Growing Up

Camilla Young
Dec 3, 2024
2 min read

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I was a little girl with big dreams.

A picture of Camilla at primary school. She has a fringe and a ponytail and is wearing a shirt, tie and navy pinafore dress.

I wanted to be a librarian.

I loved books so much I just wanted to be around them all the time. When I was 16 I narrowly missed out to an equally bookish school friend on a plum Saturday job at our local library.

By the time I was 18 the retail industry had caught my eye, but a careers advisor had encouraged me to ‘aim higher’ and my UCAS application was changed from a degree in Retail Management to Human Resources.

I loved it, but I wasn't many years into my career before retail came calling again.

By then, I'd seen enough employment contracts and expense reports to know that sales was where I wanted to be!

And yeah, it was fun (most of the time) AND I was good at it. But 15 years in I realised it had all just got a bit 'samey': the people, the problems, the endless game playing. I considered switching roles, but I was 'too senior' to move to a function I had no experience of.

So I began to imagine a different future.

One where I don't have to follow a set 'career path', where I can leverage my sales abilities to help make the world a better place, develop new skills in things like marketing and digital transformation, do the talent development bit of HR without the endless restructuring bit, and read ALL the books.

And no, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up….or for the recruiters, 'where I want to be in 5 years' time'.

And that does not make me any less ambitious or less successful.

I just recognise that my life is not a thing, it's an experience. There are many versions of my career, and I can build whatever future I want.

The fun comes from designing, iterating, and enjoying the experience.

And in my experience creating your ideal future is liberating, fulfilling and a whole lot of fun!

And I want to help YOU achieve that too.

In January, I'll be launching 'Rebel Life Design' a new group coaching programme for ambitious leaders who are ready to start creating their ideal future. If you're ready to think differently about your career then you can find out more here.