Kickstart

Alexander Herman, Paul Matthews and Andrew Feindel graduated from university like countless others; unsure of what to do next in life. They decided to spend the subsequent two years figuring that out by investigating through interview how other successful Canadians kiskstarted their own careers and lives in hopes of finding the inspiration they needed to do the same with theirs. The resulting book, ‘Kickstart: How Successful Canadians Got Started’ ends up being a great and unexpected look across the country at the different paths people take to different kinds of success. The book is kind of comforting to those who aren’t entirely sure of how to proceed or even of how they have already proceeded along their road through life.

The organization of the book is a little telling though as the subjects interviewed have been group by style starting with ‘Searchers: Canadians who took their time’ then moving on to deal with ‘Survivors: Canadians who preserved’ and lastly ‘Dreamers: Canadians who blazed their own trails.’ These categories are full of interviews, written in an easy to read style full of wonderful anecdotes and surprising stories. The subjects seem wonderfully candid and forthcoming with their stories and the authors manage to pick and find a great selection of seventy Canadians to speak to (Even Raffi!)

This book would be a good recommendation to a student looking for their path or unsure of their own potential to succeed. Of course we are not always sure even when we’re done being students so this book would be a good read for others too, particularly recent graduates. It does a good job of reinforcing the notion that there is not always a singular and defined path to success and for different people success can take on very different forms. The fact that the book is specifically about Canadians helps the cast be more relatable and human, which strengthens the effectiveness of the book.

Kickstart was provided to Ohmpage for review courtesy of Dundurn Press via Mini Book Expo For Bloggers.