There is something quietly surreal about looking back at your career and realising how little of it was actually planned. I have shared before that I very much fell into what I do now. There was no grand strategy, no carefully mapped-out path. Just a series of decisions that, at the time, felt small but somehow led me exactly here.
When I first left school, I had no clear idea of what I wanted to do. In fact, when I left university, my only real goal was to get a job that paid well enough for me to go on my first girls’ holiday to Ibiza. That was the level of ambition at the time, and honestly, I stand by it. I applied for the first office role I could find, started in basic administration, and from there, things slowly began to shift in ways I could never have predicted.
The Career I Didn’t Plan
I will always be grateful to the Managing Director I worked under in those early years. He saw something in me that I had not yet recognised in myself and took the time to create a development plan that eventually led me into marketing. It was not something I had chosen, but it became something I grew into.
Still, because it was not part of some lifelong plan, I often find myself wondering what might have happened if things had gone differently. If I had followed one of the other paths that, at various points in my life, felt just as real, just as possible.
History Teacher
When it came time to choose a degree, I was advised to study something I genuinely loved, given that I had no clear career direction. For me, that was history, without hesitation. It was the subject that held my attention, the one that felt effortless to engage with.
During my degree, the most obvious career path that presented itself was teaching. I imagined becoming a history teacher, much like the one I had at school. She had an incredible ability to make even the most obscure topics feel engaging, and I remember thinking that if I could do that for someone else, it would be enough. For a long time, that felt like the plan, until life quietly redirected me elsewhere.
Literary Editor
If you grew up in the nineties, there is a strong chance you, too, were influenced by the idea of being an editor. So many of the women we watched on screen seemed to live these impossibly polished lives, working in publishing, surrounded by manuscripts and ambition.
I imagined myself in a high-rise office, somewhere in a big city, working through pages, shaping stories, and being part of that world. It is a dream that has never fully left me. Especially now, having written my own novels, it feels less like a fantasy and more like something that could still exist in some form in the future.
Ballet Dancer or Teacher
Ballet was not just a hobby for me, it was a defining part of my life. I trained seriously up until I was 18, and for a long time, I believed it would become my career. It was something I was deeply committed to, something I loved, and something I was encouraged to pursue professionally.
Unfortunately, that path came to an abrupt end after an injury that left me with a snapped ankle. It was one of those moments that changes everything, whether you are ready for it or not. Ballet and weak ankles are not a combination that allows for compromise, and suddenly, a future I had imagined so clearly was no longer possible. It took a long time to find direction again after that.
Accountant
Mathematics was always an area where I felt confident. I have always been someone who enjoys problem-solving, particularly when there is a clear, definitive answer waiting to be found. Because of that, accountancy was often suggested as a natural career option.
Even now, I find a strange sense of satisfaction in spreadsheets, budgeting, and working through financial problems. It is something that makes sense to me in a very logical way. However, despite that, I am not sure I could see myself doing it day in and day out. Sometimes being good at something does not necessarily mean it is the right fit for your life.
Final Thoughts
Looking back, it is easy to romanticise the idea of the paths not taken. To imagine alternate versions of your life where things unfolded differently, perhaps more intentionally, perhaps more predictably. But the reality is, every step, planned or not, has shaped where I am now.
While my career may not have been straightforward, I am incredibly proud of how it has come together. It is a reflection of the opportunities I was given, the people who believed in me, and the willingness to grow into something I never initially set out to do. And in many ways, that feels far more meaningful than any perfectly planned path ever could.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Have you ever found yourself wondering what you might be doing in another version of your life, or did everything unfold exactly as you expected?
