Illustrations

Luigi Segre

Cover design

Luigi Segre
Michał Bobrowski

Page layout

Krzysztof Szporak

Managing editor

Joanna Zimny

© Copyright by Magdalena Pavlak-Chiaradia

ISBN 979-8-9942288-2-1

All rights reserved. Distribution or copying of this publication, in whole or in part, is prohibited without the written consent of the author.

Printing

Drukarnia Cyfrowa

OSDW Azymut sp. z o.o.

www.bookplan.pl

For Team Chiaradia –
the best team I’ll ever be part of.

Prologue

This Isn’t a Memoir

If this were a memoir, it would end with me sipping wine in Italy, saying it all went according to plan and reflecting on decades of success. How my brilliant career was built on calculated maneuvers, well timed pivots, that resulted in towering wins.

But it’s not.

No one ever tells you that building a career feels like solving a jigsaw puzzle with pieces from different boxes.

This book is a companion – for people still figuring it out as they go. It’s written from reflections of my time navigating sharp turns and unexpected obstacles, the times I missed clear patterns, failed to see obvious flops, or encountering unexpected wins. It is about a messy, non-linear, illogical, and sometimes ridiculous career journey. So, this is not a look-back, but rather a look-around.

I’ve spent a lot of time coaching professionals in their careers. I wrote this book to help young professionals realize that career paths won’t be straight or predictable but if you understand this, you can ride the rapids, avoid some of the rocks, and find success. I drew upon my field notes collected along the way to create a manual that I wish someone had handed me when I was a young professional.

How to Use this Book

The chapters are ordered around key lessons learned at different points in my career. As you will see, some of my most useful lessons came in chapters that were the least glamorous. Each person has their own path, but what I’ve learned, we are all on different paths, but the types of choices we make along the way are not unique.

Each chapter is titled to give you a little nudge – something instructive, not just reflective. Inside, you’ll find coaching moments in little boxes to tie the ideas together. You can skip around or read it straight through. Just don’t treat it like gospel. It’s a career’s worth of lessons, not a blueprint.

This book has pictures. And not the stock-photo kind. Luigi added single-panel cartoons to each chapter. Think of them as light bites – humorous sketches that capture the reflections, pivotal moments, and even the occasional misstep of my career. It’s been one of the most unexpectedly fun parts of this whole project. For the visually inclined, they’re bite-sized chuckles between the insights.

The Fine Print

Before we dive in, a little context. This is my story. My insights that were shaped by my profession, but they’re not bound to it. If I use a term that’s new to you, don’t worry – I’ll break it down. What matters most is the through-line: how we grow, how we lead, and how we navigate a career that’s never quite what we expect.

Credits

But this book is also, quietly, for two people who inspired me more than anyone else to put these thoughts on paper: my children. One stepping into university, the other about to step beyond it. Watching them at this moment – standing on the edge of enormous change – reminded me how much courage it takes to dream, to plan, and to take on life on your own.

First Insight

We are in a transformative moment. Technology is reshaping industries faster than we can predict. Artificial intelligence, automation, and global competition is shifting the marketplace. There are new opportunities and successes to be had – measured by those who can take advantage of these shifts. Professionals need to be more than smart; they need to be intuitive, adaptive, and bold. They need to be able to translate their skills into careers that may not have existed before.

Differentiation is key, creativity matters and the ability to spot the next opportunity will define success more than a university degree or credentials.

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Am I doing this right?” – congratulations, you’re in exactly the right place.

Let’s figure this out together.

Chapter 1

You’re Not Picking a Future –
Just a Starting Point
(The Unintended Geologist)

I thought I had my future all figured out. A career saving the environment, a degree in engineering, and a clear path ahead. Then, I arrived at college realized I had accidentally selected a university that did not offer environmental engineering as a degree. I had set out to save the planet – turns out, I was just going to study what it was made of.

Let me back up.

When it came time to pick a university, I had a plan. I was going to be an environmental engineer, designing solutions to pollution problems, making a real impact by saving the world. My high school yearbook features a picture of me hugging a tree*, just in case anyone doubted my commitment.

Now, I know that not everyone is fortunate enough to have a plan before heading off to college. But what I hope this story shows is that even the best-laid plans don’t always go the way you think – and that’s okay.

Looking back, the advice I’d have offered myself is this: your entire life does not hinge on one seemingly critical decision, like choosing a college or a major. Even when you think you have it figured out, life has other plans – and they often work out better than you imagined.

The College Selection Debacle

I got accepted to all the universities I applied to. I was ecstatic. The world was my oyster, and now I got to choose.

Since the decision no longer depended on which university would accept me, I had to decide based on other criteria. Growing up in rural Maine, I wanted to try my hand at big city life – so off to Boston I went.

With all the excitement of meeting my roommate, navigating dorm life, and finding my bearings in the big city, I had one more important task – selecting my courses for my first semester of study to be an environmental engineer.

The process was simple: I had to find Environmental Engineering in the course catalog and enroll in first-year classes.

