When there’s no obvious next step

There’s a part of growing up nobody really teaches you.

For years, someone else has largely decided what comes next. School. Timetables. Exams. Another year.

Then suddenly you’re expected to direct your own life.

And while there’s plenty of information once you know the route you want to take, there’s far less support for the bit before that. The figuring out. The trying things. The changing your mind. The learning what actually matters to you.

That’s the gap The Pathmakers was created for.

We're Ruby and Joa, a daughter and mum who've been figuring some of this out together. We've never been particularly convinced that there's only one right route through life, but we also know that stepping away from the expected path isn't always easy.

There's excitement and possibility, but also uncertainty. For the young person wondering where to begin, and for the parent who wants to give them every chance to flourish but isn't quite sure how best to help.

We created The Pathmakers because we believe young people deserve more support at this stage of life. Somewhere to explore their interests, discover their strengths, find people on a similar journey and start turning possibilities into real steps forward.

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It started with
Ruby

Ruby left an art foundation after just three weeks because, quite quickly, she knew it wasn’t the right path for her.

There wasn’t another plan neatly waiting in the wings, and she didn’t suddenly know what she wanted to do instead. But there were a few things she kept finding herself drawn back to: surfing, Spanish and coaching.

So, rather than trying to force an answer, she started following those interests and seeing where they took her.

She worked in a restaurant to fund the things she wanted to explore, then became an au pair so she could live in Spain and spend more time learning Spanish. She began exploring coaching too, while continuing to surf whenever she could. That one, she’ll happily admit, is still very much a work in progress.

And that’s sort of the point.

Not every interest has to become a career, a business or even something you become particularly good at for it to be worth following.

Over the last few years, Ruby has learnt more about herself by moving towards the things that sparked her curiosity, trying them out, and paying attention to what happened next.

Her direction didn’t arrive as one big decision.

It emerged gradually, through living it.

But there was something missing

Ruby had support from us as her parents, but what was harder to find was a wider circle of people in that same uncertain stage of life.

People taking different routes are often difficult to spot.

One is working shifts, another is travelling, someone else is trying an apprenticeship, building something, or changing direction again.

There’s no obvious place where they all come together.

And that matters, because the people around you can expand what you think is possible.

They can introduce you to new ideas, encourage you to try something, and remind you that changing direction is normal.

We want The Pathmakers to be that place.

A space to find support, meet others figuring things out too, and explore what might come next.

The same question from the other side

Like any parent, I wanted Ruby to find her feet, discover what she was capable of, find work that meant something to her and be able to support herself doing something she loved. But how could I best help her do that?

We'd spent years doing things a bit differently with her education, and I'd seen how much she'd grown through having the freedom to follow her interests. But leaving education was a whole new chapter. How would she turn all those interests and possibilities into something real?

Supporting your child to do things differently takes a certain amount of courage and trust.

And these were questions I'd been exploring through my work, too.

Years earlier, I'd set up a charity supporting disabled and disadvantaged people into work, where I learnt that creating opportunities was only part of the picture. People also needed to discover what felt right for them and believe they could make it happen.

I trained as a coach in 2007 and have since spent nearly two decades working with people, leaders and teams across startups and global organisations. I've seen how easy it is to follow the path we think we should take, rather than stopping to ask what we actually want.

I've worked with so many people in their 40s and 50s who've done everything they thought they were supposed to do, only to find themselves deeply unhappy in work that never really suited them. But with mortgages, families and responsibilities, changing direction can feel incredibly difficult.

It makes me wonder what might have been different if they'd had the space and encouragement to discover what really mattered to them much earlier.

Because life is too precious to spend on autopilot.

That's a big part of why we've created The Pathmakers.

When young people don't go to university, they miss out on the ready-made structure and direction it provides. There are endless possibilities, but knowing where to begin and how to keep moving forward isn't always easy.

We want to give them that structure and support, helping them discover their strengths, explore what excites them and turn their ideas into real-world experiences and opportunities.

Because you shouldn't have to wait until you're 40 to start asking what you really want from life.

The Pathmakers brings those two experiences together

Between us, we've seen just how exciting, and how daunting, it can be to find your own way when there isn't a clear path laid out in front of you.

And we know how much difference it can make to have someone alongside you who believes in you, helps you see what's possible and encourages you to take that next step.

We created The Pathmakers because we want more young people to have that support.

Not to have their whole lives figured out at 18, but to have the confidence, community and practical support to explore their possibilities, find meaningful work and start building a life they're excited about.