Taking the long way round

I originally wrote this piece a few years ago but with the pandemic having added extra complications and plot twists to many peoples' career stories, I felt it was important to share it with the world again.

On the radio the other day a local businesswoman was being lauded for having made the Forbes 30 under 30 list and as I listened it dawned on me, I will never make it onto one of those lists. There physically isn't time for me to launch a world-changing, highly successful business before I turn 30.

Perhaps the most surprising thing to admit to the entire internet, however, is that I'm ok with that.

There is value to be found after all in spending time on things, getting to know yourself and what you can offer to the world. With yet another batch of graduates about to be released into the world and another group of teenagers facing results that may not align precisely with what they thought they wanted, plus the added complications of COVID 19, I'd like to advocate for taking the long way around. What follows is a list of some of the times my plans have changed and why I'm better off that they did.

• As I child I dreamt of becoming a fashion designer, the best in the world in fact. I even practised saying "I am the best in the world" in French because French is the language of the fashion world, at least to my younger self. Had I continued to push for this dream I have no doubt I would be spending more time in Mumbai than Paris watching as the t-shirts I designed for a supermarket or cut-price high street retailer were put into production.

• After initially resigning myself to not getting a degree I worked a number of temporary roles in administration, hospitality and retail. I am forever grateful to the various friends, family and co-workers who questioned whether a permanent career in one of these areas was really in my future. So I decided to combine the administrative skills I had picked up along the way with the creativity I had sought in fashion design and applied for a marketing degree.

• While waiting for my course to start I took a job as maternity cover for an accounts assistant who decided not to return after having her child and I was offered the role permanently. It was a solid role with a well-established company. If I'd taken it I would probably still be there putting daily numbers into spreadsheets and finishing at 2 pm on a Friday. Idyllic for some but not for me.

• Jumping forward a bit now, I left my first job after graduating because my manager mentioned they were looking to promote me.... to a role involving less marketing. Having put the effort into deciding on marketing as a career I decided to stick to that.

• More recently I have pursued a couple of very short term contracts just to gain insight into industries I had never worked in before which has opened me up to new opportunities in the leisure and education sectors (I am also a self-confessed nerd and couldn't turn down the chance to work at Bletchley Park).

The intricacies of these decisions sometimes escaped me at the time and may even have seemed rash or impulsive to friends and family but they have all made me who I am today. There are many more small instances where a choice was made which lead me away from being that straight down the line business person winning a 30 under 30 award but I wouldn't have it any other way. Life, after all, is about the journey as much as the destination.