Please Don't Pick A Sensible Career: A Practical Guide for Young People Who Haven't Got it all Figured Out

“It made me realise that my mum was right about a lot of things but I didn’t want to listen. Coming from an expert it landed differently. I paid attention this time.”
- Jake, 16

You are 15,16,17,18. Maybe 23. Everyone keeps asking what you’re going to do with your life. You don’t know.

Good. You aren't supposed to.

The world of work is changing. AI is rewriting jobs and the career ladder is missing a few rungs. Nobody can tell you what work is going to look like in ten years.

Please Don't Pick a Sensible Career is a field guide to getting started. Ten chapters, ten challenges to try and the portfolio career you didn't know existed. You don’t have to become an entrepreneur, but learning how to think like one is a game changer.

Written by entrepreneur Calypso Rose and her mother, author and former fashion stylist Clare Hastings, it features conversations and advice from Rory Sutherland, Michael Acton Smith, Alana Macfarlane-Kempner and many other pattern breakers who have walked the path before you.

Stop waiting to be picked. Step out of the queue. Do the thing.


"For reference, I stopped picking up books around Year 7 and I haven’t really finished one since. If anything, when I was forced to, I’d “cheat” and pretend I had raced my way through one without even giving it a chance. I’m currently on chapter 3 of “Please Don’t Pick A Sensible Career” and it’s genuinely the only book I haven’t been able to put down. It’s really interesting how the other week my friend offered me a bite of her gut stuff peanut butter bar (I had never heard of it before), and now I’m reading all about its humble beginnings. The experiences in this book are honestly inspiring and you’ve managed to write them in a funny and comprehensible way. I love how you often reference age as something powerful rather than something limiting, especially as you acknowledge how scary it is to not know exactly what you want to do in the future. Your book is perfect for someone my age, and I can’t wait to keep reading."
- Carolina, 16

"Reading it has made me a lot more confident and secure in my future"
- Roman, 15