Paul Millerd
Author of The Pathless Path (self-published, 40,000+ copies sold), a book about leaving the default career trajectory and designing work around life rather than fitting life around work. Left a management consulting career, spent three years earning well below his former salary while building an audience and exploring online, and eventually achieved higher income than his consulting peak through writing, speaking, a strategy course business (StrategyU), and community. Also runs a podcast on unconventional career paths. Coined or popularised the terms “default path” (the unexamined cultural script most people follow) and “pathless path” (the deliberate shift to uncertainty-as-feature). Has spoken with 500+ people about their relationship to work through an open calendar practice, finding near-universal positive outcomes from sabbaticals of three or more months.