Marie Kondo: As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself? — FLAPSS

The question

As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

MK

Marie Kondo

Japanese organizing consultant, author, and television show host

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Housewife and mother of three, which I am now.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 January 2022 source ↗

Others on this question

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Julie Andrews English actress, singer and author

A botanist or a florist.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 October 2019 source ↗

Miriam Margolyes

I wanted to be a doctor, like my father.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 July 2025 source ↗

Emma Barnett British broadcaster and journalist

A fishmonger, then a surgeon.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 February 2021 source ↗

Gregg Wallace English broadcaster and writer

A sailor. I wanted to be in the Royal Navy like my grandad.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 April 2022 source ↗

More from Marie Kondo

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Question If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change? Failure & regret

I don’t have anything that I want to change. I’m sure I did in the past but I can’t recall, which means it wasn’t that big a deal.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 January 2022 source ↗

Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains

Tidying fanatic.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 January 2022 source ↗

Question What accomplishment matters most to you? Craft & work

It’s still a work in progress, but I would have to say, organising the world. With all the KonMari consultants around the world, and those that read my books or watched the Netflix shows, we are definitely making a difference.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 January 2022 source ↗

Question How would you describe what love feels like to you? Relationships

Warm and fuzzy.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 January 2022 source ↗

Question What disappointment has stayed with you longest? Failure & regret

In elementary school: I opened my lunchbox and it was empty. I was devastated.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 January 2022 source ↗

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