“There’s an appetite to learn more, know more and do more”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

Every week our talented roster has been answering our reader submitted questions. Now that the year is drawing to a close – we thought they’d like to take a break. We’ve taken over this week’s question to give our advice givers a chance to look back and forward to the new year.

This week’s question:

Think back on the questions you’ve answered throughout the year – what common themes or topics came up? Did your hopes from last year come true? What are you looking forward to in 2026? And are there any areas or topics you’re excited to explore more in the new year?

Shanice Mears, co-founder and head of culture & communities at The Elephant Room:

It’s great to be able to answer this and look back at what 2025 brought us and the things we explored. It’s always both challenging and joyous to reflect because there’s so much to look back on – from mums returning to work with new outlooks on life to international students pushing themselves to the limit to get to where they want to be.

It’s been a great year to think about collaboration, community, and connection. I believe we’ve yet to fix the challenge around silos, but I have seen a lot of people being unafraid to start again and find their new potential, whether that’s in a new workplace, a new country, or even a completely new sector. There’s an appetite to learn more, know more, and do more, and honestly I love that. I think the bravery is also in the ability to share. Those people who are writing in their conundrums and trying to find ways to figure it out are already halfway there.

The different conundrums this year also showed me how multifaceted people are, including even myself. So many of the questions made me reflect on what I do, my journey, and how I then responded, but it’s also comforting to know that people want more and are passionate about different things. Lastly, I think the urge for ownership has been key this year, not in ‘entrepreneurship’ per se, but in taking back time, the type of work people want to do, and the flexibility around other life commitments. It’s no longer about work shaping you but you shaping the work.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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