I flipped through the pages, scanning for Environmental Engineering.

Nothing.

Okay… maybe I just missed it.

I flipped back a few pages. Still nothing.

Maybe I was going too fast. I slowed down, carefully scanning the headings. I skimmed past Environmental Geology – which obviously wasn’t what I was looking for – only to realize… there was nothing else.

No Environmental Engineering listed anywhere.

I frowned and flipped forward a few pages to check the Engineering section instead.

Mechanical Engineering.

Electrical Engineering.

Civil Engineering…

…Nothing more.

Where was Environmental Engineering?

It was in that moment dread settled in, a slow, creeping realization that something was very, very wrong.

I flipped back to the Environmental section, staring at the only thing that seemed even remotely related to what I wanted to study. Geology.

That’s when it hit me, I had chosen a university that didn’t even offer my intended major.

This shocking realization – not only was I not on track for an Environmental Engineering degree, but I had chosen a university that didn’t even offer Environmental Engineering. They had an amazing engineering program and an okay environmental program, but the two were not connected with each other – they weren’t even part of the same college! Engineering was part of the Engineering College while Geology was part of the College of Science! How was I ever going to make this work?

So, I found myself becoming an Environmental Geology student.

At first, I thought, no big deal, they’re related fields, right? But the more I understood, the more I realized that engineering was about creating solutions, while geology was about studying rocks.

Going Along for the Ride

I debated changing schools, but I had already started, and transferring seemed complicated. Besides, geology wasn’t terrible – I just hadn’t planned to study it.

I did what any rational 18-year-old does when faced with a major life decision:

I shrugged and decided to go along for the ride.

Little did I know, this “accidental” choice would shape the rest of my career. I found I loved studying rocks and developed an appreciation for the geologic time scale – something humans can barely comprehend in our short lifetimes.

And, as it turned out, this would set me up far better than I could have imagined for the next 25 years of my life.

Why Your Major Matters Less Than You Think

Although Hollywood loves the freshman who shows up with a five-year plan, the data tells a different story. In the United States, fewer than one in eight first-year students can even name a major on day one1, and roughly one in three bachelor’s candidates switches fields within three years2. The same exploratory rhythm plays out across Europe: a pan-continental survey spanning 25 higher-education systems reports that about 14% of students have already changed programs and another 20% are seriously considering it3. In other words, uncertainty isn’t a bug in the college experience – it’s the default setting, and campuses on both sides of the Atlantic are built to help students turn that open-ended beginning into a purposeful finish.

Locking down a major is hardly the end of the story – it’s more like the opening chapter. A recent Pew poll found that just 46% of grads end up working in the very field they studied4. And the New York Fed says nearly four in ten diploma-holders are in roles that technically don’t even ask for a degree5. Bottom line? It’s perfectly normal for new grads – especially in those early career years – to zigzag a bit before they land on something that feels right.

Why does this happen?

Because career paths are rarely straightforward. The world is constantly evolving, and industries shift faster than universities can update their curriculums. Many students also don’t fully understand what their major entails when they choose it.

The real lesson?

Your degree isn’t a life sentence.
It’s a steppingstone.

And here’s the good news: it doesn’t matter as much as you think. Just over half of recent college graduates – about 52% – find themselves in jobs that don’t actually require the degree they just earned (Burning Glass Institute & Strada Institute, 2024)6.

Employers today value skills and experience over specific degrees.

Industries like tech, consulting, and sustainability** actively recruit people from diverse academic backgrounds because they bring different perspectives. What’s important isn’t whether your degree perfectly aligns with your dream job – it’s how you use it.

After graduating high school, I thought my major defined my future.

As a young professional, I realized it was just a steppingstone.

Yes, I became a geologist, but I never became the person studying rock formations for a living. Instead, my geology background gave me the foundation for something much bigger – a career that spanned sustainability, regulatory work, and corporate leadership.

Of course, I did pick up some useful rock knowledge along the way. These days, I’m the life of the party on hikes and beach walks, dazzling (or exhausting) my friends and family with fascinating rock facts. Who needs small talk when you can reveal the hidden geologic history beneath one’s feet?

That unexpected beginning didn’t derail my career – it gave it depth. And it set me up for the next lesson: sometimes, readiness and responsibility arrive out of order.

* “Tree hugger” is a (mostly) affectionate term for someone who’s deeply committed to environmental causes – think nature-lover, climate worrier, reusable-bag carrier. It’s sometimes used to imply idealism, but I choose to use the label with affection and zero apology.

** Sustainability is the practice of meeting today’s needs without wrecking tomorrow’s options. In theory, it’s about balancing environmental responsibility, social equity, and economic viability. In practice? It’s often a mix of carbon audits, supply chain headaches, unreadable stakeholder reports, and the occasional PowerPoint promising to “do better.” When done right, it’s meaningful. When done for marketing, it’s a leafy graphic and three bullet points. I like to think I landed on the right side of history with this one.