I haven’t grown up.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What is the worst advice you received that you followed anyway?
Failure & regret
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.
An obstetrician.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 192 →
Daphne Guinness
British socialite
I wanted to be in the army or a spy in the intelligence service.
Shirley MacLaine
American actress and author
At three, I knew I was too tall to be a ballerina, so that wasn’t going to happen.
Robert Bathurst
English theatre and television actor
Wimbledon champion. I won the title frequently when playing against a pebbledash wall at home in Ireland.
More from Bozoma Saint John
View profile →My daughter. She’s awesome and it’s because I’m awesome. Lol.
My job. I want to get it right.
On Friday: my daughter won her volleyball game and my mom sent me videos, because I couldn’t be there. I cried wishing I’d been there to cheer her on.
As the biggest, brightest, most bodacious badass that ever lived.
My daughter, Lael. She’s fearless and fun. In her eight years, she’s had traumatic events, but still gives hugs.
But it was really – it came across sinister. And for me, I really did listen to it. I accepted it. I tried to implement that. The reason why I say it’s the worst advice I ever received was that it was damaging to me because she was totally wrong. ... And so, when somebody who is successful tells you to do something, you try to do it, even when it damages you.
More on identity & self
Also answered this · A–Z
Angela Hartnett, Gino D'Acampo, Adam Clayton, Adrian Edmondson, Adwoa Aboah, Aidan Gillen
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All identity & self questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject