True Tales From Work: I Fell Into This Career but I Love It

Ellie Kay, Living Rich

"The best laid plans of mice and men ..."

No matter how much we plan, practice and prepare for our lives, things don't always (or even often) go as planned. Take our careers, for example. Most of us start dreaming about "what we want to be when we grow up" when we're in elementary school, prompted by teachers who tell us, "It's never too early to start thinking about the future." We might decide at age 10 that we want to be a teacher, a doctor or a businessperson.

Then, reality sets in. Your hopes of becoming a doctor are dashed when you faint at the sight of blood on the first day of med school. You get that dream job, and six months later, you get a pink slip. You have three kids in five years and become a stay-at-home parent. You take on a serendipitous part-time job for extra money and accidentally discover your passion. Somehow, you wind up in a completely different career than you'd ever imagined.