Real people’s stories to inspire at every twist and turn of building a career and a life.
Did you know what you wanted to be “when you grew up” when you were small? Is that what you are doing now? Most people don’t and yet there is so much pressure at every milestone in life to know exactly what you want to be doing and make the right decision, as if there are only a few “right” ways to create a life.
While there are cultural differences and systemic barriers that create real roadblocks and heighten this pressure for some, most individual decisions do not set your fate in stone. Most people I know have found themselves in a particular industry largely by accident and have built careers from there; taking steps forward, sideways and complete pivots around great (or terrible) bosses, company cultures that encouraged (or discouraged) them, changing life circumstances and evolving values. I’m excited to share the stories of people who have built their career and life on the winding road.
Season five of the Unexpected Career podcast starts next week. But here's a little preview of some of the stories shared from our amazing guests and their unique and unexpected career journeys
Zahra
But I just for the first time in my life really started listening to that voice inside that was like, "Oh, no, we've gotta try this. Even if we don't know how it's all gonna play out, even if there's so much fear and uncertainty we've gotta just explore this and see what happens."
Jeannie
So if we can train ourselves, even if it's not natural or it's actually painful, to do the thing even though we don't feel worthy- then we start to prove to ourselves over time with repetition, the evidence is that even when I don't feel worthy, I win. Yeah. Because I win for myself. I show up for myself at the very minimum
Lauragaye
I think it's really around the concept that things will work out. When you're stuck in the muck, you can't see it. Mm-hmm. You know? You can't figure out how to get to the other side. But that things will work out, and this concept of one door closes but another one opens. So being open to, working in industries that maybe aren't mainstream, that other people are less interested in- Mm-hmm or going off in a career that is quite different and can be a pivot..
Jason
Stay the course and don't listen to people. Just stay the course. You understand why you're doing what you're doing- Mm-hmm or you think you do. There's nothing wrong with going out there and failing.
Vivienne
Do I want to spend the majority of my working day doing something that is not fulfilling, I don't feel valued in- and, you know, I'm just doing it because I have to do it? I have such a belief that there are millions of ways to make money, okay? Mm-hmm. So being miserable in that process and journey is something that you have a choice in-
Megan
Yeah
Vivienne
I think actually you need to make a living so that you can be living. Otherwise- Yes you know, why? Why are we doing it?
Nicola
So if someone tells you you can't, you absolutely can. The only thing that's holding you back is what you're telling yourself. Whatever you wanna tell yourself is fine, just as long as you're happy with the story of yourself that you've given yourself.
Mike
I have learned a lot whilst I've been in payments companies. One of the things that I discovered when I was working for Cybersource, and then other companies like PayPal, Airbnb, et cetera, is how big organizations operate. How things get done when they're well-organized, when they're well-structured. That I didn't get from when I was younger. Yeah. My younger career was very scrappy, it was can-do, it was just entrepreneurial and small business.
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