The question

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

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.

Hanna Tetteh

UN Special Representative for Libya; former Foreign Minister of Ghana

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
Politics was always present in Hanna Tetteh's house growing up. Inspired by a dual heritage rooted in Hungary and Ghana, she became a passionate advocate of inclusive dialogue.

United Nations podcast, 23 June 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 256 →
Martin Kemp English musician and actor
I wanted to play for Arsenal. When I have a kick-around with my boy, I still feel as if someone’s going to spot me.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 July 2018 source ↗
Malcolm Gladwell Staff writer at The New Yorker; author of The Tipping Point and Outliers
I didn’t want to be anything because I don’t look ahead. Even as a kid I thought it was pointless.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 April 2021 source ↗

More from Hanna Tetteh

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Question What is your greatest fear? Identity & self
I have to be optimistic. Otherwise I'll stop. And I think that when you're doing this kind of job, you have to keep yourself optimistic. You always have to find openings and entry points and try to see what you can work with and where you can create some opportunity to have a conversation that results in some concrete outcome.
Recorded United Nations podcast, 23 June 2026 source ↗
Question What does love feel like? Relationships
I have to be optimistic. Otherwise I'll stop. And I think that when you're doing this kind of job, you have to keep yourself optimistic. You always have to find openings and entry points and try to see what you can work with and where you can create some opportunity to have a conversation that results in some concrete outcome.
Recorded United Nations podcast, 23 June 2026 source ↗

More on identity & self

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Malcolm Gladwell, Desmond Tutu, Gloria Steinem, Albie Sachs, Robert Peston, Zack Polanski

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