firm but left last year to pursue other interests, including opening Gallery Blue, which deals in emerging Asian contemporary art. 'I started out in 1986 as a trainee solicitor. Twenty years after I had started my career in law, I decided it was time to do something different,' he says. 'Although I enjoyed being a lawyer, it's a very demanding life. It's very hard to maintain a work-life balance. I have other interests and one of them is art.'

At Metrojet, which provides corporate flight services, Chris Buchholz tells a similar story. After seven years in investment banking, Buchholz realised the constant pressure and long hours were taking their toll. 'It feels great to work on a deal that makes the front page of The Wall Street Journal,' he says. 'The total dedication required is good for clients but it's not for your personal life.'