Live From Mongolia: From Wall Street Banker to Mongolian News Anchor

by Patricia Sexton

Overview

Following an unlikely journey from an investment bank on Wall Street to a news anchor in Mongolia.

In 2006, Patricia Sexton set out on an adventure most of us have only fantasized about—she quit her job to pursue her dream. Thirty years old and a rising star at a Wall Street investment bank, Patricia realized she wanted nothing more than to work as a foreign correspondent. So, she did just that. After landing an internship at a national TV station, she made the move to Mongolia.

In the midst of being promoted to anchor of the Mongolian news, Patricia had the opportunity to meet unique people following their own unique dreams: a Mongolian hip-hop star who worked in London restaurants to make ends meet, or the French corporate exec now tracking endangered horses in the steppe. All the while, Patricia is living with Mongolian Mormons, camping with nomads in the Gobi desert, and even crashing Genghis Khan's 800th anniversary party.

Live from Mongolia is the story of this ongoing journey: from a corporate career, to a dream job Patricia only imagined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780825306570
Publisher:	Beaufort Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/21/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	246
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

After nearly a decade in banking, Patricia Sexton decided to pursue her life's dream to work in television as a foreign correspondent. She moved to Mongolia and anchored the English News. Patricia is the host of Sinovision's WE Talk, a talk show profiling people who pursue their passion. She has worked for CBS News, Britain's International Life, and she writes LIVE from Mongolia!, a weekly blog about people who follow their dreams. Along with her Director, she founded Morpheus Pictures, a production company dedicated to telling stories of people living passionate lives in the most far-flung places in the world. Patricia lives with her husband and daughter—commuting from their new home in New Zealand to her old home in New York City.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 Making It and Breaking It 3

Chapter 2 Taking the Leap 16

Chapter 3 The Fortune-Teller 21

Chapter 4 The Arrival 25

Chapter 5 The Unlit Spark 41

Chapter 6 The Land of the Blue Sky 47

Chapter 7 "Frenemies" 53

Chapter 8 The First Day of the Rest of My Life 63

Chapter 9 Butchering Goats and Vowels 77

Chapter 10 Currying Flavor 84

Chapter 11 Off the Beaten Puddle 91

Chapter 12 Dreams Come True 98

Chapter 13 A "Washing Vagina" 103

Chapter 14 The Steppe 111

Chapter 15 Another Dream, Another Dreamer 117

Chapter 16 As Bold as Breasts 126

Chapter 17 Consonant Omelet 136

Chapter 18 Time Travel 142

Chapter 19 Price Tag 161

Chapter 20 Betting the Ranch 166

Chapter 21 No 172

Chapter 22 Yes 176

Chapter 23 A Mormon Picnic 180

Chapter 24 Anniversary Crashers 188

Chapter 25 Fashion Means Forward 198

Chapter 26 Chance of a Lifetime 203

Chapter 27 Mongolian Heimlich 207

Chapter 28 The Gobi 215

Chapter 29 Homeward Bound 228

Chapter 30 One Step Backward, Two Steps Forward 232

Epilogue 242

Acknowledgments 245

Editorial Reviews

12/09/2013
In 2006, after having established herself in the ranks of Wall Street and feeling less than satisfied, Sexton quit her job and travelled to Mongolia for a summer internship with the English arm of Mongolia National Broadcaster. Her memoir recounts in straightforward, accessible prose her advancement from proofreading scripts to the position of news anchor, and her experiences along the way: attending an international music festival, witnessing in Khustain National Park the world's only truly wild breed of horse, and reporting on Naadam, the country's celebration of the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Mongol Republic. She also encountered others following their passions: a Mongolian hip-hop artist, an Irish couple who cycled from Ireland to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital, and a German expatriate brewmaster. The story itself is enlightening—a true testament to the possibilities when one leaves behind "the safety of the known." And although the episodic chapters can feel cursory and the book's attempts to inspire its readers often rely on familiar language—as when Sexton observes that "the things you own begin to own you"—the book, at its best, is light, humorous, and relentlessly hopeful. Agent: Doug Grad, Doug Grad Literary Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

If you've been searching for a book on how trading currency can lead to a career in TV in Ulaanbaatar, then your search is over. Patricia Sexton has taken it to the next level with...a brilliant, inspiring read. Not many of us have the chutzpah. I'm impressed. — Andrew Mulligan, Host, The Crowd Goes Wild

A fascinating account of one woman's struggle to overcome a lifetime's achievement, plunge back through the glass ceiling and climb steadily down the ladder of success. From NY investment banker to Mongolian TV newsreader (WTF?), Patricia Sexton's journey is reminiscent of Bud Fox's meteoric rise in 'Wall Street'...only the other way round — David Fingret, a partner at Direct FX, a foreign exchange brokerage in Sydney, Australia

Leaving a good job on Wall Street for the unknown in Mongolia?! I've never heard of a more ill-conceived plan. But although author Patricia Sexton achieved what she set out to do—change her life—hers is a journey that is by no means finished — Rick Kaplan, former executive producer CBS Evening News

If you've ever wondered what would happen if you followed your wildest dreams, look no further than this book. I thought that leaving a brand management job at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati and moving to do standup in LA was a leap until I learned of Patricia Sexton's story. This is an unbelievable account of a Wall Street woman leaving behind the big bucks to embark on a new career - even as she managed to survive ingesting things like fermented mare's milk and roof-dried yak cheese. Luckily for the reader, this book is far easier to digest. Patricia grabbed me from page 1 with her inspiring - and hilarious - tale. Her book is now officially hilarious. I'm a comedian, after all. — Rajiv Satyal

From the Publisher