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.

Recorded Johanna Konta said elsewhere, not written here
When I was five, I wanted to be a cleaning lady; when I was nine, I wanted to be the world’s number one tennis player.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 June 2018 source ↗

Others on this question

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Tracy-Ann Oberman Actor and writer
An actress. My family thought it was ridiculous, it was like saying you wanted to be an astronaut.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 August 2021 source ↗
Vick Hope British television and radio presenter
J-Lo, a foreign correspondent and, at uni, I assumed that someone would tap me on the shoulder and ask me to be in MI6, but it never happened.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 August 2022 source ↗
Joanne Froggatt English actress
An actor – that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I went to stage school when I was 13.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 February 2019 source ↗

More from Johanna Konta

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Question What do you consider your greatest achievement? Craft & work
Being happy. I think that transcends the results of my matches, the so-called successes or failures. How would you like to be remembered? As someone who dedicated their life to what they were doing at the time. Right now, it’s tennis, but I want to have the same dedication for whatever I do after, whether it be motherhood or another career.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 June 2018 source ↗

More on identity & self

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Chris Bonington, Ivan Lendl, Victoria Pendleton, Serena Williams, Kevin Pietersen, Chris Hoy

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