Sliding doors

Last week, I was introduced to someone with whom I suspect my grandmother had endeavoured to fix me up when we were both in our twenties. You never know, I might have enjoyed living in Africa.

It led me to consider, as I often do, those sliding doors moments. The life I live now has been to a great degree shaped by its quirks, as is the case for all of us.

Had I not jettisoned a promising career path to take on care of my stepdaughter, I would not have set up Spring, an agency with global clients on the Suffolk Coast.

Without either of those things, I would not have had cause to interrogate my own values and to consider company values to the degree that I did, nor indeed have had the confidence to move out of a secure career (again) into an absolute focus on values, despite it being self-funded and untested.

I have found that my adult life has leaned towards the countercultural. I've been far more driven by what matters to me than by security. This possibly indicates a stubborn refusal to conform, which is what makes me useful for people who need productive challenge in their corner.

If you're reading this early on in your career, my message is that it's fine to do different, if that's what works for you. Many of the people I see flourishing now have positively bizarre CVs.