Book excerpt: This book is a response to the question asked by incoming students of the Creative Industries sector: ‘what can I do in the Creative Industries’. This volume is designed to provide a source of inspiration to readers in imagining their own futures within fields such as musical performance, media production, drawing and illustration, journalism, public relations, filmmaking, design, documentary, dramatic performance, virtual reality and others covered in these chapters. Presented here are pathways through the lived experience of the Creative Industries, from practitioners and theorists, educators and researchers at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Each chapter offers a partly autobiographical account of the author’s journey through their field, engaging with their overall philosophy or the key ideas, the challenges and opportunities that have inspired them in their research and creative practice. Some chapters focus on a singular, pivotal moment or project, while others draw upon the breadth of an entire career. Collectively, these accounts bring to life the career possibilities within a rapidly expanding global sector of creativity and innovation with immense cultural, social, political and economic impact.